It is best to consider DHA supplements, if you wish optimum health. Point is, DHA is among the many omega-3 fatty acids that our bodies need. The problem is with our current food chain, we do not take advantage of the omega-3′s that people would always get. You can’t get omega-3 essential fatty acids by using a vegetarian diet, and with the way fish, cattle, and fowl are raised, they never get to eat enough natural, free-range foods. Because of this their bodies don’t absorb enough omega-3′s. Hence whenever we eat them, we don’t obtain the omega-3′s we require.

It is a real failure in our food sources. Omega-3 essential fatty acids, especially DHA are essential in the optimal functioning of our bodies as well as of our brains. You need omega-3 fatty acids to live a long, healthy, vibrant life!

Because of this, if you would like live for your fullest, you’ll want to supplement your omega-3 intake, especially those of DHA and EPA. Read much more about DHA. But suffice it to say that DHA is actually a critical portion of brain and body health.

Omega-3 essential fatty acids in general promote good health by affecting many of our own bodies’ processes.

For instance, the correct intake of omega-3 efas carries a positive influence on your own heart health. Not only this, but it really makes your mind function better, along with your joints, skin, eyes, and also your immune mechanism.

DHA especially is key in brain health.

DHA stands for docosahexaenoic acid. DHA is found in cold water fishes. It originally stems from the organisms these fish and their food eat. DHA is the most prevalent omega-3 acid within the brain. So, you will notice why it’s so central to thinking processes! For that reason, DHA, or the lack of it, may be connected to anything from strokes to Alzheimer’s disease.

To learn more about dha supplements check out this article on Lee’s blog at DHA SupplementsGuide.

 

Countless studies in recent decades have called attention to the significance of omega 3 fatty acids for health. Our bodies cannot synthesize omega-3s, so we must get them in our food. The most familiar way that people obtain omega-3 is by ingesting fish. However, this guide shall explain the trouble with obtaining omega 3 fatty acids from fish, and then will go into detail what to search for in fish oil supplements.

Fish Isn’t a Secure Source of Omega-3 Anymore

Before the creation of fish oil supplements, the consumption of fish was the exclusive way to obtain omega-3s in our diet. This was an effective method, but the realities of an industrialized world means added water pollution. The end result is that fish have become tainted with all varieties of poisonous contaminants like PCBs, mercury, arsenic, dioxins and heavy metals. These toxins have been found to cause a broad range of sicknesses such as cancer, blindness, birth defects and even death.

Omega-3 Supplements Also Polluted

Because of these complications, more and more people are relying on fish oil supplements as a an answer. But, fish oil capsules suffer from the same problems, in spite of the fact that most fish oil manufacturers claim that their products are clean. A fairly new investigation by the Food Standards Agency in the UK instigated the withdrawal of several fish oil products due to excessive levels of toxins!

Furthermore, turn your attention to this surprising report from Greenpeace about OmegaProtein, the largest producer of fish oil supplements on the planet. Their investigation shows that OmegaProtein’s fish oil products were found to be contaminated by poisonous amounts of flame retardants! However, maybe we should take this information with skepticism considering Greenpeace’s ideological stance, but if factual, it is very frightening!

Now that you know many of the risks possible in fish oil supplements, what can you do about it? Luckily, there are a few guiding principles that make it straightforward to evaluate a fish oil supplement for potency and cleanliness.

The Cream of The Crop: The International Fish Oil Standards (IFOS) Testing Program

The best method to know if an omega-3 product is a pure, quality supplement is by choosing one that has been consistently certified by the International Fish Oil Standards program, or IFOS. The IFOS program is a voluntary third-party testing institution that measures fish oil supplements along 5 guidelines:

  • Meet and Exceeds All Testing Categories by the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) and World Health Organization (WHO)
  • Greater than 60% Concentration of Omega-3
  • Oxidation Levels Lower Than 75% of Council for Responsible Nutrition Requirement
  • PCB Quantity Lower Than 50% of Council for Responsible Nutrition Standard
  • Dioxin Amount Lower Than 50% of World Health Organization Requirement

These standards were picked because the standards used by the CRN (Council for Responsible Nutrition) and WHO (World Health Organization) were not strict enough to permit larger portions of omega-3 fish oil. To get the advantages of fish oil, one must regularly take more than simply the 1,000 mg everyday that has been normally suggested. The rationale for why only 1 gram has been recommended, however, is due to adulteration risks. This is plainly not a problem if you’re ingesting an IFOS-tested brand.

If you aren’t taking an IFOS-tested product, you are definitely more in jeopardy of ingesting toxins. Chances are, in spite of the fact that your omega-3 product may profess to be decontaminated by “advanced molecular distillation” (a marketing phrase), it may not be safe to take. Since the International Fish Oil Standards organization posts the outcomes of their studies on their website, you can research the best brands of fish oil supplements on the market.

Brittany M. Wallace is a health and nutrition expert.

 

If you’ve been taking omega 3 fish oil capsules for a while you may have come across “super” omega 3. Of course it’s a little difficult to say exactly what “super” omega 3 really is and how it differs from ordinary omega 3, or why it’s better than “regular” fish oil supplements. So it’s not 100 percent clear what you should be getting when you buy the “super” capsules.

Part of the reason is that there are big variations in the quantity and quality of the Omega 3 fatty acids found in many of the fish oil capsules available for sale, and it’s important that you learn a little bit about Omega 3 capsules before you buy.

There are big variations in the amount of DHA and EPA, the 2 most important essential fatty acids known as omega 3 fats, found in different capsules available today. Many capsules are called 18/12 capsules, meaning that in a 1000 milligrams capsule you get 18 percent, or 180 milligrams, of EPA and 12 percent, or 120 milligrams of DHA. But many other capsules contained widely varying amounts.

Of these 2 DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is the most important Omega 3 fat. To give you an example the Omega3 supplements that I take myself have 2 1/2 times as much DHA as “regular” capsules.

You could assume that any omega 3 supplements described as super Omega 3 supplements would contain a much higher percentage of DHA (and EPA) than regular capsules and this is the case for these capsules even though they are not described as “super”.

But when you’re buying you need to consider a little more than just how much active ingredients you are getting in each of the various fish oil capsules available. Manufacturers are now starting to produce a new generation of omega 3 supplements that include a range of other ingredients which offer health benefits on top of the health benefits offered by the fatty acids.

To give you an example just this week a new “premium” omega 3 range was released. These contain 28 percent DHA but as well as that they also contain some new ingredients which have not been previously available. These ingredients will benefit your health and even your skin.

A good example is something found in tomatoes called lycopene. If you read the health literature you may know about lycopene already. There is growing evidence that increasing the intake of lycopene can reduce the risk of breast cancer for women and prostate cancer for men.

And new research is also showing that increasing our lycopene intake helps protect our skin from the UV rays of the sun, the primary cause of skin aging. Not only that but the research has also shown that increasing your intake of lycopene can actually start to reverse some of the damaging effects of the sun’s UV radiation. Skin aging through the effects of the sun is called photo-aging and it is becoming established that lycopene can help reverse photo-aging.

Modern science is getting better and better and our scientists are now starting to uncover some of the hitherto unknown health benefits of natural substances such as lycopene. And top quality health companies are now able to incorporate these types of ingredients into new products such as the new generation of omega 3 supplements now becoming available.

If you’re in the market for some Omega 3 capsules you need to understand a little about what you are getting when you buy. Price is not the only determinant, because it’s important to understand how much active ingredient (DHA) you’re getting in each capsule, and you also need to consider whether buying the new generation of omega 3 supplements now coming onto the market would be of benefit to you because of the extra ingredients now incorporated in these products, and their health benefits.

If you’d like to find out more about these “premium” omega 3 supplements then visit my website.

 

The health benefits of omega3 essential fatty acids have been well publicised recently and it is becoming well known that most of us are deficient in the omega3 oils that are so important to our good health. Omega 3 essential fatty acids are found in fish oil, which obviously comes from fish. But if fish are contaminated with Mercury then what should we do?

A recent study published this year has examined the levels of Mercury contamination in fish and in the north Pacific Ocean. According to the results of the study the levels of Mercury in the North Pacific has increased 30 percent from’96 to 2006.

And as well is this it also found that around 40 percent of Mercury found population of US can be traced back and tuna that they have eaten which has been caught in the North Pacific.

This is concerning. Mercury is a serious environmental toxin and is no good for our health when we consume it. It is a neurotoxin and has serious implications for the developing fetus and infant.

Atmospheric production of Mercury as well as Mercury leakage from Asia were the major ways that it was found that Mercury made its way into the oceans. It is found in the oceans as methylmercury, and is found in our tuna because it starts at the bottom of the food chain and works it’s way up right up to fish at the top of the food chain like shark and tuna. And we eat shark and tuna.

So there is a dilemma here for anyone wishing to increase their intake of omega3 essential fatty acids from eating more fish. If you eat more fish you get more Omega3 oils in your diet however you also increase your level of Mercury consumption.

Not only that but fish is a declining resource and is also getting more and more expensive with time. Is there a better way to increase your intake of omega3 fatty acids other than by eating fish? Yes.

A much better way that is both more cost-effective and safer than eating more fish is by daily supplementation with omega3 supplements. These can be called fish oil supplements, and the best fish oil supplements are much more cost-effective than eating fish and are also free of contamination with Mercury. Large numbers of people now recognize this and the sales of omega3 supplements are increasing faster than any other nutritional supplement in history.

If you like eating fish then by all means increase your intake and this improves your dietary intake of omega3. However by doing so you are also increasing your intake of Mercury, as well as affecting your budget. But if you’d prefer to avoid the cost of buying fish as well is the risks of eating Mercury then omega3 supplements are certainly a much more cost-effective and are safer way to do so.

It is however worth noting that there wide variations in the quality of the various supplements available, and that the best fish oil supplements contain almost 3 times as much Omega3 fats as average capsules.

If you’d like to find out how to compare the different omega3 supplements available then you can do so on my website.

Want to know more about the health benefits of Fish Oil? Or more about Omega3 Fats? Visit Peter’s Website Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oil.

 

Sales of fish oil pills are growing faster than sales of any other nutritional supplement in history. Lets look at why fish oil pills, sometimes called omega 3 pills or omega 3 supplements, are selling so fast and why you should be taking them as well.

Fish oil contains 2 essential fatty acids called DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and these are good fats. You may have heard that fat in your diet is bad for you but that is not necessarily true. Some fat in your diet is good for you.

There are some bad fats, in particular saturated fat which is primarily found in animal products such as red meat and chicken. However there are also good fats which are extremely important to your health. The omega 3 fatty acids called essential fatty acids are extremely important to your health and are not manufactured in your body. Therefore the only way you can get Omega 3 fatty acids into you is by taking fish oil pills, or eating a lot of fish.

It is common knowledge, confirmed by studies, that US citizens eat way too little fish and therefore their intake of omega 3 essential fatty acids is inadequate. There are studies which have shown that citizens in countries where fish is on the menu almost daily have much better health and in particular much better heart health then we do and that this is a result of their higher intake of fish and seafood products.

There’s a wide range of health benefits from increasing your intake of essential fatty acids. These health benefits include improvments in heart health and these are now recognized by the American Heart Association which recommends minimum intakes of DHA and EPA for each of us every week. They suggest eating more fish or else taking Omega 3 capsules.

The benefits of increasing our intake of omega 3 include a reduced risk of heart attack causing death, lower blood pressure, lower triglycerides, reduced plaque in the arteries as well as improvements in brain function and memory, reduced incidence of macular degeneration causing blindness and a reduction in the risk or the effects of many inflammatory diseases like arthritis. And that’s not all.

There is also ample evidence that pregnant women should be taking Omega 3 supplements because DHA and EPA, and in particular DHA, is an essential part of brain development and that if pregnant women are DHA deficient this can negatively affect the brain development of the fetus. Equally it is important for breastfeeding women to supplement with DHA and EPA because these become available to the infant through the breastmilk, and are important to the infant for the same reason. Studies show that children with an adequate supply of Omega3 fats through their developmental years do better on IQ tests.

It is quite clear that we need more DHA and EPA in our diets, but how? Of course we can all eat more fish but fish is very expensive and only certain types of fish, namely oily fish, have high levels of Omega3 fats. Fish is generally contaminated with toxins and the FDA tells us to limit our intake of fish for this reason.

Fish oil pills are the ideal solution. They are capsules of fish oil which you can take everyday, and you can cut the top off and poor the oil onto the kids breakfast if they can’t take the capsules. They are cost effective and the best fish oil pills are contamination free.

But there are wide variations in the amount of DHA, the most important Omega 3 fat, in the different omega 3 supplements available and it’s difficult to compare one brand of supplements with another.

I supplement my diet, and the diet of my family, with Omega3 supplements every day. I use what I consider to be by far the best fish oil pills on the market. To find out which these are visit my website.

Want to know more about Fish Oil Benefits? Or want to find the best Fish Oil Pills? Visit Peter’s Website Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oil.

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