Omega-3 Fatty Acids 101
Introduction
You’ve probably been hearing a lot about Omega-3 fatty acids – but what exactly are they?
Many people may know that Omega-3s are good for their health, but they don’t know exactly why or how they work.
In this short guide to Omega-3, I’ll be going over what Omega-3 is, how it can optimize your and your family’s health, how to choose a good Omega-3 supplement, and much more.
Are you ready? Let’s get started…
What Is Omega-3 And Why Is It Healthy?
Omega-3s are considered one of the essential fatty acids and are essential to human health.
The problem is, our bodies are unable to make them on their own.
So that means we need to obtain our Omega-3 from the food we eat (or from supplements).
Of course, we can, and most of us probably should, also take an Omega-3 supplement to ensure that our body has all of the important fatty acids that it needs to build muscles and maintain proper cell growth.
Omega-3s are a type of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) that is crucial for maintaining proper brain function, growth, and development.
An important anti-inflammatory, one of Omega-3’s jobs is to help prevent such degenerative diseases as arthritis, heart disease, even memory loss, and, according to some, even cancer.
Omega-3s also aid in making our skin taut and smooth, thus playing an important role in keeping us looking younger longer.
From warding off wrinkles, to helping to keep coronary arteries clear, Omega-3 fatty acids have been linked to all sorts of health benefits, which I’ll discuss in detail further on.
But first, let’s look at the three main types of Omega-3 fatty acids:
- Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA)
This is a very important Omega-3 fatty acid – new research indicates that EPA can actually prevent a heart attack or stroke.
One study even reported that people with low levels of EPA in their body are as much as 47% more likely to suffer a cardiac episode than those with sufficient levels of EPA in their system.
To keep a sufficient amount of EPA in your system, you would need to eat between 400 and 500 grams of cold water fish such as sardines, mackerel, or salmon two or three times per week.
Unfortunately, few people can stomach that much deep-sea fish, and even if you could, most experts warn against it since so many of the world’s fish are now contaminated with mercury and other toxins. (See my article about wild-caught salmon for more information.)
So what’s the alternative?
Taking 1,000 mg of EPA-rich fish oil on a daily basis is considered by most experts to work well at keeping EPA blood levels just as high as eating large amounts of deep sea fish.
Keep in mind, though, that EPA also needs DHA in order to work properly, so be sure any supplement you buy contains both.
- Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA)
This is another very important Omega-3 fatty acid that is needed by the body to achieve optimal health.
It is one of the longest chains of PUFAs found in Omega-3s and it’s essential for good brain function.
Nearly one quarter of our brain is made up of DHA, and without this important fat, you can suffer from several mental disorders, depression, or even Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).
In fact, scientific research has demonstrated a correlation between increased DHA levels and decreased incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Worse yet, without the right amount of DHA, your brain is unable to tell all of your organs what to do. For example, your heart can’t beat and your lungs can’t breathe without an order from your brain.
Even if a low DHA level doesn’t cause your body to go into catastrophic breakdown, it can leave you susceptible to a myriad of diseases or illnesses.
Now that you know how important getting the right amount of DHA is to overall health and well-being, you may be wondering what your best source of it is, and the answer is, fish oil.
You can get DHA-laden fish oil in one of two ways – by eating more fatty fish or by taking a DHA supplement.
Either way, the important thing to remember is that both EPA and DHA are crucial Omega-3 fatty acids that you must get regularly in order to ward off disease.
- Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA)
Found mainly in dark green, leafy vegetables, flax seed, and walnuts, ALA can do something other Omega-3 fatty acids can’t: if your body needs them, it can convert ALA into both DHA and EPA.
This is a unique and wonderful ability, since our bodies need these important Omega-3 fatty acids to stay healthy.
Omega-3 fatty acids are the good fats in our healthy diets – they are the fats our body needs to properly function.
They help keep our heart functioning at a healthy rate, our brains functioning as we age, and our joints functioning.
While it’s sometimes recommended that we limit our oil and fat consumption, we do need them.
Fat and oil help keep our bodies at our peak performance.
Fat is what keeps our bodies on the move, which is why it is best to get the healthier versions.
The healthy oils provided by fatty acids help keep the fats we consume from turning into heart-clogging “bad” cholesterol.
This is also avoided when you limit your fat intake in your diet.
While adding Omega-3 fatty acids to your diet does have health benefits, you should always discuss this with your doctor, because they will be able to provide resources for what source works best for your diet.
We all know we should eat a healthy diet, but with the availability these days of so many snack foods, it has become too easy to just grab the unhealthy snacks instead of finding healthier alternatives.
This is why the average diet is full of unhealthy fat, salt, and sugar.
Over the decades, we have seen the emergence of health problems caused by this diet, including cholesterol issues, diabetes, heart attacks, hypertension, and obesity.
When you are used to an unhealthy diet, it gets harder to reverse it properly (which is partly because many of the modern “pseudo-foods” are deliberately made to be addictive).
The good news is that this process is much easier if you start with small changes and keep them so they become habits – which can take up to two months.
So, where do Omega-3 acids come from?
While both Omega-3 and Omega-6 acids are essential to our bodies, we do not produce them on our own, as I said above.
We can only get these acids by food or supplement sources, although our bodies absorb the natural sources much more readily.
This is why doctors recommend eating fish and nuts for those deficient in these fatty acids.
However, you want your diet to be varied in the sources in which you get these acids because this will help to prevent you from becoming bored with the foods you are eating.
And you can do this by eating a large variety of the safer fish available (e.g. wild-caught Alaskan salmon) as well as nuts, seeds, and other plants.
DHA and EPA are found in fish such as anchovies, bass, halibut, mackerel salmon, sardines, trout, and tuna.
Keep in mind wild salmon fish has more Omega-3 acids than the farmed variety. (This is also true of trout – lake trout have more of these fatty acids than farmed trout.)
You can get fish from your fishmonger or grocery stores – but do check on the source. As the article referenced above mentions, some fish sold as wild-caught may not be, and farmed fish can contain dangerous chemicals.
While it can be more expensive, the health benefits outweigh the costs.
If possible, look for discount sales, or even go fishing, because this will reduce your costs.
Remember too that fish can be frozen for later consumption – just make sure to check for pin bones to reduce the risk of choking.
It is also recommended that pregnant women not eat certain fish (e.g. anything that’s farmed, blue tuna, or swordfish) because these often have a higher risk of contaminants such as lead, mercury, and pesticides.
ALA Is found in walnuts, flax seeds and oil canola oil, soybeans and soybean oils.
Smaller amounts of these acids are found in dark leafy greens such as kale, spinach, and some varieties of lettuce.
It is also found in cashews, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds and oil.
This is why doctors recommend things like mixed nuts to help obtain this fatty acid.
Dark leafy greens are also a source of iron essential for haemoglobin production in the blood.
Note: It is recommended that young children do not eat nuts until they are at least four years old.
Well that’s a basic introduction into what Omega-3 is and why it is so healthy.
Over the next few chapters I’ll take a more in-depth look at the history of Omega-3, how it can aid the whole family, and how to choose the right form of Omega-3.
The Discovery And History Of Omega-3
In the 1940s, Hugh Sinclair, a British physiologist, proposed a link between the increase of heart disease in the Western world and fatty acid deficiency.
Further studies were made more recently and these studies looked at the benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids.
The studies show that the Eskimos in Greenland who consume a lot of fish had markedly lower heart attack rates compared with subjects in Western communities.
In the Dietary Guidelines for Americans that came out in 1995 and 2000, published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Omega-3 fatty acids were mentioned.
The guidelines suggested the use of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, although no recommendations were made about Omega-3 fatty acid consumption.
In 2002, the American Heart Association published the first guidelines that recommended the use of Omega-3 fatty acids in individuals with or without heart disease. Included in these recommendations was the consumption of fish twice a week.
People with heart disease were recommended to consume a certain amount of these acids per day from sardines, salmon, and trout.
However, where fish oil supplements are concerned, patients are advised to consult with their medical practitioners (which in a way is weird because medical school covers precious little about the topics of nutrition and natural supplements).
In 2010, the guidelines set by the American Heart Association and the USDA recommend the consumption of fish two times a week for people without heart disease.
As you see, the recommendation to consume adequate amounts of Omega-3s is certainly not new – and more discoveries are being made every day.
Selecting An Omega-3 Supplement And Getting The Most Out Of It
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