As a retired physician, my main concern has always been to help people become and stay healthy. That is why I would like to share some very useful information with you regarding how you can maintain your health. Do you want to learn why you and everyone else you know should be consuming a high grade Omega 3 fish oil supplement daily? Here you are going to learn the difference between the “stuff” you purchase off the shelf in supermarkets, and health food stores and the high quality product you should be purchasing from a reputable source. Lets start with the health benefits of taking Omega-3 fish oil.
1. Cardiovascular health: Decreased risk of Heart Attack by 20-40% & Cardiac Arrhythmias and sudden death (especially immediately following heart attacks)Decreased risk of repeat Heart Attacks. Stabilizes & modestly reduces blood pressure.
2. Neurological Health:
Helps prevent Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinsonism and general cognitive functioning.
Improves IQ in children.
Helps prevent and treat Autism, ADD/ADHD
Used to treat Traumatic Brain Injury and Traumatic Spinal Cord injured patients.
May reduce the amount of brain damage after a Stroke
3. Ocular Health:
Helps prevent age related Macular Degeneration & Poor Night Vision
Helps maintain healthy visual acuity in all ages
Provides better eyesight in children when taken by pregnant mother
Helps prevent & mitigate migraine headaches
4. Joint Health: Useful in Rheumatoid arthritis, SLE, other auto-immune & inflammatory conditions & diseases.
5. Integumentary Health: Skin… Helps control eczema, acne, Psoriasis; helps prevent sun damage & is beneficial for those with dry skin & dandruff.
6. Menstrual Cramps: Reduces Menstrual Cramps by as much as 70%.
7. Pregnancy: Helps Mother Carry to term by reducing the inflammatory response and
muscle contractions caused by excessive Omega-6
Promotes Healthy Fetal Brain & Retinal Development
Decreases the incidence of Post-partum Depression.
Decreases incidence of ADD/ADHD, Autism.
Increases Intellectual Capacity of newborn
Promotes healthy visual acuity in the newborn
8. Anti-carcinogenic: Colon, Breast, Prostate. Improves outcomes in patients treated with chemotherapy and reduces unpleasant side effects from chemotherapy. .
9. Triglycerides & Cholesterol. Decreases Triglycerides. Increases good HDL cholesterol & decreases bad LDL cholesterol
10. Anorexia Nervosa… Helpful as and adjunct in the treatment of A.N.
11. Obesity… Useful in the prevention & treatment of Obesity through its effect on mitigating Insulin resistance, promoting Thermogenesis.
12. Depression and Mood
Promotes emotional well being, helps counteract mood swings and Depressive & Anxiety states, beneficial in patients suffering from Schizophrenia,
Very effective in patients with Bipolar Disease (Manic Depressive states).
13. Allergies: Beneficial for those suffering from various allergies
14. Sleep problems: Beneficial for sleep problems
15. Vascular Health: Helps prevent the build up of plaque that causes heart attacks, strokes & peripheral vascular disease. May actually reduce plaque build up in your arteries by promoting HDL over LDL.
16. Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Due to the potent anti-inflammatory properties of Omega 3 it is helpful in Ulcerative Colitis & Crohn’s Disease as an adjunct to prescription medications.
17. Diabetes Mellitus/Type 2: Inhibits the condition known as insulin resistance which means that the body’s endogenous insulin cannot function normally and therefore the blood sugar levels can become abnormally elevated.
18. Diabetes Mellitus/Type 1: Omega-3 may help prevent and/or stabilize Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.
19. Asthma: Omega-3 may diminish or eliminate the symptoms of Asthma.
20. Immune System … Omega-3 has been shown to bolster the Immune System by partially blocking the action of Omega-6.
21. Weight Loss: Omega 3: 1) Stimulates thermogenesis(fat burning) by increasing the body’s metabolic rate. 2) Blocks fat storage. 3) Helps prevent the formation of an excess number of fat cells. 4) Encourages a quick burn of calories before they can be deposited as fat. 5) Helps your body absorb healthy nutrients to give you more nutritional benefit without the need to eat excessively.
22. Skeletal System (Bones): Omega-3 + Calcium = Healthy Bones. The Omega-3 long chain essential fatty acids are critical to bone health & are necessary for the absorption & deposition into bones of certain minerals such as Calcium helping prevent osteoporosis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Who needs to take Omega-3 Supplements?
A. Everyone
Q. At what age should I start taking Omega-3?
A. Before you’re born (in utero) up until you’re 99
Q. Who says?
A. The World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, the American Heart Association, the American Rheumatologic Association & others
Q. Why do I need Omega -3?
A. The body cannot manufacture omega-3. The average American diet is overly rich in Omega-6 which in excessive quantities, is actually toxic to your body.
Q. Why can’t I just eat more fish?
A. Most fish contain impurities that are bad for you. It would be nearly impossible to eat enough fish to equal the amount of EPA & DHA found in a pure, high potency Omega 3 product.
Q. What impurities are there in fish?
A. Toxins such as Mercury, Lead, PCB’s, dioxin, just to name a few.
Q. Don’t all Omega-3 products contain lots of impurities?
A. Most low end, inexpensive Omega-3 products and some not so inexpensive OTC products do.
Q. Which Omega-3 products don’t?
A. There are a few on the market of high quality. See end of article.
Q. Isn’t flaxseed oil an alternative for Omega-3 derived from fish sources?
A. No, definitely not. Flaxseed oil contains ALA which is converted poorly, slowly and inefficiently into Omega-3 and therefore is a poor substitute for marine derived Omega-3.
Most importantly, the Human Brain, which is 60% fat, depends on the form of Omega-3 which is only derived from Fish Sources and not from plant sources which contain ALA.
Q. How much Winomeg-3 should I take daily?
A. Look for a product that offers 1000-1100 mg of EPA & 300-400 mg of DHA & a small amount of Omega 6 50-60 mg. The ration of EPA to DHA should be 3-4 to 1. Take at least 2-3 per day, but there is no maximum dose (see below).
Q. I take prescription medications. Are there any medications that react with Omega-3?
A. Overall you may take Omega-3 supplements with any other prescription & non-prescription medications. The only possible precaution is if you are taking an anticoagulant such as Coumadin® you should talk with your health care provider.
Q. How is it possible that Omega-3 can be so beneficial for all of these different conditions?
A. Omega 3 is an essential component of all of the cells in your body and the reason why it has all of these beneficial effects is that all of the walls of the cells in your body, are made up of polyunsaturated long chain fatty acids (Omega-3).
Q. What are EPA & DHA in regard to Omega-3.
A. DHA & EPA are both members of the Omega-3 long chain, polyunsaturated fatty acid family of compounds. EPA is responsible for maintaining healthy eye, retina, cardiovascular health and is responsible for the anti-inflammatory properties of Omega-3. EPA also helps regulate hormonal function and balance, immune system function, nervous system health, helps lower triglycerides and cholesterol and prostaglandins. EPA may be the more potent and important of the two main components of Omega-3, although
DHA is one of the main building blocks of the Brain and the Retina, which is why it is so extremely important to the developing fetus. .
Q. What are the side effects of Omega-3?
A. There are no known side effects of this natural product. The Inuit (Eskimos) of all ages, ingest on average up to 19 grams of Omega-3 a day and have no adverse side effects from this dosage. This is equal to over 12 Omega 3 capsules per day.
Q. What criteria should I look for in an Omega-3 product?
A. The following is a list of the characteristics you should look for:
1. Pharmaceutical Grade
2. Produced in a Licensed Pharmaceutical Facility
3. Produced under the highest standards of purity that go far
beyond those set by various European & American
governing bodies.
4. Licensed by the FDA to be able to produce Pharmaceutical
Grade Prescription strength Omega-3
5. Produced from exceptional raw materials
consisting only of arctic cold water non-predatory fish (anchovies,
herring & sardines) naturally high in the Omega-3 fatty
acids, EPA & DHA, harvested from cold arctic
waters and very low in environmental pollutants.
6. Exceptional Purity. 85-88% pure. All known
pollutants are reduced below detectable levels
7. Highly concentrated. minimizes the number of gel caps you have to take on a
daily basis
8. High EPA to DHA Ratio. It has been scientifically determined that the EPA to
DHA ratio should be at least 3-4 to 1
9. Low amounts of Omega 6. Omega 6 is a needed and necessary ingredient in
normal diets. However, the amount should be very small compared to Omega 3.
10. Molecular Distillation. The best omega 3 products are all processed under
molecular distillation, an expensive & time consuming process.
11. Exceptional Freshness. No fishy smell when you open the bottle, or fishy
aftertaste (no “fish burps”) because the product is Oxygen Free (because it is
encapsulated under Nitrogen). Oxidized fish oil should not be ingested due to
rancidity, spoilage and loss of potency.
12. Cholesterol Free, Triglyceride Free & Saturated Fat Free. Other
commonly found omega 3 products contain all three of these harmful
elements and are definitely not recommended for human consumption.
Q. Where can I find an Omega-3 product that meets these strict criteria?
A. There are a few reputable (and many not so reputable) companies.
We would advise you to check on the following link to an excellent source of Omega 3 that meets all of the above criteria: http://RoblinWellnessToday.com
To Your Good Health!
Dr. Bob