Get Fishy and stay healthy

There is nothing fishy or oily about this. Fish oils are the best defence against heart disease. It is perhaps not news anymore. But this deserves to be highlighted.It is too important to miss. It is breaking news in many ways.Itr is a report of a review of studies that goes back 30 years.
Significantly it found its waays into the pages of one of the most prestigious medical journals in the world. _ Journal of the American College of Cardiology..It happened late last month.
It conforms what scientists have been thinking all along: fish and omega-3 oils are the most powerful defence against heart disease.
It seems that fish oils active component- eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) acids, and docosahexanoic (DHA) - can prevent a fatal heart attack in people with existing heart problem, even if they've had one attack already.
Eating oily fish such as salmon, sardine, trout, and herring, and supplementing with omega-3 oils can dramatically reduce your risk of developing a heart of heart problem such as artherossclerosis, arrhythmia, heart attck, cardiac failure.
And if you have had a heart attack , you reduce your risk of second one by 30 percent by increasing your fish oil intake. A reduction of 30 per cent - by just taking more fish oil. It is safe and cheap.
More importantly , it goes back to what Hippocrates famously said," let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be food."
These findings are based on a major review of previous studies going back 30 years.
Head researcher arl Lavie, of Oschner Medical Center in New Orleans, recommends that healthy people consume 500g of omega-3 fish oil, which contains EPA and DHA, everyday, while those with an existing heart problems should double their daily intake to 1000 mg.
In fact, in April 2007, other leading journal _ the lancet _ reported that omega-3 fatty acids were just as effective as statin drugs, and offered a similar level of protection.
The study was referred to as Japan EPA Lipid Intervention Study (JELIS). It is interesting on several counts. It exclusively involves Japanese people, whose fish intake is on average far higher than that in West, and the researchers were testing at far higher levels of supplementation than have ever before been monitered. They found that those who ate around two servings a week of fish were getting all the protection they needed against fatal heart attack. In fact, taking suplementation on top didn't offer up anymore benefits.
But those who were also supplelementing with 900 mg of EPA and DHA daily reduced their chances of developing non-fatal heart problems by around 19 percent.
The study which involved 18,645 participants with high cholestrol levels who were randomly given either a supplement or a statin (cholestrol lowering drugs), is the first to confirm that high dosages have a protective effect against heart disease.
It seems that omega-3 fatty acids work best when there are adequate circulating blood levels. So you need to take it regularly.
Just a few hints on choosing a good fish oil:

High dose
You need to take oils with a high percentage of omega-3.Omega 3 is very safe.It has been part of human nutrition from the beginning of time.The more the better.

Molecular distillation
Toxins are on the rise in oceans all over the world. Fish which live in the oceans unfortunately concentrate these toxins in their bodies.That is why you should look for fish oilsupplements that are toxin free.
Good supplements are produced under a process caleed molecular distillation where toxins are gently removed without destroying the very sensitive omega 3 fatty acids.
New processes like ometech distillation are even more superior in their outcomes.

Less Fish taste and colour

High quality fish oils are alsosuperior in taste and effect. They smell less.There is a lesseer chance of a "fishy burp".

The writer;
Datuk DR Rajen M
is a pharmacist with
a doctorate in holistic
medicine. Email him at
health@po.jaring.my