why fish oil is good for you

[Guest guest]

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1/19/why-fish-oil-is-goo\

d-for-you.aspx

Why Fish Oil is Good for You

Fish oil is known to play a role in preventing

Alzheimer’s disease, and UCLA researchers have

discovered why.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid

found in fish oil, increases the production of LR11, a

protein that destroys a protein that forms the

“plaques” associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

LR11 is also found in low levels in Alzheimer’s

patients, and since this protein helps prevent the

toxic plaques that are thought to harm neurons in your

brain, it is believed to be a factor in causing the

disease.

The researchers examined both fish oil in the diet and

DHA administered directly to neurons grown in a

laboratory.

Even low doses of DHA increased LR11 in rat neurons,

and dietary fish oil increased LR11 in brains of rats

or mice that had been genetically altered to develop

Alzheimer’s disease, researchers said.

DHA also had a beneficial impact on human neuronal

cells in culture.

The researchers concluded that high levels of DHA lead

to abundant LR11, which seems to protect against

Alzheimer’s. Conversely, low levels of LR11 lead to

the formation of beta amyloid plaques that harm your

brain.

What’s left to be determined, according to the

researchers, is what dose is most effective. In areas

where dietary DHA is high, a small dose may be

beneficial, while in the United States, where there’s

a deficiency of DHA, a larger dose may be necessary.

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

In my opinion, you can never read too many good things

about omega-3 fats, because this is one of the crucial

building blocks to health that are often lacking in

Americans’ diets.

Omega-3 fats like DHA are called “essential” fatty

acids because your body doesn’t make them on its own.

So, you must acquire them through outside sources.

Believe me, this is one fat you do NOT want to be

deficient in as omega-3 fat can:

Reduce your risk of heart disease

Help prevent cancer, including liver and prostate

cancers

Alleviate depression

Fight inflammation in your body

Make your children smarter

As this study mentions, omega-3 fats are also widely

known to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, which is not

surprising when you consider that DHA is the most

abundant essential fatty acid in your brain.

Your Best Source of Omega-3 Fat

The most valuable omega-3 fats are the longer-chain

fats like DHA and EPA. These are nearly exclusively

found in marine sources like fish and fish oils.

However, because of pollution concerns I do not

recommend that you increase your intake of fish to get

your omega-3. And don’t for a moment think that

farm-raised fish are any better -- they are FAR worse

than wild-caught fish and should be avoided.

Instead, I suggest you opt for a high-quality omega-3

supplement -- but not just ANY omega-3 supplement will

do. One of the best sources of omega-3 fats that is

highly stable and pure is from Antarctic krill oil.

Although I still advocate high-quality fish oils as

well, fish oil is a challenge as it highly perishable

and can easily become rancid inside of your body if

you don’t get enough antioxidants.

Krill oil, however, has endogenous antioxidants right

in it, which greatly reduces any concerns of

rancidity.

Please do realize that flaxseeds are NOT a good source

of the omega-3 fats DHA and EPA. While flaxseeds have

some merit in improving your health, in terms of

omega-3 you should not rely on them for your sole

source of omega-3 nutrition, as you will not receive

the benefits you read about.

Flaxseeds do not contain DHA and EPA, rather they

contain ALA (alpha linolenic acid). And humans have a

very limited capacity to convert smaller and less

useful omega-3 fats like the ALA found in flax, to the

more useful higher order fats EPA and DHA.

Part of getting enough omega-3 fats has to do with

optimizing your ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats

(which come largely from vegetable oils).

The ideal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats is

approximately 1:1. This is what your ancestors thrived

on for hundreds of generations. Today, largely as a

result of consuming far too many omega-6 fats and too

few omega-3 fats, our ratio of omega-6 to omega-3

averages from 20:1 to 50:1!

To get your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio closer to the

ideal 1:1, simply cut back on all vegetable oils

(you’ll need to read labels if you eat processed

foods) and get a regular supply of high-quality

omega-3 fat, like that from krill oil, daily.

Other Natural Tools for Preventing Alzheimer’s

Omega-3 fats are an excellent tool for fighting

Alzheimer’s, but they are far from the only one.

Please understand that the experts are predicting that

more than 5 million Americans currently have

Alzheimer’s, and by 2050 that could increase to

between 11 million and 16 million people in the United

States alone.

Here is another important fact that you need to

understand:

“Neither dementia nor Alzheimer's are a normal part of

aging.”

Your memory and brain functioning do not have to

decline simply because you are getting older. This is

especially true if you follow these guidelines, which

will greatly increase your chances of avoiding

dementia and Alzheimer's:

1. Eat a nutritious diet like the one described in my

nutrition plan, including regularly consuming a

healthy source of animal-based omega-3 fats.

2. Exercise. Studies have shown that it protects your

brain (along with being good for a host of other

reasons).

3. Avoid and remove mercury from your body. This means

not only removing any existing mercury in your body,

but also striving not to take in any more (via

polluted fish, thimerosal-containing vaccines or flu

shots). Dental amalgam fillings are one of the major

sources of mercury in many people's bodies (however,

you should be healthy before having them removed).

4. Avoid aluminum, as it has been linked to

Alzheimer's. It can be found in antiperspirants,

drinking water and aluminum cookware.

5. Challenge your mind. Doing activities such as

crossword puzzles, brainteasers and learning new

things may help build up the brain, making it less

susceptible to the lesions associated with Alzheimer's

disease.

Related Articles:

How to Easily and Inexpensively Blow Away

Alzheimer's Disease

No " Magic Pill " for Alzheimer's

The Dramatic Effect of Fish Oil on Learning &

Development

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

Looking for last minute shopping deals?

Find them fast with Search.

http://tools.search./newsearch/category.php?category=shopping