Who's Your Audience

A friend recently told me that she was taking fish oil supplements to help lower her triglycerides.This sounded a little fishy to me, so I asked her if there were any other benefits. Her exclamation was, "they are endless!" She went on to tell me that when her mother and father starting taking fish oil supplements, their skin cleared up and they both looked (I kid you not) 10 years younger! Even this didn't convince me. But then I started thinking about my friend's complexion and how it always seems to be...glowing! I decided to buy some for a test run. The brand I purchased is Sundown Naturals Odorless Omega-3 Fish Oil 1200 mg. The bottle, which contains 60 softgels, says to take two per day. That gives me a one-month supply. I will be reporting periodically to let you know if I notice a difference. I suspect the physical changes may occur in my hair, nails, and perhaps even my complexion. I don’t have a bad complexion but do suffer from the occasional breakout and keratosis, which is frankly just annoying.

Fish oil contains two long-chain essential fatty acids: eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are those famous omega-3 fats. The benefit of deriving these essential fats from fish oil capsules is that mercury and organic toxins are extracted. If you ate fish high in omega-3 fats, you would be limited in the recommended weekly amount due to mercury levels. Nuts and oils contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) which has a less pronounced effect on the body. Thus, the benefits of fish oil may outweigh those of walnuts, flaxseed, and olive oil!

The benefits that I’ve read about thus far include the following:

• EPA, or eicosapentaenoic acid, has an effect on the body’s inflammatory response. Omega 3 fatty acids have a known effect on lowering cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, and blood pressure. At the same time, they are supposed to increase your HDL, or good cholesterol.

• Clotting, as you know, can cause heart attack and stroke. Research has shown that omega 3 fatty acids break up clots.

• Improved brain function can result from ingestion of DHA as it is a component of cell membranes in the central nervous system.

• Abnormal cell proliferation inhibition, which means the body will not reproduce abnormal cells that cause cancer.

Beware: a study that I read from the Mayo Clinic noted that fish oil taken for months has the potential to cause a deficiency in vitamin E. Vitamin E has been added to the Sundown Naturals brand that I bought although it would behoove anyone trying fish oil to read the label and be sure that vitamin E is added.

The American Heart Association (AHA) has recommended that patients with documented coronary artery disease consume 1 gram of EPA + DHA every day, preferably from fatty fish or fish oil (if recommended by your physician). If it comes from the AHA, you can pretty much be sure it's been studied from every angle.

At any rate, I will be certain to keep you apprised as I set on my personal study of fish oil benefits. I just hope all this healthiness isn't counteracted by all of the wine I may be drinking in the coming weeks with my in-laws.