Ten Reasons to Get Omega-3 Fatty Acids in your diet!

1. Brain Support: 40% of your brain is made of the DHA Omega-3 molecular structure.
2. Cardiovascular Support: Omega-3 thins the blood moderately to allow less constriction in blood flow.
3. If you have already had a heart attack, you will want to have a daily regimen of Omega-3 to help support your heart.
4. Prevention of heart attack.
5. Prevention of stroke.
6. Omega-3 will support and help your joints work better with less pain.
7. Omega-3 is an anti-inflammatory. Most chronic diseases start with inflammation.
8. Omega-3 taken on a daily basis will begin to help balance your blood lipid profile.
9. You may not like fish. You can get your Omega-3 requirement in a capsule instead of a fish dinner.
10. You can still eat fish. But if the fish is farm raised it may not have much Omega-3. Omega-3 comes from seaweed. You don’t have to eat seaweed, just take your Omega-3s daily.

Experience Amazing True Omega-3 Health Benefits

With heart disease still the number one killer in America, it only makes sense to listen to what the American Heart Association says about Omega-3:

"Omega-3 fatty acids benefit the heart of healthy people, and those at high risk of, or who have, cardiovascular disease."

Thanks to our Inuit Brothers, We're Living Longer.

Everyone knows that cholesterol is an evil, silent killer, right? Wrong. At least, wrong at the fundamental core. It’s true, when you suffer a heart attack or stroke – a thrombosis, in medical parlance – it’s a big gob of cholesterol that’s clogging an artery, or blocking blood flow to your brain.

But do you know why the cholesterol is there in the first place?

It’s not due to eating foods high in cholesterol – not directly, anyway. It’s due to a problem with your body’s arteries and veins – a problem that your body uses cholesterol to fix. You see, over time, our arteries get harder and less flexible. Then, thanks to stresses or diet, we cause our arteries to get inflamed, to expand and shrink. When that happens with a hard artery, it’s like water freezing inside a road – cracks start to appear.

Cholesterol is actually a wonderful material – one that our body uses to treat these cracks. It’s sticky and smooth and acts rather like Spackle. When a crack appears in your arteries and your body can’t heal it, the liver releases some cholesterol to slap onto the arterial wall, and presto! – good as new. The problem is, when the cracks get too large and widespread, the liver is forced to spit out cholesterol at an ever-increasing pace – and, eventually, the whole process goes haywire. That’s when the trouble occurs – when the cholesterol gets too great, it combines with blood’s natural coagulants, creates clots, and eventually leads to heart attacks or strokes. A common approach to solving this problem, medically, is to prescribe statin drugs that reduce your cholesterol. Not all doctors believe in this approach, though – for obvious reasons.

Simply stopping the production of cholesterol in the liver doesn’t solve your arterial problems. It’s like taking a numbing cough syrup for strep throat, and saying you’re cured! Sooner or later, the real problem will resurface, worse than before. So, in my search for a solution to my triglyceride levels, I knew I had to keep looking. In the end, I found an answer at the North Pole.

The Ancient Inuit Secret To Heart Health: True Omega-3®

In the late 1970s, the medical establishment was amazed to find that modern hunter-gatherers, like the Inuit, live relatively free of many western-industrial diseases, like heart disease, diabetes and obesity. But this only remained true if they maintained a traditional diet and exercise regimen and avoided the foods and lifestyles of the West. This Inuit diet consists mainly of wild, fatty fish, whale blubber and seal. Researchers eventually deduced that the long-chain fatty acids known as Omega-3s were primarily responsible for the lack of modern diseases among the Inuit.

They have been shown to reduce the risk of coronary artery disease and cardiac sudden death; mitigate the pain and disability of Crohn’s disease; lower blood pressure; diminish the pain and stiffness in rheumatoid arthritis; reduce triglycerides; counteract or prevent symptoms of asthma; improve the health of insulin-dependent diabetes; and possibly perform many other clinical actions. In fact, the omega-3s may prevent or delay the onset of these modern diseases.” (The Omega-3 Connection, Andrew L. Stolle, MD 2002.) In short, this one compound – the Omega-3 – was found to be an essential nutrient for human health. And it’s not just limited to heart health.

The List Of Omega-3 Benefits Are Astounding

What are Omega-3s? Omega-3s refer to a certain type of long chain fatty acids. The scientific names of the ones we are most interested in because of their benefits are EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). It’s just much easier to refer to these two molecules as EPA and DHA. In easy terms, EPA helps the arteries and joints and DHA helps the brain and eyes. These molecular components of Omega-3s are now recognized by doctors, scientists, the American Heart Association and even the US Government as having numerous benefits:

1. Superior cardiovascular health: Fish oil’s DHA and EPA has been proven to work wonders for your heart and the very large network of arteries and veins that make up our cardiovascular system. They help lower “bad” LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure, while at the same time increasing “good” HDL cholesterol. This can add years to your life expectancy.

• How do we know this? All these conclusions were found by the researchers exploring the heart health of traditional Inuits. For further study, I highly recommend you read Dr. Andrew Stoll’s 2002 release, The Omega-3 Connection.

2. Protection from heart attack and stroke: When cholesterol plaque builds up on arterial walls and then breaks loose, it causes what’s known as a thrombosis, which is just a fancy word for “clot.” If a clot gets stuck in the brain, it causes a stroke and when it plugs an artery, it causes a heart attack. Research shows fish oil fatty acids break up clots before they can cause any damage.

• • How do we know this? The underlying cause of this plaque buildup is atherosclerosis. For decades, the medical establishment has named “cholesterol” as the problem.
  • Cholesterol in itself isn’t actually damaging to artery walls. In fact, as we’ve discussed, cholesterol is actually used by your body to repair damaged artery walls. If, due to atherosclerosis, the liver begins releasing too much cholesterol, instead of simply plugging up small holes in arteries, this excess cholesterol begins forming plaques over damaged artery walls. Frequently these plaques also get bound up with blood platelets (the proteins in blood that make blood clot), making them larger and more unstable. When these plaques get too large, they can break off, leading to heart attacks, strokes, embolism in the lungs, and other very serious health complications.
  • The real problem in this scenario isn’t actually cholesterol – it’s the damage to artery walls that is causing excess cholesterol to be released into your blood. Reversing this damage and preventing further damage is the only real way to improve your cardiovascular risk profile. The cause of this damage is inflammation. Healing this damage and preventing future damage requires taming down the inflammation in your blood vessels and, indeed, in your entire body. This is where Omega 3 fats come in.
• Omega-3 fats are inherently anti-inflammatory. In essence, they prevent the creation of chemicals that drive inflammation in blood vessels. Your body makes a variety of chemicals called “eicosanoids” that create inflammation. The major source of these pro-inflammatory eicosanoids are Omega-6 fats. Omega-6 fats are very common in vegetable oils and make up a large part of the American diet. Omega-6 fats act opposite to Omega-3 fats in your body. Consuming Omega-6 fats creates more inflammation, while consuming Omega-3 fats creates less inflammation. In fact, the underlying problem that we call cholesterol is now known to be inflammation caused by Omega-6 fatty acids. In a healthy diet, the intake of Omega 6 and Omega 3 fats is balanced. For instance, The Inuit have a 1:1 correlation in their Omega 6 : Omega 3 intake. In the United States its 20:1 on average and ever increasing with use of the wrong kind of cooking oils and eating “junk food.”
• The inflammation in the arteries caused by too many Omega-6s requires cholesterol to be summoned by the body’s immune response. The sandpapering of the arteries can’t be tolerated and the cholesterol (fat) is called to soothe the arteries and try to repair the thin walls of the arteries. Reduce the Omega-6s and increase the Omega-3s and you won’t need an over-abundance of cholesterol. Your body will figure that out in a reasonable amount of time.
• Omega-6s vie for the same enzymes as Omega-3s. Under our western lifestyle and eating habits, we have so many omega-6s in the diet, they win the enzyme contest. Omega-6s promote inflammation, causing a narrowing of the arterial walls and robbing the heart of oxygen. Omega-3s on the other hand, relax the arteries, reduce inflammation, help break up clots and allow for a free flow of oxygen to the heart. Both Omegas are needed but in a rational proportion.
• For more proof, cardiologist Alexander Leaf of Harvard Medical School performed laboratory experiments on animals. Labs rats were induced to cardiac arrest. These heart attacks were stopped and reversed by intravenous injection of omega-3s. Animals pre-treated with Omega-3s had far fewer cardiac arrests. One can’t really say enough good things about the ability of the heart to prosper and life to be extended through the proper ingestion of Omega-3s.

3. Relieve pain in joints and mitigate inflammation: Omega 3 fish oil fatty acids, particularly EPA, have a very positive effect on your inflammatory response. Through several mechanisms, they regulate your body’s inflammation cycle, which prevents and relieves painful conditions like arthritis, prostatitis, cystitis and even Crohn’s disease!

• How do we know this? More than a dozen studies on the effects of omega-3s with rheumatoid arthritis sufferers showed significant reduction in swelling and associated pain to the point that many patients were able to discontinue their anti-inflammatory medications. Similar studies were done with Crohn’s sufferers, and ulcerative colitis with similar results, reduction in symptoms and the reduction of toxic drugs with major side effects. It’s similar to point 2 above. Omega-6s and Omega-3s need to be in balance. Ideal would be a 1:1 correlation. If you got your correlation down from 20:1 to 4:1 there would be significant improvement on a whole host of health issues.

4. Better brain function for us and higher intelligence for our kids and grandkids: Pregnant and nursing mothers can have a great impact on the intelligence and happiness of their babies by supplementing with omega 3 fish oil. The DHA component is the material that our brain cells are made out of. For grown adults, fish oil improves memory, recall, reasoning and focus. You’ll swear you’re getting younger and smarter.

• How do we know this? Dr. Andrew Stolle states that the nutritional needs for fetal development in the womb come from the mother. If the mother is deficient in folic acid, the baby will develop spina bifida. Likewise, “Both new and old research indicates that a lack of Omega-3s during gestation may impair development of the visual system and compromise future intelligence.” DHA is needed to grow billions of brain cells. (The Omega-3 Connection, page 90, Andrew Stolle, 2002)

5. Elevated Mood: Making you smarter is not all that fish oil does for your brain. Psychiatry department researchers at the University of Sheffield UK, along with many other research studies, found that fish oil supplements alleviated the symptoms of depression, bipolar disorder and psychosis.

• How do we know this? [Journal of Affective Disorder Vol. 48(2-3);149-55] Dr Andrew Stolle presented findings in 1997 to the American College of Neuropsycholopharmacology. His finding were dramatic and startling, demonstrating that Omega-3s help alleviate symptoms in the most difficult of bipolar cases. This was met with a mixture of skepticism, excitement, encouragement and jokes. However, the Archives of General Psychiatry, a leading journal, published his paper. Now fish oil and highly concentrated Omega-3s are routinely used in hard to treat mood disorders.

6. Lower incidence of childhood disorders: The benefits of fish oil fatty acids include studies that show children (and adults) with ADD and ADHD experience a greatly improved quality of life. And those with dyslexia, dyspraxia and compulsive disorders have gotten a new lease on life thanks to fish oil supplements.

How do we know this? The leading researcher linking low levels of DHA to various disorders including ADD and ADHD is John R. Burgess and his team at Purdue University. While indications are that low levels of DHA are noted in children with characteristics akin to ADHD – whether children were diagnosed or not – reflects strongly that future treatments will address nutrition along with other treatments. Even schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are being treated with omega-3s.

7. Reduction of breast, colon and prostate cancer incidence: Finally, fish oil has been shown to help prevent three of the most common forms of cancer – breast, colon and prostate. Science tells us that it accomplishes this in three ways – by stopping the alteration from a normal healthy cell to a cancerous mass, by inhibiting unwanted cellular growth and by killing off cancer cells.

• How do we know this? It may be the overzealous growth of cell in cancers is aided and abetted by the overabundance of Omega-6s, which facilitate cell growth. Omega-3s have the opposite effect. In nature’s way of synchronization, the body does so much better when the Omega-3s are in balance with Omega-6s. Omega-6s are needed for certain biochemical functions but they must be kept in balance with Omega-3s for optimal health.

Let’s summarize:

• Health benefits for everyone! The American Heart Association reports, “Omega-3 fatty acids benefit the heart of healthy people and those at high risk of or who have cardiovascular disease.” See American Heart Association Statement
• Labeled “essential” by the US Government. In May 2003, OMB and the White House said Americans would be healthier if they consumed more Omega-3s. See White House / OMB Statement
• Lowers triglycerides
• Decreases the growth rate of atherosclerotic plaque, hardening of the arteries.
• Helps kids develop with higher intelligence
• May help prevent some cancers
• Improves blood circulation
• Natural anti-inflammatory can help relieve joint pain
• Improved mental health

Issues With Omega-3 Fish Oils One reason you may not want to take an Omega-3 fish oil despite all the benefits listed above:

• Repeating: Low grade fish oils cause a “fishy burp” – if you think you should save some money and try a really cheap, inexpensive fish oil from a big box store, chances are you will take the fish oil once or twice and then it will sit on your kitchen shelf untouched. It’s just too uncomfortable for most people to have fishy breath.
• Solution: The solution to this is very simple. Buy a high grade Omega-3 fish oil, meaning an Omega-3 oil that is highly concentrated with 60 -70% of the capsule contents being pure EPA/DHA.

Where Can I Get It?

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