How to Get Essential Fatty Acids Into the Diet to Boost Health and Longevity
Knowing how to get essential fatty acids into the diet that you have is of vital importance to your health, and the best source of essential fatty acids to do this is omega 3.
Unfortunately not enough people are aware of this which leads to omega 3 deficiency being the sixth most common form of preventable death in the US.
There are different types of essential fatty acids to be found in different types of omega 3's though, and some of them are more beneficial to you than others and this should also be reflected in your diet.
For instance flax seed and walnuts contain the fatty acid ALA, whilst oily fish contains DHA and EPA fats.
Whilst the ALA fats can still be beneficial for your health, you really want to increase the other two fats in your diet, particularly the DHA fats.
The reason for this is because medical and scientific research has come to a resounding conclusion that DHA fat is essential for your good health in many different areas.
For instance it is known to help protect the heart from disease, it is also proven to reduce inflammation which not only reduces the likelihood of joint pain from conditions such as arthritis but also reduces the risks of aneurysms and strokes too.
In addition to all of this DHA fat is also known to be essential for a healthy brain because the brain is actually made up from this fat and if there is a lack of it then this can lead to mood swings, mental health problems as well as forgetfulness and lack of concentration.
So, now we know that we need this fat for good health we just eat more oily fish, right? Well not quite.
The problem is that for this to be really beneficial to us we will need to consume a portion of this kind of fish on a daily basis, but there are a couple of drawbacks to this.
Firstly fish such as salmon are quite expensive and eating it every day would quickly increase your weekly food budget.
Secondly these kind of fish are high in their food chain and due to this fact means that they contain a lot of pollutants such as mercury, arsenic and PCB's which if you consumed daily would bring you adverse health not good health.
The best way how to get essential fatty acids into the diet is to use fish oil supplements, however even here you still need to urge caution.
I say this because unfortunately the industry is not heavily regulated and as a result of this it means certain manufacturers produce supplements that still contain the pollutants that we have mentioned.
In addition to that some suppliers also use rancid fish which will increase oxidization in your body when you consume their oils, which again is something you do not want to occur.
So, when you go to buy fish oil supplements the first thing you need to check for is that the product has been purified by a process known as molecular distillation and also that the fish used has not been frozen at sea and is still fresh when it reaches the processing plant.
And if they can produce proof of this then even better, and whilst you might pay a bit more for these kinds of supplements, they are definitely worth it to your health in the long run.
Unfortunately not enough people are aware of this which leads to omega 3 deficiency being the sixth most common form of preventable death in the US.
There are different types of essential fatty acids to be found in different types of omega 3's though, and some of them are more beneficial to you than others and this should also be reflected in your diet.
For instance flax seed and walnuts contain the fatty acid ALA, whilst oily fish contains DHA and EPA fats.
Whilst the ALA fats can still be beneficial for your health, you really want to increase the other two fats in your diet, particularly the DHA fats.
The reason for this is because medical and scientific research has come to a resounding conclusion that DHA fat is essential for your good health in many different areas.
For instance it is known to help protect the heart from disease, it is also proven to reduce inflammation which not only reduces the likelihood of joint pain from conditions such as arthritis but also reduces the risks of aneurysms and strokes too.
In addition to all of this DHA fat is also known to be essential for a healthy brain because the brain is actually made up from this fat and if there is a lack of it then this can lead to mood swings, mental health problems as well as forgetfulness and lack of concentration.
So, now we know that we need this fat for good health we just eat more oily fish, right? Well not quite.
The problem is that for this to be really beneficial to us we will need to consume a portion of this kind of fish on a daily basis, but there are a couple of drawbacks to this.
Firstly fish such as salmon are quite expensive and eating it every day would quickly increase your weekly food budget.
Secondly these kind of fish are high in their food chain and due to this fact means that they contain a lot of pollutants such as mercury, arsenic and PCB's which if you consumed daily would bring you adverse health not good health.
The best way how to get essential fatty acids into the diet is to use fish oil supplements, however even here you still need to urge caution.
I say this because unfortunately the industry is not heavily regulated and as a result of this it means certain manufacturers produce supplements that still contain the pollutants that we have mentioned.
In addition to that some suppliers also use rancid fish which will increase oxidization in your body when you consume their oils, which again is something you do not want to occur.
So, when you go to buy fish oil supplements the first thing you need to check for is that the product has been purified by a process known as molecular distillation and also that the fish used has not been frozen at sea and is still fresh when it reaches the processing plant.
And if they can produce proof of this then even better, and whilst you might pay a bit more for these kinds of supplements, they are definitely worth it to your health in the long run.
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