Protecting Your Heart With Fish Oil

It is encouraging to find additional confirmation of the benefits of omega-3 fats in respected peer reviewed cardiology journals. The health "experts" are really starting to full appreciate the importance of this essential nutrient in your health. It is probably the single most important missing nutrient in the American diet today.

However it is important to have a complete picture of omega-3 fats to effectively implement and benefit long-term from these important findings. Most experts have yet to understand the significance of the toxic contamination of many omega-3 sources with mercury and toxins like PCBs.

They are still recommending that patients should eat fish, particularly tuna, to get them. Fish would be ideal source of omega-3s ... if they weren't contaminated with mercury. As it is, they are best avoided.

Omega-3s can do wonderful things for your health, from helping you beat prostate cancer to improving your mental health. Over 2,000 scientific studies have demonstrated the wide range of problems associated with omega-3 deficiencies, including:

• Depression
• Memory Problems
• Weight Gain
• Cancer
• Heart Disease
• Allergies
• Arthritis
• Diabetes

Omega-3s are also absolutely necessary for proper brain function. The human brain is more than 60 percent structural fat, just as your muscles are made of protein and your bones are made of calcium. But it's not just any fat that our brains are made of. It has to be certain types of fats.

Receptors for certain neurotransmitters in your brain are normally made from an omega-3 fat called DHA. If you don't have much DHA in your blood, your body may use man-made trans-fat molecules as a construction material instead.

But trans-fats are shaped differently than DHA, so the receptors become deformed and don't work very well. This can lead to problems like depression and problems concentrating, especially in children whose brains is still developing.

While you should certainly consume plant based omega-3 fats that have ALA, you simply can not rely on them for your body to produce enough healthy DHA. On the other hand you should also avoid DHA only products as your body needs all omega-3 fats, ALA, EPA and DHA. If you overload on anyone of them you can run into problems.

There are a number of high quality fish oils that will work just fine for many and you are likely to find some in your local health food store. But new research suggests that one of the best sources of omega-3 fats maybe krill oil.

Krill oil is not only mercury-free and full of the beneficial omega-3s, but in addition:

• Krill oil is more stable than fish oil
• Krill are at the bottom of the food chain and have virtually no time to grow and acquire toxic heavy metals
• The omega-3 fats in krill oil have a phosphate attached, which allows it to work far more effectively in your brain
• They are packed with cancer-preventing antioxidants as well

Just as in fish oil, you will want to make sure you are getting a high quality brand. You can review my article high quality krill oil for more specifics.  If you are unable to find a good brand in your local health food store we stock some in our store for your convenience.