|
If there is one supplement that everyone should be taking, hands-down that should be a high quality fish oil supplement with the essential omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.
EPA (eicosapentaenic acid) and DHA (docosahexanoic acid) are a class of fatty acids known as omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids are vitally important for so many things in the body it is almost rediculous when you consider the benefits of optimal levels and dangers of low levels.
This from the Mayo Clinic: "There is evidence from multiple studies supporting intake of recommended amounts of DHA and EPA in the form of dietary fish or fish oil supplements lowers triglycerides, reduces the risk of death, heart attack, dangerous abnormal heart rhythms, and strokes in people with known cardiovascular disease, slows the buildup of atherosclerotic plaques ("hardening of the arteries"), and lowers blood pressure slightly."
Benefits:
- Fat Loss
- Brain Health
- Joint Health
- Heart Health
- Lowers Blood Pressure
- Supports Muscle Building
- Memory and Learning Support
- Reduces Inflammation
- Anti-Aging Benefits
- Blood Sugar Health
- Immune System Boost
- Skin Health
- Know to reduce symptoms of ADD and ADHD
- and much more
As you can see, the benefits of omega 3s, specifically EPA and DHA are quite impressive. The only problem is that the main sources of EPA and DHA are from grasses and deep see grasses. We can't eat or digest those since weare not herbivores. Luckily, we can eat the animals that eat those things and get the benefits. Deep sea cold-water fish and grass-fed cows have the highest amounts of EPA and DHA but the fish take the cake.
However, very few of us eat enough cold water fish to get sufficient EPA and DHA, especially people who live away from the ocean.
One of the most profound benefits of EPA and DHA are that they reduce inflammation in the body. Inflammation has been linked to various cancers, chronics aches and pains, early aging, premature death, chronic illness, fat accumulation, muscle wasting and many diseases.
Chronic inflammation also is responsible for joint degeneration (cartilage, bone, tendon, ligament, etc.).
Acute inflammation is a part of the natural healing process, you get injured, your body creates inflammation at the site of injury to bring healing agents to the area. However, most inflammation in the body is not a result of an acute injury but rather of various stressors. Environmental stressors, toxic pesticides in our vegetables and other foods and more. Too much exercise causes inflammation as well. After all, you are tearing down muscle tissue as you exercise, right? You need to heal from that inflammation before your next exercise session. Even emotional stress plays a role in the inflammation process via hormonal cascades.
Inflammation is the number one cause for heart disease and hardening of the arteries and arterial plaque (atherosclerosis).
A quick note for those interested in muscle building... remember how I said that acute (short-term) inflammation is needed for the healing of tissues? Since building muscle essentially means tearing down muscle and rebuilding it, it is indicated that you don't want to reduce inflammation immediately after exercise. Rather, wait a couple of hours before taking your fish oil... it will take more time after that for the EPA and DHA to do their antiinflammatory wonders so your body should do a good job of building new muscle while in inflammation. I usually take my fish oil closer to bed time.
There are 3 types of omega 3 fatty acids: EPA, DHA and ALA. Vegetable sources of omega 3 fatty acids only contain ALA, not EPA or DHA.
ALA has not been shown to have the same benefits of EPA and DHA, thus supplementing with ALA is not recommended and perhaps just a waste of money.
Now, while technically ALA can convert into EPA and DHA in the body, it is a rather complex process and only happens if you have optimal levels of certain enzymes, magnesium and vitamin B6 in your body. There are other chemical processes that can prevent ALA from turning into EPA and DHA and even when it does convert it only converts in very small amounts.
What is worse is that in the absence of certain key enzymes, minerals and vitamins, ALA can actually convert into prosteglandin E2, which in high levels is a major inflammatory and catabolic agent responsible for many health concerns.
So in other words, you must consume EPA and DHA to get optimal levels.
The cool thing is that DHA is starting to show up in eggs, you can buy DHA eggs at most grocery stores. But the EPA is still missing. That is why I recommend people take an omega 3 supplement that is high in hard-to-get EPA and moderate in easier-to-get DHA.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, consumers need to take extreme caution when eating fish as many are contaminated with high amounts of highly toxic methylmercury.
As industrial polutants are dumped into our oceans, lakes and even landfills (which finds it's way into our water) mercury and other toxins find their way into the fish that live in the water.
Mercury is a highly dangerous neurotoxin which can lead to a number of brain and nervous system  disorders and is even being linked to autism and other developmental diseases.
When finding a fish oil it is imparitive that you find a source that is of the highest quality. A high quality fish oil that follows Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) set for the pharmaceutical industry is vital. This ensure that what is on the label is what is in the bottle.
A high quality lab with the proper equipment can remove the mercury from the fish oil.
There are roughly 2,000 supplement companies in the US and most of them are actually assembled in someone's basement, a hotel room or other non-FDA certified facility. Worse yet is that most supplements are made in cheap Chinese facilities, imported to the US and then in one of those basements a local company slaps their label on it. If you get a cheap omega 3 supplement I can almost guarantee you that it was made in a cheap Chinese facility with substandard quality.
This is my favorite EPA/DHA fish oil supplement around. I take this daily to help me recover from my intense strength and conditioning and martial arts training sessions. I have tried other omega 3 supplements before and always came back to Nutrilite's Ocean Essentials Heart Health because I can feel the difference in the way my joints and muscles feel, plus I don't get the fishy burps that I would get with other fish oils (yuck!).
Nutrilite has several omega 3 products but the one I recommend is the Ocean Essentials "Heart Health" omega 3.
The reasons is that it is from a fish source, thus contains EPA and DHA rather than ALA from vegetables sources. Also, it contains higher amounts of EPA and more moderate amounts of DHA, this is good because of the fact you can buy DHA eggs at the grocery store.
You can only get Nutrilite Ocean Essentials Heart Health Omega 3 online.
Click one of the links below to learn more and see pricing information.
Click Here to buy Nutrilite Ocean Essential Heart Health Omega 3
Nutrilite has a cheaper version of the Heart Health Omega 3, the Balanced Health Omega 3. The main difference is that the Balanced Health has lower levels of both EPA and DHA.
Click Here for Nutrilite Ocean Essentials Balanced Health Omega 3
|
. 
, 
