Fish oil is one of the most essential if not the most essential nutrient to take for prevention of a wide variety of illness. Some of the benefits of regular consumption of fish oil include lowering cholesterol and triglycerides, preventing clot formation by thinning the blood, stabilizing depression and mood swings and reducing inflammation and pain in the body. I will be writing about the last benefit in this blog entry.

The primary ingredients in fish oil that has the therapeutic effect is EPA and DHA which are Omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids are one of the 3 essential fatty acids in the diet (can not be made in the body). The other essential fatty acids are Omega 6 and Omega 9. The Standard American Diet (SAD) has a large ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 but the ideal ratio is 1:1. This unhealthy fatty acid ratio has developed over a period of time due to a number of factors including feeding cows and pigs more grain and less grass and the increasing consumption of Omega 6 vegetable cooking oils in the diet. Omega 9 comes from mono saturated fats such as Olive Oil.

There are numerous ways to increase Omega 3 in the diet. Flax seeds (ground) or flax seed oil is an excellent source of Omega 3. The problem with getting additional Omega 3 through consumption of flax seeds is that the type of Omega 3 in flax seeds does not have a therapeutic effect. Eating wild cold water fish is another good source. Farm fed fish are not a good source because of the overcrowded conditions and the type of food fed to the fish. Small cold water fish have less concentrations of mercury. The problem with eating cold water fish on a regular basis is toxic build up of mercury in the body. Therefore the best way to obtain additional Omega 3 is in supplemental fish oil (mercury is filtered out of the oil in the better brands).

The best ways to decrease the amount of Omega 6 oils in the diet is to decrease or eliminate the Omega 6 oils (Safflower, Sunflower, Corn, Soy and Canola) and eat grass fed beef, lamb and dairy products. Add olive oil to the diet every day to make sure you have adequate amounts of Omega 9 fatty acid.

Now that you have balanced the fatty acids in your diet you should notice a marked decrease in pain and inflammation such as from arthritis, cystitis, tendonitis, colitis, prostatitis, headaches, etc.

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