Archive for the ‘Fish Oil Advice’ Category

Fish oil capsules are the latest craze in the natural health world but do they offer real health benefits or is fish oil just the newest fad supplement? Instead of listening to all the hype, let’s take a look into the research behind fish oil and see what science has to tell us.

One of the most recent studies has yet to even have their results published but results show great promise for children with certain learning disabilities, particularly attention deficit disorders. For over a year, more than 100 students in Durham, England were involved in a study to see the effects that fish oil capsules on children who had normal abilities yet were still under-performing in school.

The study was conducted by Dr. Alex Richardson, researcher with the University of Oxford, and Madeleine Portwood, a special educational psychologist that works with the Durham Education Authority. The double-blind study found that 40% of the children taking fish oil supplements showed remarkable improvements in academic functioning.

Another study just released its findings on January 20. The findings indicate that not only do omega-3 fatty acids protect against heart disease, like scientists have known for close to 40 years, but that they may actually “protect against cellular aging in patients with coronary heart disease” (JAMA, 2010; 303 (3): 250-257). This could be very good news for those who have already developed heart disease since they can easily obtain the omega-3 fatty acids they need by taking high quality fish oil.

Yet another recent bit of research has turned up a connection between long chain omega-3 fatty acids and a lower risk for colorectal cancer. The results of the study and this conclusion was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research conference held in December, 2009. The study participants who had the highest intake of fish oil reduced their risk of colorectal cancer by 39%.

As you can see, research into the benefits of fish oil capsules is on the rise in recent years. The value of fish oil in the diet was definitively identified almost 40 years ago but at that time, the research only revealed the cardiovascular effects. As further studies have been done, more and more health benefits continue to be discovered. Fish oil has truly turned out to be one of the smartest things that you can do to maintain and improve your health.

While there are clearly many benefits to increasing your intake of omega-3 fatty acids, it is very difficult to do in our Western diets. One of the best sources of these essential micro-nutrients is from fish – particularly fatty, cold water fish varieties. Unfortunately, this isn’t a staple for many people. Even those who do eat a lot of the right fish don’t get nearly the benefits they think they are getting. That is because omega-3 fatty acids are destroyed by heat so cooking the fish basically eliminates much of the health benefits.

Luckily, fish oil capsules are readily available and easy to add to your daily routine. The only problem with buying supplements is that they are not as highly regulated as prescription medications. That enables less scrupulous makers to offer inferior products and get away with it. These lower quality supplements are not only derived from inferior fish to begin with, they are often not processed correctly. This results in the fish oil oxidizing before it is encapsulated, turning it rancid. Not only does this result in the nasty “fish burps”, but it also introduces free radicals into your system which can cause damage to the cells.

When you buy fish oil capsules, stick to highly reputable supplement manufacturer’s like Xtend-Life. This company guarantees the purity and freshness of their fish oil supplements. Another advantage to fish oil capsules from Xtendlife is that they are a natural form of triglycerides instead of the synthetic versions packaged by many companies. This enables the Xtend-Life fish oil capsules to have a greater bio-availability than most other brands. That means that more of the omega-3 fatty acids are able to be utilized by the body, giving greater health benefits.

Learn More About Xtend-Life Fish Oil

Fish oil health benefits come from the amount of omega3 fatty acids contained in each fish oil softgel capsule. Unlike other fats in the diet, omega3s are “good” fats. They increase levels of HDL or good cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream, which can reduce the level of LDL cholesterol, this assumes you make attempts to follow a healthy diet, low in omega6s.

Omega6 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats. Most people recognize the importance of reducing saturated fat in the diet. They have been told that polyunsaturated fats are a better choice. But, there are several different kinds of polyunsaturated fats.

Let’s just look at corn oils as an example, since they are popular cooking oils, particularly in the US. Corn oil contains 46 times more omega6 fatty acids than omega3s. It is theorized that the original human diet provided exactly the same amount of omega3s, as omega6s, but that the typical Western diet provides somewhere between 10 and 30 times more omega6s than omega3s. One of the biggest problems with this kind of diet is that it leads to “chronic inflammation”.

One of the fish oil health benefits is to reduce inflammation throughout the body. Research has shown that it is beneficial in inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. You might refer to those diseases as acute cases of inflammation.

Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, is a cause of cellular aging, plays a role in heart disease and contributes to the growth of cancerous cells. It occurs when the body produces inflammatory hormones that alter the body’s metabolic functions. The hormones produced from omega6 fatty acids are far more inflammatory than those produced from omega3s.

Both omega6s and omega3s are essential to the human diet, but they must be consumed in a balanced manner. The primary fish oil health benefits are to help correct the imbalance that occurs in the typical Western diet. It has been noted that increasing omega3 intake is not beneficial for people that primarily eat fish, rather than poultry, beef or other meats.

It has also been shown that some oils have more anti-inflammatory activity than others. The natural triglycerides from the hoki fish have been shown to have more than twice the anti-inflammatory activity of other oils.

So, if you want to make the most of the fish oil health benefits, then you want natural hoki fish oil softgels. Xtendlife combines it with concentrated tuna oils to provide the highest possible amount of omega3 fatty acids per capsule.

Learn more about Natural Hoki Fish Oil