Mega Omegas
The Health Benefits of
Omega 3 Fats
You probably know that vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants are loaded with health benefits. Well, there's another group of nutrients - essential fats - that are "essential" for the optimal health and function of your cell membranes: omega 3 fats. ["Butter," you may say, "That's an essential fat in my diet." Don't laugh; it actually could be. Butter from organic, grass-fed cows has these important fats. You can get omega 3 fats in meat. See Good Fat - Bad Fat.] DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) are the main Omega 3 fats that are in fish oil. DHA is especially important in the first few months of life (and probably in pregnancy), as it has been noted to be significant in nervous system development. Baby formula makers have even begun to add DHA to formula in recent years. The human body produces small amounts of DHA (you don't mind if I use the abbreviations, do you?), but we can get a lot more DHA and EPA from eating fatty cold water fish like salmon, tuna, sardines, and mackerel. But what if you don't like fish? And what about the heavy metals pollution factor? (Coal-burning electric plants have polluted the world's waterways with more mercury and other heavy metals than Mother Nature can process. One of the results is mercury-contaminated fish.) If children and pregnant women (and other sensitive individuals) are supposed to limit their fish intake, what's a person to do? Sometimes supplements are better than food; this is one of those times. Usually, "natural" is best; but NOT this time. Look for something like "micro-distilled" or "molecular distillation" on the fish oil supplement label, to be sure the heavy metals have been filtered out. Someone who doesn't get enough omega 3 fats can suffer brain and visual impairment. Low dietary levels of DHA and EPA have been linked to brain abnormalities such as ADHD, Alzheimer's disease, depression, memory loss, and senility. Studies have shown omega 3 fats to exert postive effects in these situations. Double-blind studies have also shown that persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) who were given DHA did much better than the control group given placebos. But the most important thing to remember about omega 3 fats is that it's never too late to start consuming them. So eat wild, cold water fish occasionally, and add omega 3 fats to your supplement plan to get the benefits of the Mega Omegas.
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