I’ve been taking nutritional supplements for years now and consider that some of them are essential to take on a daily basis in the modern world. One of the most important of these is concentrated fish oil.
Concentrated fish oil is mainly composed of omega 3 fatty acids. The most important of these are DHA and EPA, and they are responsible for most of the benefits of fish oil. Hundreds of years ago, EPA and DHA were plentiful in the human diet, mainly coming from fish and grass-fed, natural meats.
Many of today’s so-called diseases and chronic conditions are actually related to, or at least exacerbated by, a deficiency in omega 3 fatty acids that results from the inadequacy of the modern diet. Here are some of the most important benefits of fish oil, briefly explained.
1. Cardiovascular health and Prevention of Heart Disease.
The omega 3 acids EPA and DHA decrease LDL cholesterol, triglyceride and homocysteine levels, while at the same time increasing HDL cholesterol. High triglycerides and excessive LDL relative to HDL are definite predictors of heart disease. Concentrated fish oil actually cleans your blood vessels and helps keep them free of obstruction.
Cholesterol is mainly created by your liver and is transported to the blood vessels to repair damage. So in reality, it is a good thing. However, when too much of the substance is being produced and not enough is being removed from the bloodstream, this can result in the excess cholesterol sticking to the blood vessel walls and causing them to narrow. This, in turn, can cause blockages and therefore heart disease. Fish oil decreases the “bad” cholesterol and increases the “good” cholesterol, thereby creating a much healthier cholesterol balance in the blood.
2. Reduced cancer risk.
Plenty of serious research undertaken in some of the world’s top research facilities has proven that a high intake of omega 3 fatty acids can prevent and inhibit the growth of cancer cells. This is especially true of hormonal cancers, such as prostate and breast cancer. These types of cancer are actually fed by hormones and the hormones are effectively blocked by EPA and DHA. Specifically, in the case of breast cancer, concentrated fish oil capsules have been shown to decrease the amount of estradiol in the blood. Estradiol is the hormone that feeds breast cancer cells and so a reduction in estradiol can actually help prevent and treat breast cancer.
Fish oil decreases estradiol levels. For the last 20 years, study after study has shown that the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, found in deep ocean fish and concentrated fish oil can decrease the amount of estradiol in a woman’s blood and therefore stop the creation of cancer cells. One study, done at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, and which followed more than 35.000 women who did not have breast cancer, found that those women who took fish oil supplements regularly had a 32% lower risk of developing breast cancer.
A similar mechanism applies to Prostate Cancer. Two large-scale, long-term studies have now proven that consumption of concentrated fish oil or oily fish can slash the mortality rates of men afflicted with the disease.
In the Physician’s Health Study, over 20,000 men were followed for 22 years. The study conclusively proved that men who ate at least five portions of oily fish every week were 48% less likely to die of the disease than those who ate only one portion per week. Concentrated fish oil is particularly effective at blocking metastatic cancers. It achieves this by blocking the conversion of arachidonic acid into the hormones which feed the cancer cells. In this way, it actually helps to stop prostate cancer from spreading.
When tumor cells of the prostate gland metastasize and invade other parts of the body, such as the bone marrow, prostate cancer becomes a much more serious disease. It is precisely in this process where the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil intervene. Researchers at one British hospital, the Christie hospital in Manchester, found that concentrated fish oil omega 3′s can inhibit invasion of the bone marrow by prostate cancer cells.
3. Alleviates depression.
Many scientific studies have linked depression of all types to a dietary deficiency in DHA. Regular daily intake of significant amounts of concentrated fish oil can eliminate depression and other psychological problems, such as anxiety or brain-fog.
4. Superior brain function and mental processing.
Since the brain is essentially built with DHA, an omega 3 fat, high consumption of DHA has been proven to improve memory, concentration and ability to complete complex tasks. This is particularly important in young children and adolescents, whose brains are in the growth stage and in pregnant women, nursing mothers and the babies that depend on them for nourishment.
5. Reduced incidence of ADHD and similar disorders in children and adolescents.
Researchers have found that the higher the incidence of DHA in the blood of children and teenagers, the lower the incidence of behavioral disorders, inability to concentrate and low IQ scores. DHA is one of the most important nutrients in the brain and nobody should be without it. In fact, This has been proven to be ralated to fish oil deficiency. Fish oil capsules are high in DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid which is an integral part of the brain, and is especially important in the developmental years of childhood and adolescence. Throughout these years, the child’s brain is actually being built with DHA. This substance is normally found in fatty fish and nowadays can be taken in capsules, in controlled doses and with no heavy metal contamination. Heavy metals are a serious problem in today’s fish supply, actually making eating fatty fish dangerous.
The importance of DHA for the mental health of children and teenagers, was clearly shown in a study done by Guelph university in Canada. The study compared the DHA status of ADHD teenagers with a control group. The researchers concluded that the ADHD teens had much lower levels of DHA in their bloodstreams, indicating that a deficiency in DHA can actually be an underlying factor in both deficit of attention and hyperactivity.
Raising the DHA to the level required to alleviate the symptoms of ADHD can be done with molecularly distilled fish oil capsules.
6. Autoimmune disorders.
These disorders have a broad range, including allergies, lupus, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease. These, in turn, are often linked to inflammation. High consumption of EPA and DHA have been very effective in treating autoimmune disorders of all types, by blocking the metabolic processes that create them.
Allergies and asthma have shown particularly good improvements with omega 3 supplements.
7. Lower Blood Pressure.
High blood pressure can cause all sorts of diseases, including kidney failure, diabetes and heart disease. Concentrated fish oil effectively lowers blood pressure by expanding blood vessels and making them more elastic.
8. Inflammation.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids, and in particular EPA, are very effective inhibitors of inflammatory chemicals such as C-reactive protein. Inflammation can lead to many health problems, including heart disease and autoimmune diseases. In fact, chronic inflammation has been linked to a host of serious, chronic diseases. Concentrated fish oil decreases inflammation, protects the body and alleviates arthritis, aches and pains.
Two of the most devastating inflammatory conditions affecting peoples lives are arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.Both of these conditions respond well to high doses of concentrated fish oil over 2 to 3 months.
9. Psoriasis and other skin problems.
Psoriasis is a common skin disorder. It involves having thick, white scales on the skin. These scales usually have a red border, which becomes inflamed. Psoriasis is considered an autoimmune disease, meaning that it is an overreaction of immune system which causes this condition.
Research has shown that psoriasis is almost always invariably linked to high levels of arachidonic acid in the blood. Arachidonic acid is an omega six fatty acid whose excess in our bloodstream causes increased levels of inflammation.
Psoriasis is also related to general, irregular fatty acid metabolism in the body.
One of the best ways to counter this pro-inflammatory state of affairs is to take molecularly distilled fish oil capsules daily.
In conclusion, concentrated fish oil is considered to be the most important supplement to take on a daily basis. It is one of the best investments that one can make in one’s health and in the health of one’s family.
