We now spend over £60 million on omega 3 capsules, can you believe this? just because we do not need any more cajoling to know that it is any good. Anyway, it seems like omega-3 is crucial for our brain and that it offers unending support for our livers, hearts, brains and the immune system.
According to one expert, many consumers of these supplements may actually be wasting their money because there might be no help or benefit in the supplements.
The poor quality of many supplements is enough to cause major concern as one expert of Omega-3, Dr Alex Richardson put it. She works with charity Food & Behavior Research. She is also one of the most renowned researchers of omega-3
One of the problems that occur is that supplements contain very little EPA and DHA, or even non at all. She says that although there are many types of omega 3 supplements, not all of them are beneficial to the body.
In addition to that fact, to date, there is no daily recommended dose that one can bank on taking and therefore people either take far too little or far too much.
If you take a pill every morning so that you can boost your brain power, you might be very far from the truth. There is not much that it can do for you. Dr Richardson thinks that there is enough confusion over this and in fact says that taking a full meal of sea food or fish oil is better for giving one the much needed EPA and DHA which are the most essential fatty acids.
There is no doubt that omega-3 is indeed good for keeping cardiac disorders at bay. As well as preventing stroke. It is also good for inflammations like arthritis and it also improves eyesight. What is not very well established is it is vital for our brain power and alertness. Health surveys have shown that almost 90% of Britons do not get enough of what they need to stave a heart attack that is about 500mg in a day. Where could they get enough of them to support brain power and the mental well being which requires about l000mg/day?
Of course it goes without saying that the best way to get nutrients into your body is to get it from food. Therefore you should have about four servings of fish in a week and at least one of them oily. If this is not possible, maybe a supplement is going to be better than nothing at all.
The question now is how you are going to know that you have got the right supplement pill if your decade on using them.
Because there is non official endorsement in the number of pills you should take at one serving, then it is important that you only take the ones that have got EPA or DHA in them. Well, there is no way of proving it but again, anything is possible, right? This means that you should take none other than fish oils because vegetarian oil contains linseed or flax seed oil which contains an entirely different form of omega-3.
To you they would be a complete wastage of money but if you are a vegetarian, then perhaps you should consider taking the supplements that have EPA from algae.
Ignore also all the doses that have been suggested on the packet and remember that there is no official recommended dose for these supplements in the market today. Just get to the fine print and see how much EPA is contained so that you can know how many helping you might take for the essence.
For example, for the much targeted mental well being, it is recommended that you take about 1000mg/day. This will mean that to get to this level with pills, you had better exceed the limit that the manufacturer has set for you.
Don’t waste your money
Do not even think about going for the other combination that tells you of omega 3, 6, and 9. The thing to always recall here is that your body too does produce its own omega 9 fatty acids and therefore what you should get from pills and diets is what your body does not produce. Omega 6 is also found in many other plant sources like avocado, nuts, seeds and dairy products. In meat and eggs too you will find varied quantities. All things considered, perhaps we should be thinking ore of ways to reduce the content of omegas in our body rather than how we can increase it. A high in omega 6 in your body is linked to bad conditions like allergies, cancer and heart conditions.
Dr Richardson had assessed a few brands in the market of omega-3 fish oils and what she found; she rated according to quality of the oils and the rate at which they are absorbed in to the system. There were many other factors that are also considered.
First there are 3 types of fish oils. There is the most expensive variety which is ultra refined oil. This is pharmaceutically prepared and most likely it has the lowest number of impurities
It is also highly concentrated with all the nutrients and in the process of packaging. All fishy taste is removed from the oil. This is what most people call a side effect in the other oils.
In the next categories, you will find the concentrated which are a little more basic in comparison to super oils said above. Although they do not have as much EPA and DHA they are still a lot better than the last category of the basic oils. They are also home to some of the pollutants but again, only in small quantities. These are like lead and mercury.
Dr Richardson rated HealthSpark’s Omega 3 fish oil as the ‘best budget buy’. It providing 300mg EPA/DHA per capsule, 60 days’ supply of a optimal dose. the oils are obtained from the body of the fish and manufactured in UK. Free UK shipping.
Safe for you:
All foods are supposed to comply with relevant EU regulations concerning food security. Therefore, all the pollutants found in these oils are not really very dangerous to your health. In the last category, Dr Richardson found the basic oils that every one can find in supermarkets. However, none could come near the first category in quality and safety, but the best oils cost much higher than the other categories. The price was worth its value in nutrients.
Any person who is on blood-thinning medication should consult their doctor before taking Omega-3 fish oils.