Omega 3 Fish Oil

Omega 3 Supplements

Nowadays, most everyone has heard that omega 3 fish oil supplements can benefit you. Even the FDA has recently come out by allowing qualified health claims for Omega 3's.

For exmaple, the FDA states "Supportive but not conclusive research shows that consumption of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease."

The EPA and DHA mentioned above are two substances that are the reason for omega 3's health benefits.

So, even though you may have heard about Omega 3 fish oil being good for you, you may not know about EPA, DHA, and what role they have to play in all of this.

So, our objective on this page will be to give you a better understanding of what these are in simple terms, and why omega 3 supplements may benefit you.

Understanding Omega 3 Benefits

The important question is: do the benefits of Omega 3 apply across the board for all types of Omega 3's?

First, a good source of Omega 3 should be high in DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid).The scientific evidence supporting the benefits of DHA is much more important than EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid).

Unfortunately, for most Omega 3 supplements on the market, the major component of the Omega 3 is EPA, not DHA.

Room does not permit us here to go into detail about why DHA is more important than EPA, but you can find scientific papers online that go into the technical aspects of this if you are inclined.

The second thing to understanding the benefits of omega 3 supplements is that not all Omega 3 sources will provide you with DHA and EPA. This is because these essential fatty acids are not present in a lot of Omega 3 sources and/or products.

As one example, ground flax seed is a source of Omega 3's but does not actually contain any DHA or EPA at all. Instead it contains alpha-linolenic acid, which your body has to convert to DHA and EPA.

In many people, particularly the elderly this conversion process is very inefficient.

Therefore, such people may not get the DHA and EPA they need to promote good health. Instead, considering using a omega 3 fish oil supplement.

Omega 3 Fish Oil

Here are some drawbacks with many omega 3 fish oil products on the market:

• The amount of DHA is low in most fish oils. A typical level is 12% DHA and 18% EPA.

• Many omega 3 fish oils on the market today are from questionable sources and some have high levels of heavy metals or other contaminants such as PCB's, due to the polluted waters of Oceans around the world.

  To ensure that you don't ingest these contaminants, you must buy omega 3 fish oil that has been molecularly distilled.

• Some suppliers of omega 3 fish oil claim that it does not matter that the EPA is higher than the DPA because the body will convert part of the EPA to DPA. While this is technically true, the problem is that the conversion of ALA to DHA can be very low due in part to the high consumption of Omega 6 in the typical Western diet.

  In short, "enzymes needed for the conversion are in short supply in the bodies of those people who have a reasonably high level of Omega 6 intake. This is because the enzymes needed are ;used up' in having to deal with the processing of Omega 6 oils.

  As a result, the conversion in most people is quite negligible which further supports ingesting the DHA directly."

So where can you get a molecularlly distilled omega 3 fish oil product that is high in DHA?

The one we here at Nutritional Supplement Info personally take ourselves everyday is manufactured by Xtend-Life Natural Products, a speciality supplement company located in New Zealand, and ships world-wide.

We have been using their omega 3 fish oil supplements for many months now and have been extremely pleased with them.