Rejuveno Worldwide Inc.

Strawberry-flavoured OMEGA-3 Fish Oil

Last update: July 1, 2010

It's low in calories, high in protein and packed with vitamins and minerals. But that's not why fish may be the ultimate health food. A special group of compounds in fish oils have proved to be such powerful protectors of the heart that doctors are urging Americans to swap their beloved sirloins for salmon, sardines and other seafood.

According to one study, just two fish meals a week can significantly reduce the risk of heart attack. The reason: Fish oils, rich in unsaturated fats called omega-3 fatty acids, change the chemistry of the blood to lower the likelihood of heart disease. They also may help prevent or treat a wide range of other ailments, including migraine headaches and rheumatoid arthritis. As William Lands, a chemist at the University of Illinois in Chicago, observes: "From a scientific standpoint, fish oils are as exciting as all get out."

Researchers began to suspect something fishy when studying Greenland Eskimos and Japanese fishermen, who have a far lower incidence of heart disease and other ailments common in Western countries, including diabetes, high blood pressure and many cancers. What those two groups do differently from us is eat fish -- lots of it. The Eskimos average more than three-quarters of a pound a day; the Japanese average more than a quarter of a pound. By comparison, Americans eat only 13 pounds of fish a year.

Dutch researchers provided more evidence for the link between fish and healthy hearts in 1985, when they reported on a 20-year survey of the diets of 852 middle-aged men. Those who ate an average of just one ounce of fish a day had half the rate of heart disease of men who ate little or no fish. And the more fish the men ate, the less likely they were to die of heart attacks.

Why do fish-eaters outlive meat-lovers? The answer seems to lie in the chemical processes that set the stage for a heart attack. Over the years, sludge-like plaque, made up of cholesterol and other blood fats, builds up on the inner walls of the arteries. This process, called atherosclerosis, causes half of all deaths in the U.S. As an artery narrows, a clot can cut off the blood supply to part of the heart muscle, triggering a heart attack. Fish oils prevent this from happening in several ways:

In one study at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Dr. William Connor, professor of medicine and head of the clinical nutrition department, fed a pound of salmon a day to healthy volunteers and to patients with hyperlipidemia (high levels of blood fats). Cholesterol levels in both groups plummeted, as did levels of triglycerides and low-density lipoproteins. "The higher the blood fats were to begin with, the greater the fall." Dr. Connor says.

In another study of 20 adults with very high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, Connor tested fish oils against polyunsaturated vegetable oil, a proven cholesterol-cutter. Drop for drop, the fish oils were two to five times more potent than the vegetable oil, pushing cholesterol and triglycerides down by as much as 45 percent in some patients.

Fish may benefit your entire body. In a study of 37 adults with rheumatoid arthritis, Dr. Joel Kremer of Albany Medical College found that those given a fish-oil supplement had less morning stiffness and fewer tender joints. When Robert Hitzemanin of the State University of New York at Stony Brook gave fish oil to 15 migraine sufferers, eight improved significantly, reporting longer intervals between attacks and fewer severe headaches.

Studies at the National Institutes of Health and at Massachusetts General Hospital showed that a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids protected mice against kidney disease. These versatile compounds also slowed the development and progression of mammary cancer in rodents studied at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Fish oils may be essential for normal development of the brain and the retina. When Dr. Connor fed pregnant rhesus monkeys and later their offspring a diet low in omega-3 fatty acids, the baby monkeys had abnormal retinas and couldn't see as well as other monkeys.

"Omega-3 fatty acids should definitely be part of the diet of pregnant and nursing women." Connor says. "But we don't know how much is enough and how much is too much."

The fish diet: What kinds? How much? All fish -- freshwater or saltwater, fatty or lean, fresh or frozen -- provide some benefits. But those that swim in cold ocean waters, such as salmon, mackerel, tuna and sardines, are higher in the wonder-working omega-3 fatty acids. Even crab, shrimp, lobster and other shellfish, long disdained as high in cholesterol, pack plenty of healthful omega-3 fatty acids -- and less cholesterol per serving than a single egg.

Product Safety

Some deep water fish in polluted areas may be contaminated with harmful heavy metals such as mercury, lead, arsenic, and cadmium, and may contain high levels of PCB's such as the cancer-causing dioxins.   In choosing the right kind of health food supplements, safety is an extremely important consideration.   Always ask for a report of analysis conducted by an independent lab with ISO9002 certification.   The report should show that the amounts of heavy metals, PCB's and dioxins are within safe limits. 

From July 1, 2002, food and animal feed manufacturers across the European Union must abide by strict new limits on permitted levels of cancer-causing dioxins.  The maximum limit for dioxins in fish oil for human consumption is 2.0 pg WHO-PCDD/F-TEQ/g fat.