Fighting high cholesterol has produced many different treatments. You can cut down on certain types of foods, exercise, take cholesterol medicines, supplement your diet with fish oil or a combination of all these methods. If you have high levels of low-density lipoprotein and triglycerides, the two bad parts of cholesterol, your doctor may recommend all of these actions to get them under control. In the process, if you take fish oil supplements, you may get some added benefits. Consult your practitioner before you begin using a fish oil supplement.
Triglycerides
Triglycerides are types of fats or fatlike substances you get from eating various types of foods. Your liver also produces triglycerides as part of its normal function. Like the good cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein and the bad cholesterol, LDL, your body needs some triglycerides. They only cause problems when the levels exceed normal levels. When this happens, triglycerides deposit fatty substances in the internal area of your blood vessels and begin to block them. Your blood carries too much of these fatlike substances and it contaminates your blood. As triglycerides move around your body, they start to accumulate on the walls of your arteries, form into hard pieces that adhere to the walls called plaques and essentially block blood flow. Your heart then must pump harder to get blood through the narrowed openings, putting a strain on the cardiovascular system and raising your blood pressure.
Fish Oil Benefits
Fish oil, containing the omega-3-acid ethyl esters eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, essentially is a fatty acid. It functions to decrease your over all triglyceride levels in your body and bloodstream. For this reason, doctors often recommend it along with prescription medicines, called statins, diet changes and exercise, to help your body reach normal triglyceride levels. Fish oil also can perform some other functions, such as serving as an anti-inflammatory agent akin to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. This can help relieve pain associated with inflammatory ailments such as arthritis. There also is some evidence fish oil can help people with bipolar disorder to stabilize their moods.
Cleansing the Blood
As fish oil lowers your triglyceride levels, it also can work to decrease the amount of plaque already built up in your arteries. Fish oil supplements can help to cleanse your blood of excess fatlike substances, removing them from your body. Fish oil also may thin your blood slightly, helping to prevent clotting that could lead to heart attacks or strokes. For this reason, you should not take fish oil supplements with a blood-thinning medicine, such as warfarin, because the combination of the two may make your blood too thin and cause dangerous bleeding.
Side Effects
Along with its potential side effect of increasing the actions of anticoagulant medications, fish oil supplements can cause some temporary minor side effects. Fish oil can make your stomach feel queasy, and it may produce a fishlike taste or burping. Initially, it also can cause some minor back pain. These minor side effects normally dissipate as your body adjusts to the fish oil supplements. Speak with your doctor about them if they continue.
References
- MayoClinic.com; High Blood Pressure (Hypertension); March 2011
- "Surgical Neurology"; Omega-3 Fatty Acids (Fish Oil) as an Anti-inflammatory: an Alternative to Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs for Discogenic Pain; J.C. Maroon, et al.; October 2005
- MedlinePlus: Fish Oil
- Drugs.com: Fish Oil
- Psycheducation.org; Mood Stabilizers: An Updated List and Links; Jim Phelps
- Drugs.com: Omega-3-Acid Ethyl Esters
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