Fish Oil

We know that drowning our veggies and lean meats in dressings and other condiments loaded with trans fats does not make for a healthy meal or for a healthy heart. However, drizzling a little extra virgin olive oil on your meat of choice or mixing it with some balsamic vinegar for your salad can work wonders for your taste buds and for your heart health.

Health Benefits of Olive Oil
Olive oil is known for its heart healthy effects. In fact, olive oil has the largest amount of monounsaturated fatty acids out of any other oil on earth.

While the oleates in the oil promote healthy bones, the vitamins E, K, squalene and polyphenols in the oil all work to promote healthy blood circulation and overall health. The pro-active antioxidants in the oil work all around the body to dismantle free radicals.

Finding the Right Oil

When you go to shop for olive oil, you’ll most likely be greeted with a hailstorm of seductive-sounding labels: “virgin,” “extra virgin,” “imported from Italy,” and “refined.” What’s the best oil for your buck?

Made by extracting and crushing olives, oil is classified by how it’s been produced, by its flavor and by its chemistry. The less the oil is handled and the closer it is to its natural state, the better the oil. For example, the highest quality oil is extra virgin, which has managed to maintain its high acidity and antioxidant level. The lowest quality of olive oil is refined, where the oil has been chemically treated from its virgin state to neutralize strong acidic tastes … destroying its nutritional beauty in the process. In fact, half of the oil from the Mediterranean is of such poor quality that it must be refined in order to be edible.

The Extra Virgin Hokum

Because extra virgin is the highest quality oil, many American manufacturers, unbridled by labeling laws, label their oil “extra virgin” regardless of quality. True Extra Virgin olive oil is difficult to make, requiring a very expensive process, so best believe the four dollar bottle of “extra virgin” oil is “baloney.” The sad reality is many manufacturers add a small percentage of extra virgin olive oil to enhance the flavor of a batch of canola oil, slap some olives on the label and call it “extra virgin.”

Internationally, however, standards are much stricter and require that all olive oils carrying the “Extra Virgin” label are subject to a chemical and sensory analysis. Much like wine tasters, there are olive oil connoisseurs with taste buds trained to spot defects in oil such as muddy, winey, musty or even rancid aftertastes. Positive tasting oils are described as tasting fruity, bitter or even pungent.

More information about Olive Oil as well as Fish Oil from Dr. Barry Sears can be found at:
http://www.ultrafishoil.com/oliveoil.html
Dr. Sears is the author of the book “The Omega Rx Zone: Miracle of the New High Dose Fish Oil“

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According to the Center For Disease Control and Prevention, 910,000 people will die this year from some form of cardiovascular disease. That’s a staggering forty percent of all annual deaths! The great irony is that cardiovascular disease is largely preventable. Have you taken the necessary steps to heart attack-proof yourself?

There’s a simple, proven and easy way to reduce the chance of you becoming part of these grim statistics, and that is to increase your intake of the healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

The research has continued to pour in from countless sources about the amazing benefits of the omega-3’s. In fact, scientists and medical professionals alike now agree that the omega-3 fats can prevent - and even reverse - the deadly effects of cardiovascular disease and stroke (the first and third leading causes of death, respectively).

Omega-3 fats have gotten so much good press lately that you’re probably already aware that you can get your omega-3 fatty acids from all types of seafood, particularly the oily fish like salmon, herring, mackerel and sardines. Studies have shown that people who consume high amounts of fish improve their overall health and well being in too many ways to list.

A 17-year study of men with no history of heart disease, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that those with the highest blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids were more than 80 percent less likely to die suddenly from heart disease. And the benefits apply to women as well. A 16-year study of almost 85,000 women found that those who ate fish two to four times weekly cut their risk of heart disease by 30 percent, compared with women who rarely ate fish.

A 1999 study called “Food intake patterns and 25 year mortality from coronary heart disease,” revealed some very interesting findings about omega-3 fatty acids by comparing the diet of people from America to other regions of the world. The results of this study showed that in countries like Japan, where seafood consumption is high, the prevalence of death from heart attacks is much lower than in America.

Scientists believe that this is due to the fact that Asians eat far more seafood than Americans, and 85 percent of Americans are deficient in omega-3 fatty acids. The same findings were uncovered with the Eskimos from Greenland, who also consume large amounts of seafood. The 1970 study found that despite eating a high fat diet, the Inuit had significantly lower incidence of heart disease.

So what is it about omega-3 fatty acids that make them so great for your heart? It boils down to the chemical composition of the fatty acids. If you looked at them under a microscope, you would see that omega-3 fatty acids are long strands of polyunsaturated fatty acids. These polyunsaturates - alpha linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) - lead to significant reduction in cardiovascular disease risk and other health benefits.

Studies show that consuming these fatty acids over an extended period of time can decrease blood cholesterol levels, cause regression of coronary heart ailments and even help in preventing the progression of colon cancer.

But despite the average American diet being low in omega-3 fatty acid consumption, there is a limit to how much you can consume safely. The recommended daily intake of EPA and DHA is approximately 650mg per day. That figure is even higher for pregnant women who should consume 1000mg of EPA and DHA per day. Because of the high amounts of mercury found in fish, however, it can be dangerous to consume the amount of seafood you would need in order to reach the optimal intake. That’s why fish oil supplements are a great way to obtain your essential fats.

Personally, I use Carlson’s Fish and Cod Liver Oil. I receive no payment for endorsing this brand, I recommend it simply because I believe it’s the best on the market. This is due to the optimal amounts of EPA and DHA, the strict guidelines they follow for purity (keeping their oil free of chemical modification and contaminants like mercury or lead) and the addition of extra vitamin E to protect the freshness and potency of the oil.

Carlson’s test their fish oil regularly for potency and purity by an independent, FDA registered laboratory and found them to be free of detectable levels of mercury, cadmium, lead, PCB’s and 28 other contaminants. These are all important considerations because there is no doubt that all brands of fish oil are not the same and you really do get what you pay for.

What about flaxseed oil? You may have heard that flaxseed is a rich source of omega 3 fats. This is true. However, flaxseed oil supplements may be less effective than fish oil and here’s why: Flaxseed has high amounts of alpha linolenic acid (ALA), which your body must convert into EPA and DHA. However, the EPA and DHA found in fish oils are broken down more rapidly and far more effectively than ALA. Furthermore, because the average American already consumes high amounts of ALA already, supplementing with more ALA isn’t always optimal.

Bottom line: It’s not often that a nutritional supplement comes along that gets unanimous thumbs up from the scientific community as well as the natural health community, but fish oil is certainly one supplement you cannot go wrong with in your quest to improve your health and protect yourself from heart disease naturally.

Frank Mangano is a natural health expert and best selling author who teaches you how to dramatically improve your health naturally, without expensive and potentially dangerous prescription drugs. To learn more, visit one of the most comprehensive and reliable sources for natural health information on the web: http://www.naturalhealthontheweb.com

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The research in support of dietary omega-3 fatty acids (such as in fish oils) continues to flood the scientific literature. This is perfectly predictable given our genetic roots. In the wild, eating natural raw foods, we would be consuming large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids daily. But today, on processed, grain-based diets, we get little.

Instead, we have dramatically increased the consumption of omega-6 fatty acids. Although these too are essential in the diet, their excess results in a pro-inflammatory response that lies at the base of a mix of modern degenerative diseases such as arthritis, autoimmunities and heart disease. The natural diet should have a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 of about 1:1, but today is more like 20 or 30 to 1! See a problem?

Certain fish, algae, some vegetables, grass-fed meats, wild meats, high omega-3 eggs, seeds such as flax and supplements help. Variety is always important. Any food may contain toxins, so varying the diet gives the body an opportunity to detoxify.

For example, fish can contain the toxins methyl mercury and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), both by-products of our industrial age that gravitate into water. These are lipophilic (fat loving) and thus are present in fish oils and then tend to accumulate in our fat depots when consumed. This is a consideration for dieters since the lipophilic toxins in fat stores that are being rapidly melted away can flood the body, potentially creating a toxic shock. (Not an excuse to not lose weight here, just a caution on radical weight loss or repeated yo-yo dieting.)

This is also of particular concern for pregnant and nursing moms since these toxins can transfer to and accumulate in the fetus, increasing the risk of abnormalities, disease and weakness.

Increasing the amount of omega-3s is not easy and requires a purposeful shift in dietary habits. Official dietary agencies are recommending about 0.65g/day of omega-3s (EPA, DHA) for pregnant and lactating women, and about 1g for people with cardiovascular risk. (These are conservative. In the wild we would naturally consume much more.) To obtain the 1g/day level, 210g of canned light tuna in oil would need to be consumed or about 50g of farmed Atlantic Salmon. Fish type is important, with the cold-water species having the highest concentrations of omega-3s.

Other fish such as tilefish, swordfish, shark, king mackerel and tuna steaks increase the risk of mercury exposure. One can estimate that PCB intake parallels fish consumption.

Omega-3 dietary supplements vary widely in omega-3 content, ranging from 50% to 150% of label claims. Supplements can as well contain mercury and PCBs. Omega-3s are very fragile and can easily convert to toxins themselves when exposed to heat, light, air and water so supplements should be chosen carefully and stored properly.

My feeling is the risk from the toxins is less than the risk of not increasing omega-3s in the diet. For example, the concentration of PCBs in supplements ranges from 2% to 43% of recommended safe levels. If fish are eaten as the main source of omega-3s, variety is what will decrease the risk.

The wise course is to follow the Optimal Health Program

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