Cholesterol is a waxy substance your body needs to build and maintain healthy cells, create vitamin D, produce hormones and manufacture the bile acids that help digest dietary fats. Your liver and other body cells manufacture about 75 percent of your total cholesterol, while the other 25 percent comes from animal products in your diet. Fish oil can help you maintain healthy levels of cholesterol.
Identification
Fish oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a specific kind of polyunsaturated fat that helps keep your brain and heart healthy. Your body doesn't produce omega-3 fatty acids on its own, so you need to choose dietary sources of this vital nutrient. Fish oil contains two types of omega-3 fatty acids: eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA, and docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA.
Effects of Cholesterol
Low-density lipoproteins, or LDL, are known as the "bad" cholesterol, and high-density lipoproteins, or HDL, are called the "good" cholesterol. If you have extra LDL cholesterol in your blood, it sticks to the walls of your arteries and forms hard plaques that reduce the blood flow to your heart, brain and other vital organs. Over time, these plaques can cause heart attacks, strokes and high blood pressure. High levels of HDL cholesterol, on the other hand, carry extra cholesterol to the liver so it can be removed from your body and may pull cholesterol from the arterial plaques, according to the American Heart Association.
Prevention/Solution
The EPA and DHA in fish oil help lower blood cholesterol levels and also reduce your blood pressure, says the University of Maryland Medical Center. Omega-3 fatty acids can effectively reduce LDL cholesterol levels, according to MayoClinic.com. Fish oil also reduces the level of triglyceride fats in your body, slows the rate at which arterial plaques develop and lowers your risk of dying from strokes, heart attacks or irregular heartbeats.
Sources
Fatty cold-water fish including salmon, mackerel, herring, lake trout, albacore tuna and sardines are good sources of heart-healthy EPA and DHA. You can eat servings of these fish or take fish oil capsules to obtain omega-3 fatty acids.
Expert Insight
The American Heart Association advises you to eat at least two servings a week of fatty fish to ensure you get enough fish oil in your diet. A single serving is about ¾ cup of flaked fish or 3.5 oz. of cooked fish. MayoClinic.com lists fatty cold-water fish as one of the top five foods to lower blood cholesterol levels. If you already have coronary heart disease, you may need fish oil supplements to obtain adequate amounts of DHA and EPA.
Warning
Too much omega-3 fatty acid from fish oil capsules can cause excessive bleeding, cautions the American Heart Association. Limit yourself to 3 g a day of omega-3 fatty acids from capsules unless your physician says otherwise.
References
- American Heart Association: About Cholesterol
- American Heart Association: LDL and HDL Cholesterol: What's Bad and What's Good?
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Omega-3 Fatty Acids
- MayoClinic.com: Cholesterol: Top Five Foods to Lower Your Numbers
- American Heart Association: Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids
