A nutritious diet includes healthy fats, such as omega-3 fatty acids from fish or fish oil supplements. Increasing your dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids benefits your health by reducing your risk of heart disease and cancer and relieves the inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and inflammatory bowel disorders. Consult your doctor or nutritionist about your health and the benefits of increasing your intake of fish and omega-3 fatty acids.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fatty acids your body needs for growth and development, cardiovascular health and effective brain function. Alpha-linolenic acid is an essential omega-3 fatty acid your body cannot produce and must get from foods such as walnuts, flaxseed, tofu and soybean oil. Yet your body converts alpha-linolenic acid to longer chain omega-3 fatty acids called eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, also found in fish.
Fish
Eat at least two 3.5 oz. servings of fatty fish per week to help lower blood cholesterol and blood pressure, slow the growth of arterial plaque and reduce the risk of heart disease. Cold-water fatty fish are rich sources of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. These fish include salmon, herring, sardines, tuna, anchovies and rainbow trout. An article in "Circulation" in 2004 found that 20 g of fish corresponds with a 7 percent lower risk of death from coronary heart disease.
Fish Oil Supplements
You can also take fish oil supplements to increase your dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids. Fish oil supplements are derived from cod liver, halibut, herring, mackerel, salmon, seal blubber, tuna or whale blubber and contain either eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid or both types of long chain omega-3 fatty acids. They may also contain small amounts of vitamins A, B complex, C, D and E.
Warning
The US Food and Drug Administration encourages consumers to eat up to 12 oz. of fish per week, an average of two meals, of different types of fish and shellfish that are low in mercury, such as salmon, canned light tuna, pollack, catfish and shrimp. However, the FDA warns consumers to minimize consumption of albacore tuna to 6 oz. per week and to avoid eating king mackerel, shark and swordfish because these fish may contain high levels of mercury.
References
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Omega-3 Fatty Acids; 2010
- Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University; Essential Fatty Acids; 2010
- American Heart Association; Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids; 2010
- University of Michigan Integrative Medicine; Healing Foods Pyramid; 2010
- "Circulation"; Accumulated Evidence on Fish Consumption and Coronary Heart Disease Mortality: A Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies; Ka He, et al.; Jun 8 2004
- MedlinePlus; Fish Oil; 2010
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