One more English Translation - Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Sorry,  a lot of postings today on health issues - must be January.  Diet season :)

So how many times do we hear about Omega 3 fatty acids and how important they are for us in our diets.  Well Omega 3 fatty acids are an unsaturated fat (this is the good kind of fat) and is great for you. Our body doesn't produce it so we have to look at outside sources to get it. The discovery of it all started with the Greenland Inuit tribe who ate a diet high in fish and had a wonderfully low incident of heart disease (thank you Wikipedia).

Omega 3 fatty acids come in 3 varieties. I refuse to give you the long scientific names but they are known as ALA, EPA and DHA. ALA is from primarily plant sources (like flax). EPA and DHA are primarily from fatty fish like salmon, albacore tuna, sardines, etc. There are tons of lists on the Internet if you are interested in finding out all the foods that have Omega 3 fatty acids in them. The biggest difference between them all is that the body processes the EPA and DHA version better than the ALA version so you get the biggest benefits from them.

So why is it good for you? Well according to all the different research sites that I looked at it lowers triglycerides. My doctor has me taking supplements (via fish oil) to help with this since my cancer drug raises my triglycerides. If you have a bad reaction to fish oil (like it constantly coming back to haunt you) my Doctor suggested that you freeze the pill. Weird. The recommended dosage is 500 mg per day (make sure you include whatever you eat in that 500mg).

Omega 3 fatty acids also increase your HDL (this is the good cholesterol - I always remember this by the fact that the LDL needs to be low and the HDL needs to be high). It's great for your heart and some researchers say that it helps lower high blood pressure. It also shows promise in helping fight off Alzheimer's disease and cancer.

If eat a lot of fish or have flax in your oatmeal every day :) then you shouldn't need to take any supplements. If you take supplements make sure you run it by your Doctor first (especially if you are a heart patient). Better safe than sorry.

Enjoy!