Omega 3 Fish Oil and Weight Loss

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Title: Omega 3 Fish Oil and Weight Loss

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Author: McEvoy

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Omega 3 Fish Oil and Weight Loss

Copyright 2005 McEvoy

A lot of people still don’t know there are fat burning

foods that can actually increase the number of fat calories

your body burns each day? These are know as free foods and

are generally low in calories; in fact some of these foods

are so low in calories that your body actually burns more

calories metabolising them, than the total amount of

calories in the food it’s self.

Although fat burning foods are important for anyone who

wants to lose weight and keep it off for good, they're

vital if you're one of these people who find it hard to

lose weight. No matter how much exercise you do or how hard

you diet, your genetics and metabolic make up play a vital

role in determining how fast and how much weight you lose.

Genetic differences also affect how much weight you gain

when you eat too much. One study of 12 groups of identical

twins was overfed for 100 days. One set of twins gained 29

pounds. A second set, however, gained only 13 pounds even

though both sets of twins were overfed with the same number

of calories. Of course, fat burning foods won't compensate

entirely for genetic differences this ultimately comes down

to a balanced calorie controlled eating regime and

excersie. They will however make fighting fat a lot easier

in the long run.

Types of fat

There are two types of fat “good fat” and “bad fat”

Actually there are 4 types of fat: Monounsaturated,

Polyunsaturated, Saturated and Tran’s fat, but they can

still be catorigised as good and bad.

Monounsaturated (good fats)

Monounsaturated fats are considered good fats and are said

to help reduce cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood

pressure and to help control diabetes.

These good fats are found in food like; olive oil, peanut

oil, cashews, canola oil, hazelnuts, peanuts, macadamia

nuts, pistachios, pine nuts and chicken fat.

Polyunsaturated (good fats) omega 3 and omega 6

Polyunsaturated fats are also considered good fats and are

said to reduce triglycerides, inflammations and tumour

growth. They also help to improve immune function and help

protect against sudden death from heart disease.

Polyunsaturated fats can be broken down into two

categories: Omega 3 and Omega 6

Omega 3 is found in foods like Canola oil, walnuts,

flaxseeds, hempseeds, salmon, mackerel, trout, tuna,

sardines, and herring.

Omega 6 is found in foods like safflower oil, sunflower

oil, sesame oil, nuts, beans and soft margarine.

Saturated (bad fats)

Saturated fats are bad fats; they raise cholesterol and

increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. In fact they

are twice as potent at raising your bad cholesterol levels

as polyunsaturated fats are at lowering them. It is

difficult to eliminate these fats from your diet but one

way to reduce them is to choose fat free milk and other

dairy products.

Saturated fats can be found in foods such as meats, whole

milk, cheese, palm and coconut oil.

Trans (bad fats)

Tran’s fats are the ugly fats; they raise bad cholesterol

(LDL) and lower good cholesterol (HDL). They increase the

risk of heart disease and stroke.

Tran’s fats can be found in foods like crackers, cookies,

cakes, shortening, margarine, hydrogenated oils and

vegetable oils that have been subjected to heat-damage

during cooking.

Omega 3 fish oil and weight loss

A recent study that was published in the international

journal of obesity, researchers want to find out if by

supplementing the diet with omega 3 fish oil (good fat)

would increase the number of fat calories burned in a

single day.

The two groups were fed exactly the same diet apart from

one group were fed 6 grams of fat in the form of butter,

olive oil, sunflower oil and peanut oil, the other group

were given 6 grams of omega 3 fish oil.

The fish oil group were given 8 capsules per day, 2 in the

morning, 3 at lunch and 3 in the evening.

The Total daily intake of omega 3 long chain fatty acids

was 1.8 grams.

The out come of the test results were fairly conclusive.

The table below shows you the changes in fat oxidation,

body fat, and metabolic rate after three weeks for the

groups with or without fish oil

With fish oil without fish oil

Measurement of body fat -2pounds

-0.7

Measurement of daily metabolic rate 1775 calories

1710 calories

These results show that the group who were supplementing

with fish oil burned about 1.1 milligram of fat per kilo

per minute. This is roughly 26% higher than the other group

who weren’t supplementing with the fish oil.

One of the key reasons as to why omega 3 fish oil has such

a powerful effect on fat metabolism is that the insulin

levels were 50% lower when subjects used the fish oil.

Insulin is a hormone that reduces the use of fat for fuel,

while also promoting fat storage in the presence of excess

calories.

Insulin increases the activity of an enzyme known to

promote the storage of fat.

Insulin inhibits the action of hormone sensitive lipase,

which is responsible for breaking down stored fat and

preparing it for use as energy.

Insulin also activates an enzyme, which, along with fatty

acid synthesis, is responsible for converting carbohydrate

into fat.

Simply put, high levels of insulin make it less likely that

your body will use stored fat as a fuel source. The drop in

insulin levels when subjects used the fish oil would have

allowed more fat to be used for energy.

Conclusion

Any good doctor or nutritionist will tell you that the best

way to get any nutrient is to eat a very balanced diet. In

the case of Omega 3 oil this would be in the form of fish,

sadly due to the pollution levels found in our oceans today

eating large portions of fish every day is not advisable.

The frustrating truth is that there will never be an easy

quick-fix method of losing weight that is safe and simple.

However, with a little research into the workings of the

body, it becomes clear that there are many small things you

can do which add up over time to aid weight loss and make

you feel better about yourself. Taking a fish oil

supplement is a good idea for anyone wanting to make

positive steps towards weight loss.

About the Author:

Dave mcevoy is an award winning personal trainer with over

20 years experience, he also runs a high quality health

supplement website.

http://www.mind1st.co.uk