Omega 3 Health Benefits, Nutrition Facts And Sources

October 31st, 2016 — According to a lot of research, omega 3 benefits each of the body’s systems in its own way. The greatest benefits can be found in the heart and the brain.

In places where other fats clog the arteries and contribute to heart disease, the omega 3 fatty acids helps to fight off the heart disease in many ways.

Here I have contributed a list of the things that omega 3 can do for your heart:

• Anti-Coagulant Activity – helps prevent the formation of clots in the blood
• Antioxidant Activity – they help to prevent oxidation of the fats that are found in the bloodstream. When the fats become oxidized, they can stick to the artery walls and harden atherosclerosis
• Relax Smooth Muscles – the help reduce the blood pressure, which can reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack
• Improves The Levels Of Cholesterol – Cholesterol isn’t all bad. Most individuals who have problems with cholesterol have high levels of LDL and low levels of HDL. The particles of LDL are most
• likely to stick to the walls of the arteries and create clots. HDL is what helps remove the particles of LDL from the blood. Omega 3 supplements have been known to increase the amount of HDL.
• Lowers The Amount of Blood Triglycerides – triglycerides are the fats found in the blood. The more fats that are found in your blood, the more likely you are to develop blood clots, have a stroke, or develop heart disease. The prescription medication LOVAX used for high levels of triglycerides is really nothing but omega 3 fish oil
• Anti-Inflammatory Activity – when the oxidized fats get stuck to the artery walls, they create swelling or inflammation, which makes the arteries even narrower

Read the full report at Cooking Detective 

Read the original post: http://www.savingseafood.org/

Sardines may help to slow aging of your brain

Eating sardines may slow the brain’s aging and protect against Alzheimer’s disease.

Eating oily fish such as mackerel and sardines may ward off Alzheimer’s disease and can delay elderly people’s brains’ aging by two years, a study suggests.

Research of more than 1,100 elderly women found that those who consumed high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in oily fish, had larger brains.

Read the full article here.

9 Reasons To Eat Fish Right Now

All things considered, 2013 was not the best year for fish news. We learned all about the dangers of contaminated fish sources and, just in December, a large-scale study published in The Journal of Nutrition found some evidence to contradict the commonly held belief that a fish-rich diet improved cognitive function in old age.

But, looking forward, the news gets better: In its first issue of 2014, the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics released a new position on fat intake, promoting fatty fish as the go-to source for polyunsaturated fatty acids:

   It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that dietary fat for the healthy adult population should provide 20 percent to 35 percent of energy, with an increased consumption of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and limited intake of saturated and trans fats.

Two “long-chain” omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), are not made by the human body, meaning we need to eat them from a dietary source. Many people get omega-3 fatty acids from plant sources like flax seeds and walnuts, though this type of “good” fat — alpha-linolenic acid — only partially converts to EPA and DHA in the body and doesn’t have the same amount of research behind it that omega-3s derived from fish do. Here are nine reasons to eat fish for your health:

Read the full article here.

Small fish bring big menu opportunities

Despite their reputation as oily, smelly, fatty and usually packed in a tin, there’s lot to like about anchovies, sardines and smelt. They’re extremely flavorful, loaded with healthy omega-3s and abundant in our oceans. And while small fish are found most often on menus in Caesar salads, atop pizzas or inside sushi rolls, lately more chefs are using them in appetizers or entrees.

According to Datassential MenuTrends, 21 percent of all restaurant menus feature at least one variety of small fish, an increase of 2 percent since 2009. They can be found most often at fine-dining restaurants, where 36 percent of menus feature a small fish. Anchovies, appearing on 19 percent of menus, are the most common small fish offered by restaurants.

Their rarity on menus, along with and their distinct flavor, is precisely why chef Joe Realmuto loves to put anchovies, sardines and smelts on the menu at Nick & Toni’s East Hampton and Nick & Toni’s Café in New York City.

Read the full article here.

People who eat more fish live 2.2 years longer, say latest results from Harvard health study

The July Tufts Health Newsletter highlights the latest results from the long running Harvard public health study. According to Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, the new results were among the first to look at the relationship of Omega-3 levels in the blood stream and overall mortality of older adults.

“The advantages of eating fish are many,” says Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, director of Tufts’ HNRCA Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory. “Fish offers omega3 fatty acids and, depending on how it is prepared, is low in calories and saturated fat.” Besides the inherent nutritional positives of fish, she adds, substituting fish (not fried or heavily breaded) for entrées such as steak and quiche pays off doubly.

The American Heart Association recommends eating fish at least twice a week, particularly fatty varieties high in omega-3s such as salmon, mackerel, herring, lake trout, sardines and albacore tuna. A “serving” is 3.5 ounces cooked, or about three-quarter cup of flaked fish.

Now there’s fresh evidence that following that advice can not only reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, but actually help you live longer—especially if you’re already age 65 or older. “Although eating fish has long been considered part of a healthy diet, few studies have assessed blood omega-3 levels and total deaths in older adults,” says Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health. New findings by Dr. Mozaffarian and colleagues published in Annals of Internal Medicine, he says, “support the importance of adequate blood omega-3 levels for cardiovascular health, and suggest that later in life these benefits could actually extend the years of remaining life.”

The researchers examined 16 years of data from about 2,700 US adults age 65 or older who participated in the long-term Cardiovascular Health Study. Participants, average age 74, were generally healthy and did not take fishoil pills. Rather than relying on dietary questionnaires to measure fish consumption, the study took blood samples at baseline to analyze total omega-3s as well as levels of three specific omega-3s found in fish: DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DPA (docosapentaenoic acid).

Overall, study participants with the highest total omega-3 levels had a 27% lower risk of total mortality due to all causes, and in particular were less likely to die of coronary heart disease and arrhythmia. Those with the most blood omega-3s lived, on average, 2.2 years longer than those with the lowest levels.

Read the full story here.

Oxford University reveal that a fishy diet can improve reading and concentration in kids

Omega-3 fatty acids called EPA and DHA, found in fish and seafood, are essential for the brain’s structure and function as well as for maintaining a healthy heart.

Research carried out at Oxford University and published in the journal PLOS One, found children’s blood levels of DHA “significantly predicted” how well they were able to concentrate and learn.

Blood omega-3 levels were studied in 493 UK schoolchildren aged from seven to nine.

Read the full story here.

Be happy! Eat more sardines!

As the days grow shorter, considering the role of omega-3s in keeping everything sunny

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) was discovered by Dr. Norman Rosenthal after noticing that his own sluggish mood — first noticed after moving from sunny South Africa to New York — improved after exposing himself to bright light. SAD affects about 8 percent of people in wintry New Hampshire but less than 2 percent in Florida. Lack of sunlight may alter sleep-wake cycles by means of nerve signals from the eye to the brain’s biological clock (the suprachiasmatic nucleus) with the help of melatonin from the pea-sized pineal gland.

Although Iceland’s daylight diminishes, due to their near-arctic latitude, from over 9 hours on October 20 to just over 4 hours in December, its SAD prevalence of less than 4 percent is much lower than that of U.S. or European locations with equivalent levels of seasonal darkness. In fact, Icelanders are among the happiest people in the world — despite their 2008 financial crisis, volcanic eruptions, and the predominant winter darkness.

In addition to their helpful social support and encouragement of out-of-the-box lifestyles — the mayor of the city of Reykjavik, Jon Gnarr, who is also a comedian, as an example — Icelanders believe that their high consumption of ocean fish and fish oil helps them cope. Oil-rich cold-water fish like salmon, cod, and sardines, fish oil supplements, and some plant-based foods like walnuts contain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which research on other mood disorders suggests have an antidepressant effect. We’ve known for quite a while that eating fish correlates negatively with major depressive disorder.

Read complete story here.

Fish on Fridays: Omega 3s vs. Mercury – Is Seafood Good For You?

It seems there’s a never-ending see-saw battle in scientific research about certain consumables. Red wine will decrease incidence of cardiovascular disease! No it won’t. Dark chocolate will lower your body mass index! Or not.

Seafood is no different. For every report that Omega 3 fatty acids are the fountain of youth, there’s another study warning seafood lovers about looming poison from excessive quantities of heavy metals, especially mercury. But are Omega 3s really that beneficial? And what to make of reports that selenium in fish can counterbalance the negative effects of mercury? And just what the hell is selenium, anyway? What’s the truth about fish?

Of course, there’s no black-and-white answer, but I’ll try to sort through a few of the bigger issues and provide a bit of guidance about what to look for at the fish counter to maximize the benefits and reduce your risk.

First of all, a disclaimer: I’m an ocean policy wonk, not a doctor, so take all this info with a grain of salt (figuratively, people, watch that blood pressure!) and ask your doctor if you have deeper questions—particularly if you’re pregnant.

Read more here