Foods Containing Omega 3 Fatty Acids.

By Melanie Caplan


Such encouraging news has generated a good deal of interest in Omega 3 of late.

The distinction between foods containing omega 3's and omega 6's is made, because the average diet contains too many omega 6 foods and not enough omega 3 foods. Many people consume ten times the amount of omega 6 as omega 3 (some as much as 30 times). This is a recipe for a health disaster.

Omega 3 works to fight again the principal cholesterol culprit that causes clotting of the blood. These clots then block blood vessels causing heart attacks or, if they reach the brain, strokes.

There are many foods containing omega 3 fatty acids in small amounts, but these foods usually contain omega 6 fatty acids as well, so in order to maintain the best balance doctors often recommend omega 3 supplements. Short chain omega 3 foods are plant sources like flaxseed, chia, purslane, lingonberry, and hemp. These are foods containing omega 3 fatty acids known as ALA. The body must convert this ALA to the long chain omega 3 fatty acids DHA and EPA. However, this conversion happens inefficiently in many people for various reasons.

As the advantages of regular intake of Omega 3 become more accepted in North America, the food processing and pharmaceutical industries will, no doubt, put more effort and funding into making these various supplements more readily available.

The most obvious method, eating suitable fish regularly, isn't practical for everybody, as again - not everyone enjoys fish, some people are even allergic to it and, of course, vegetarians and vegans don't eat fish. Fortunately there are a wide range of supplements on the market for those people.

The most common form of supplement is the capsule formulated from concentrated oils derived from those fish that have the high Omega 3 levels. Generally, the tablet will contain something around fifty percent from that source (fish) with the balance made up of other sources of fatty acids.

The most common foods containing omega 3 fatty acids of the long chain variety are fish. Because of mercury contamination risks, doctors and environmental experts make the following recommendations: avoid fish that come from the Atlantic Ocean which is particularly polluted.

The good news of Omega 3 health benefits goes global

People who do not like any of the foods containing omega 3 fatty acids may want to consider a fish oil supplement which is tasteless and actually helps the cells of the body absorb other substances like calcium. A fish oil supplement should be purified or pharmaceutical quality. Hoki fish oil is a good choice.

Before this happened, animals were free range and grazed on their natural diets, which, in the case of cows as one example, was grass. Their natural grass diet created naturally lean beef that was high in omega-3 fatty acids.




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