I found an interesting article on WebMD today about Fish Oil and Omega-3. I’ve been a long time reader of Mens Health Magazine and they’ve touted the merits of fish oil for a long time.

Check out the following and let me know what you think.

Think all dietary fat is the same? Guess again
By Colette Bouchez
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic-Feature

If you ask folks what food group they should avoid, most will probably answer “fats.” While it’s true that, in large amounts, some types of fat are bad for your health (not to mention your waistline), there are some we simply can’t live without.

Among them are the omega-3 fatty acids, found in foods including walnuts, some fruits and vegetables, and coldwater fish such as herring, mackerel, sturgeon, and anchovies.

“It not only plays a vital role in the health of the membrane of every cell in our body, it also helps protect us from a number of key health threats,” says Laurie Tansman, MS, RD, CDN, a nutritionist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

The benefits of omega-3s include reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke while helping to reduce symptoms of hypertension, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), joint pain and other rheumatoid problems, as well as certain skin ailments. Some research has even shown that omega-3s can boost the immune system and help protect us from an array of illnesses including Alzheimer’s disease.

Just how do omega-3s perform so many health “miracles” in people? One way, experts say, is by encouraging the production of body chemicals that help control inflammation — in the joints, the bloodstream, and the tissues.

But even as important is their ability to reduce the negative impact of yet another essential type of fatty acid known as omega-6s. Found in foods such as eggs, poultry, cereals, vegetable oils, baked goods, and margarine, omega-6s are also considered essential. They support skin health, lower cholesterol, and help make our blood “sticky” so it is able to clot. But when omega-6s aren’t balanced with sufficient amounts of omega-3s, problems can ensue.

“When blood is too ‘sticky,’ it promotes clot formation, and this can increase the risk of heart attack and stroke,” says nutritionist Lona Sandon, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. But once you add omega-3s to the mix, the risk of heart problems goes down, she tells WebMD.

The latest research shows that the most promising health effects of essential fatty acids are achieved through a proper balance between omega-3s and omega-6s. The ratio to shoot for, experts say, is roughly 4 parts omega-3s to 1 part omega-6s.

Most of us, they say, come up dangerously short.

“The typical American diet has a ratio of around 20 to 1 — 20 omega-6′s to 1 omega-3 — and that spells trouble,” says Sandon, an assistant professor of nutrition at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. While reducing your intake of omega-6s can help, getting more omega-3s from food is an even better way to go.

How to Get What You Need

Omega-3 fatty acids are not one single nutrient, but a collection of several, including eicosapentaenic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA). Both are found in greatest abundance in coldwater fish — and that, say experts, is one reason so many of us are deficient.
How to Get What You Need continued…

Over the past several years, the Food and Drug Administration and other groups have issued warnings about mercury and other harmful chemicals found in fish. This has led many people to stop eating fish — a big mistake, Tansman says.

“People have taken the whole FDA advisory out of context including who it’s for, which is primarily pregnant women, and small children,” she says. Moreover, Tansman says, even if you obey the FDA warnings in the strictest sense, the latest advisory says that up to 12 ounces of a variety of fish each week is safe for everyone. That amount, Tansman reminds us, is roughly half of what we need to get enough omega-3s.

“The recommendation [for omega-3s] is two servings of fish a week,” Tansman says. “At 3 to 4 ounces per serving, that’s well below the FDA’s safe limit of 12 ounces per week.”

According to the American Heart Association, those looking to protect their hearts should eat a variety of types of fatty fish (such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel) at least twice a week. Those with heart disease should get 1 gram of omega-3s (containing both EPA and DHA) per day, preferably from fatty fish. About 1.5 ounces of fish contains 1 gram of omega-3s.

But even if you don’t like fish (or choose not to eat it), you can still get what you need from dietary sources. WebMD Weight Loss Clinic “Recipe Doctor” Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, says one answer lies in plants rich in omega-3s — particularly flaxseed.

“It’s safe to say this is the most potent plant source of omega-3,” says Magee, author of The Flax Cookbook. While flaxseed contains no EPA or DHA, Magee says, it’s a rich source of another omega-3 known as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which the body can use to make EPA and DHA.

Flaxseed is available in health food stores and many supermarkets, sold as whole seeds, ground seeds, or oil. Although flaxseed oil contains ALA, Magee says ground flaxseed is a much better choice because it also contains 3 grams of fiber per tablespoon, as well as healthy phytoestrogens. Other sources of omega-3s include canola oil, broccoli, cantaloupe, kidney beans, spinach, grape leaves, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, and walnuts.

“About an ounce — or one handful — of walnuts have about 2.5 grams of omega-3s,” says Sandon. “That’s equal to about 3.5 ounces of salmon.”

Besides getting more omega-3s, you can also help your heart by replacing some omega-6s from cooking oils with a third fatty acid known as omega-9 (oleonic acid). This is a monounsaturated fat found primarily in olive oil.

Though it is not considered “essential” (the body can make some omega-9), by substituting it for oils rich in omega-6s, you can help restore the balance between omega-3s and omega-6s, plus gain some additional health benefits.

“Factors found in olive oil can also help boost the good cholesterol, which can also help your heart,” says Magee.

Supplements vs. Foods

If you’re thinking that maybe the easiest and most low-cal way to get omega-3s is with fish oil capsules, not so fast. Many nutritionists say it’s a bad idea.

“There is something about whole food that when it goes into the body it’s more than 90% absorbed, while [with] a supplement you absorb only about 50%,” says Sandon.

Moreover, says Sandon, because the components of different foods work together, they may offer a more complete and balanced source of nutrients.

“It could be something more than just the omega-3s in fish that make it so healthy,” says Sandon. “It could be the amino acids that provide benefits we are not going to see in fish-oil supplements alone.”

And if you’re thinking fish-oil capsules will help you avoid the contamination risks of fresh fish, think again. Because supplements are not regulated in the U.S., Sandon says, some may contain concentrated amounts of the same toxins found in fresh fish. And because the oil is so concentrated, the supplements can also produce an unpleasant body odor.

More important, experts say, there is a danger of overdosing on fish-oil supplements, particularly if you take more than the recommended amount. Doing so can increase your risk of bleeding or bruising. This isn’t likely to happen when you get your intake from foods.

The one-time fish oil supplements can really help is if you need to reduce your levels of triglycerides, a dangerous blood fat linked to heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends that people with extremely high triglycerides get 2 to 4 daily grams of omega-3s (containing EPA and DHA) in capsules — but only in consultation with their doctors.

“The key here is to never take these supplements without your doctor’s consent,” says Magee. “This is not something you want to fool with on your own.”

I was talking to my wife the other day about cholesterol in food and its effects on blood levels. I found the following article:

“Eat a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet” has been the mantra for healthful eating for decades. Touted as a way to lose weight and prevent or control heart disease and other chronic conditions, millions of people have followed (or, more likely, have tried to follow) this advice. Seeing a tremendous marketing opportunity, food companies re-engineered thousands of foods to be lower in fat or fat free. The low-fat approach to eating may have made a difference for the occasional individual, but as a nation it hasn’t helped us control weight or become healthier. In the 1960s, fats and oils supplied Americans with about 45 percent of their calories;  about 13 percent of us were obese and under 1 percent had type 2 diabetes, a serious weight-related condition.  Today, Americans take in less fat, getting about 33 percent of calories from fats and oils;  yet 34 percent of us are obese and 8 percent have diabetes, most with type 2 diabetes.

Why hasn’t cutting fat from the diet paid off as expected? Detailed research—much of it done at Harvard—shows that the total amount of fat in the diet isn’t really linked with weight or disease. What really matters is the type of fat in the diet. Bad fats, meaning trans and saturated fats, increase the risk for certain diseases. Good fats, meaning monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, do just the opposite. They are good for the heart and most other parts of the body.

What about cholesterol in food? For most people, the mix of fats in the diet influences cholesterol in the bloodstream far more than cholesterol in food does.

From Food to the Bloodstream

Almost all foods contain some fat. Even quintessential fat-free foods like carrots and lettuce contain small amounts of this nutrient. That’s a testament to how important fats are for life. Fat provides a terrific source of energy as well as a great depot for storing it. It is an important part of cell membranes, helping govern what gets into cells and what comes out. The body uses cholesterol as the starting point to make estrogen, testosterone, vitamin D, and other vital compounds. Fats are also biologically active molecules that can influence how muscles respond to insulin’s “open up for sugar” signal; different types of fats can also fire up or cool down inflammation.

Fat and cholesterol can’t dissolve in water or blood. The body gets around this basic chemistry problem by packaging fat and cholesterol into tiny, protein-covered particles called lipoproteins. Although lipoproteins can carry quite a bit of fat, they mix easily with blood and flow with it. Some of these particles are big and fluffy, others small and dense. The most important ones are low-density lipoproteins, high-density lipoproteins, and triglycerides.

• Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) carry cholesterol from the liver to the rest of the body. Cells latch onto these particles and extract fat and cholesterol from them. When there is too much LDL cholesterol in the blood, these particles can form deposits in the walls of the coronary arteries and other arteries throughout the body. Such deposits, called plaque, can narrow arteries and limit blood flow. When plaque breaks apart, it can cause a heart attack or stroke. Because of this, LDL cholesterol is often referred to as bad, or harmful, cholesterol.
• High-density lipoproteins (HDL) scavenge cholesterol from the bloodstream, from LDL, and from artery walls and ferry it back to the liver for disposal. Think of HDL as the garbage trucks of the bloodstream. HDL cholesterol is often referred to as good, or protective, cholesterol.
• Triglycerides make up most of the fat that you eat and that travels through the bloodstream. As the body’s main vehicle for transporting fats to cells, triglycerides are important for good health. But as is the case for so many things, an excess of triglycerides can be unhealthy.

In general, the lower your LDL and the higher your HDL, the better your chances of preventing heart disease and other chronic conditions. Guidelines from the National Cholesterol Education Program suggest specific targets.

How Fat and Cholesterol in Food Affect Blood Levels

The types of fat in the diet determine to a large extent the amount of total and LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream. Cholesterol in food matters, too, but not nearly as much.

Good Fats

Unsaturated fats are called good fats because they can improve blood cholesterol levels, ease inflammation, stabilize heart rhythms, and play a number of other beneficial roles. Unsaturated fats are predominantly found in foods from plants, such as vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds. They are liquids at room temperature.

There are two types of unsaturated fats:

• Monounsaturated fats are found in high concentrations in canola, peanut, and olive oils; avocados; nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts, and pecans; and seeds such as pumpkin and sesame seeds.
• Polyunsaturated fats are found in high concentrations in sunflower, corn, soybean, and flaxseed oils, and also in foods such as walnuts, flax seeds, and fish. Omega-3 fats, which are fast becoming the darling of the supplement industry, are an important type of polyunsaturated fat. The body can’t make these, so they must come from food. An excellent way to get omega-3 fats is by eating fish two or three times a week. Good plant sources of omega-3 fats include chia seeds (sold as Salvia), flax seeds, walnuts, and oils such as flaxseed, canola, and soybean.

Dutch researchers conducted an analysis of 60 trials that examined the effects of carbohydrates and various fats on blood lipid levels. In trials in which polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats were eaten in place of carbohydrates, these good fats decreased levels of harmful LDL and increased protective HDL.  More recently, a randomized trial known as the Optimal Macronutrient Intake Trial for Heart Health (OmniHeart) showed that replacing a carbohydrate-rich diet with one rich in unsaturated fat, predominantly monounsaturated fats, lowers blood pressure, improves lipid levels, and reduces the estimated cardiovascular risk.

Most people don’t get enough of these healthful unsaturated fats each day. No strict guidelines have been published regarding their intake. Prudent targets are 10 to 25 percent of calories from monounsaturated fats and 8 to 10 percent of calories from polyunsaturated fats. Since no one eats by percentage of daily calories, a good rule of thumb is to choose unsaturated fats over saturated whenever possible.

Bad Fats

Our bodies can make all the saturated fat we need, so we don’t need to eat any of it. That’s why saturated fat can be in the bad category—because we don’t need to eat any of it, and it has undesirable effects in cardiovascular disease. In the United States and other developed countries, saturated fats come mainly from meat, seafood, and whole-milk dairy products (cheese, milk, and ice cream). A few plant foods are also high in saturated fats, including coconut and coconut oil, palm oil, and palm kernel oil. Saturated fats boost total cholesterol by elevating harmful LDL. Like all dietary fat, saturated fat also raises the protective HDL. Unsaturated fat is much preferable since it lowers the bad cholesterol and raises the good.

As a general rule, it’s a good idea to keep your intake of saturated fats as low as possible. Saturated fats are part of many foods, including vegetable oils that are mainly unsaturated fats, so we can’t eliminate them from our diets. Seven percent of total calories or lower is a good target. Red meat and dairy fats are the main sources of saturated fat in our diets, so keeping these low is the primary way to reduce intake of saturated fat.

Very Bad Fats

Trans fatty acids, more commonly called trans fats, are made by heating liquid vegetable oils in the presence of hydrogen gas, a process called hydrogenation. Partially hydrogenating vegetable oils makes them more stable and less likely to spoil. It also converts the oil into a solid, which makes transportation easier. Partially hydrogenated oils can also withstand repeated heating without breaking down, making them ideal for frying fast foods. (Fully hydrogenating a vegetable oil creates a fat that acts like a saturated fat.) It’s no wonder that partially hydrogenated oils have been a mainstay in restaurants and the food industry.

Most of the trans fats in the American diet come from commercially prepared baked goods, margarines, snack foods, and processed foods, along with French fries and other fried foods prepared in restaurants and fast food franchises.

Trans fats are worse for cholesterol levels than saturated fats because they raise bad LDL and lower good HDL. They also fire inflammation, (12) an overactivity of the immune system that has been implicated in heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. Even small amounts of trans fat in the diet can have harmful health effects. For every extra 2 percent of calories from trans fat daily—about the amount in a medium order of fast-food French fries—the risk of coronary heart disease increases by 23 percent. Eliminating trans fats from the U.S. food supply could prevent between 6 and 19 percent of heart attacks and related deaths, or more than 200,000 each year.

The average American eats about six grams of trans fats a day. Ideally that should be under two grams a day, or zero if possible. A new labeling law that forces food companies to list trans fats on the label should help curb the consumption of these harmful fats. Not only can consumers now see which products contain trans fats—something that wasn’t easily done in the past—but many food makers are now trying to claim the high ground by using trans-free oils and fats in their products.

As trans fat intake dwindles in developed countries, it is on the rise in developing nations. Inexpensive partially hydrogenated soybean oil has become a staple not only for the food industry but for home use. This shift away from traditional cooking oils and toward trans-rich partially hydrogenated oils is contributing to the slowly growing epidemic of cardiovascular disease in developing nations around the world.

The discovery half a century ago that high blood cholesterol levels were strongly associated with an increased risk for heart disease triggered numerous warnings to avoid foods that contain cholesterol, especially eggs, liver, shrimp, and lobster. That advice was something of a red herring; for example eating shrimp and lobster doesn’t raise LDL cholesterol. Also, most people make more cholesterol than they absorb from their food. A body of scientific studies shows only a weak relationship between the amount of cholesterol a person consumes and his or her blood cholesterol levels (weak but important for heart disease). In studies of more than 80,000 female nurses, Harvard researchers found that consuming about an egg a day was not associated with higher risk of heart disease (too few women in the study were eating more than an egg a day to evaluate the effects of higher egg intakes).  One note of caution: Among women in this study with diabetes and in another study of men with diabetes, higher egg consumption has been associated with increased risks of heart disease.

Dietary Fats and Heart Disease: Beyond the “30 Percent” Recommendation

For years, the party line from the American Heart Association, National Institutes of Health, World Health Organization, and others was to reduce dietary fat. They generally called for limiting fat intake to under 30 percent of daily calories. One problem with a generic lower fat diet is that it prompts most people to stop eating fats that are good for the heart along with those that are bad for it. In place of fats, many people turn to foods full of easily digested carbohydrates, or to fat-free products that replace healthful fats with sugar and refined carbohydrates.

There wasn’t much evidence to support the notion of low-fat diets in the beginning.  There is even less now. Numerous reports over the years have questioned the wisdom of recommending low-fat diets for preventing or retarding heart disease. A big nail in the coffin came from the Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial, published in the February 8, 2006, Journal of the American Medical Association.  This eight-year trial, which included almost 49,000 women, found virtually identical rates of heart attack, stroke, and other forms of cardiovascular disease in women who followed a low-fat diet and in those women who didn’t. What’s more, women on the low-fat diet didn’t lose—or gain—any more weight than women who followed their usual diets.

This randomized trial supports prior findings from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.  In both of these, no link was seen between the overall percentage of calories from fat and any important health outcome, including cancer, heart disease, and weight gain.

What was important in these studies was the type of fat in the diet.  Ounce for ounce, trans fats are far worse than saturated fats when it comes to heart disease. In the Nurses’ Health Study, replacing just 30 calories of carbohydrates (7 grams) every day with 30 calories of trans fats (4 grams) nearly doubled the risk for heart disease.  Saturated fats increased the risk as well, but not nearly as much.

For good fats, there is consistent evidence that higher intake of either monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fat (especially the latter) lowers the risk for heart disease. In the Nurses’ Health Study, replacing 80 calories of carbohydrates with 80 calories of either polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats lowered the risk for heart disease by about 30 to 40 percent.

Dietary Fat and Obesity

It is a common belief that the more fat you eat, the more weight and body fat you gain. This belief has been bolstered by much of the nutrition advice given to people over the past few decades, which has focused on lowering total fat intake while increasing carbohydrate intake. But the notion that food fat equals body fat isn’t completely true, and the advice has been misguided. For example, while Americans have gradually decreased the proportion of calories they get from fat over the past few decades, rates of obesity have increased steeply.

Over the short term, following a low-fat diet does lead to weight loss. But so does following a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. Or a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet. Actually, almost any diet that helps you take in fewer calories works over the short term. In other words, for most people low-fat diets offer no apparent advantages over diets with fat levels close to the national average. This was demonstrated in the Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial. Women in this trial who were assigned to a low-fat diet did not lose, or gain, more weight than women eating a “usual” diet.

Although more research is needed, a prudent recommendation for losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight is to be mindful of the amount of food you eat in relation to the amount of calories you burn in a day. A moderate intake of fats, with an emphasis on healthful unsaturated fats, fits in fine with a weight-loss or weight-maintaining diet.

via Fats and Cholesterol: Out with the Bad, In with the Good – What Should You Eat? – The Nutrition Source – Harvard School of Public Health.

Scientific research consistently shows that those who consume the most omega 3 fish oil weigh less and experience more successful weight loss than those who don’t supplement with omega 3s.

Research published in the Journal of Nutrition found that omega 3 fish oil helps stop the conversion of pre-fat cells into fat cells by causing pre-fat cell death. [vol. 136:2965-2969]

Consuming fish oil during weight loss also helps balance hormones and increase metabolism.

Omega 3 fish oil capsules provide high levels of the important fatty acids DHA, EPA and DPA.These essential fatty acids are important in maintaining health and effectively losing weight.

Most people abandon diets and maintenance because of feelings of anxiety and depression. Studies show that a major reason for these “blue” feelings is because of lack of fatty acids – particularly DHA.

Research published in the Journal of Affective Disorders found that “depressed subjects showed significantly lower total omega 3 fatty acids” than those who weren’t depressed. [Vol. 26, No. 38, 35-46]

Omega 3 fatty acids help ease depression – the more you get, the better you feel.

DHA has been shown, over and over again, in study after study to overcome depression and help people feel much better.

A study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry showed, subjects with depression were given omega 3 DHA fatty acids, compared to subjects in a placebo group, there showed significant benefits in just three treatments. [Vol. 159:477-479]

Researchers at the psychiatry department of the University of Sheffield UK summed it up nicely – “omega 3 supplements with DHA alleviate anxiety and depression.” [Journal of Affective Disorders, Vol. 48(2-3):149-55]

People feel happier and more accepting of their circumstances when they’re getting optimum levels of omega 3 with DHA – no matter what those circumstances might be.

Omega 3 fatty acids have been shown in study after study to overcome depression, help people feel better and aid in weight loss.

Omega 3 fatty acids also destroy fat cells, provide more energy, improve metabolism and help improve mood while dieting.

Others benefits include protection from heart disease, cancer, diabetes and more.

There’s no reason not to add some fish oil to your diet. Buy some now from Amazon.