Omega 3 fatty acids are an essential part of your daily nutrition. They are necessary for your health, but your body does not produce them naturally, meaning you must get them from your diet. Even though Omega 3 acids are considered rare, you should be able to get enough of them in your every day diet to ensure that you do not develop a deficiency. The most common sources for Omega 3 fatty acids are seafood – tuna, salmon and halibut, algae, krill, some sea plants and nut oils. It is also essential that your diet has a mix of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. Omega 6 fatty acids tend to produce more inflammation than Omega 3, so it is important to balance them in your diet. Most Americans eat 15 times more Omega 6 fatty acids than Omega 3, which can be detrimental to your health.
Benefits
There are many benefits associated with Omega 3 fatty acids. The benefits of the nutrient have not been known for very long. It was not until 20-30 years ago that researchers finally uncovered the numerous benefits that Omega 3 fatty acids offered. Before then, they knew there was a nutrient that offered these benefits, but they did not know which nutrient it was. Below are some of the benefits associated with Omega 3 fatty acids.
- Crucial role in developing the brain in young children, also helps during puberty
- May reduce the risk of heart disease
- Reduces inflammation of veins
- Reduces the risk of common diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and arthritis
- Helps improve memory and corrects behavioral issues such as ADD and ADHD
- Tend to reduce the amount of bad cholesterol in your system and increase the amount of good cholesterol
- Can reduce or eliminate hypertension completely in some patients
Amounts
The amount of Omega 3 fatty acids that you consume through your normal diet varies, depending upon the amount of food that you eat. In a typical serving of fish oil you can expect to find about 0.12 grams of Omega 3 fatty acids. The recommended dosage for a typical adult should not exceed 3 grams per day, for safety reasons. There is no recommended dosage for children under the age of 18.
How to Take, Absorption
While many of us do not get enough Omega 3 fatty acids in our diet, it is quiet easy to remedy that situation. With the recent introduction of fish oil supplements, getting the correct amount of Omega 3 fatty acids is not too hard. Fish oil can be taken quite easily by just swallowing a couple capsules. Inside each capsule you will find about .2 grams of Omega 3 fatty acids. When considering fish oil versus nuts, you should probably lean more towards fish oil. Fish oil contains more Omega 3 fatty acids per serving than nuts, and the acids from the fish oil are approximately 15 times easier for your body to absorb than the Omega 3 fatty acids from nuts.
Tags: ADD, ADHD, Cholesterol, Hypertension, protein
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