Omega-3 is found in animal and plant sources, the main sources of which are krill oil and fish oil.

Omega-3 fat types

Marine animals such as fish and krill can provide eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), both of which are highly regarded for their cardioprotective properties. On the other hand, linoleic acid (ALA) can be provided by flaxseed, sage, hemp plants and some other foods.

You might choose animal-based sources – most of the health benefits associated with omega-3 fats are animal-based EPA and DHA, not plant-based ALA.

In addition, the conversion rate of ALA into EPA and DHA in the body is very low. This means that even if you consume a large amount of ALA, your body can only convert a very small part of it into EPA and DHA when the enzymes are sufficient.

But remember, plant-based omega-3 fats are harmless by themselves and do not need to be deliberately avoided. Ideally, you should include animal sources in your diet. For example, you can combine flax and hemp plants and animal omega-3s in your diet.

Efficacy and effects of Omega-3

Today, Omega-3 has become one of the most important nutritional factors. Three studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2008 investigated the effects of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids on the elderly.

Low levels of EPA and DHA increase the risk of death from various causes and accelerate the decline of cognitive ability. Studies have also shown that consuming more omega-3 can bring health benefits that short-term supplements cannot provide.

Here are other facts that prove the benefits of omega-3:

· Omega-3 is good for heart health. An Italian study (GISSI) surveyed 11,324 heart attack survivors and found that supplementing Omega-3 with fish oil can significantly reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke or death. In an independent study, medical researchers in the United States reported that men who eat fish one or more times a week have a 50% lower risk of death from sudden heart disease than men who eat fish less than once a month. .

· Omega-3 can regulate and control cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Compared with statins, fish oil and krill oil are more effective. According to a study comparing the effects of krill oil and fish oil in reducing triglyceride levels, both oils can significantly reduce the activity of enzymes that cause liver to metabolize fat, but the effect of krill oil is more prominent, which can reduce the liver more effectively Triglycerides.

Fasting triglyceride levels can effectively indicate your ability to maintain healthy blood lipid levels, which can indicate heart health.

· DHA can affect children's learning and behavior. Do you want to maximize your child's intellectual potential? A study published in the Journal of the Public Library of Science (Plos One) in June 2013 showed that low DHA levels can lead to poor reading ability, memory and behavior problems in healthy school-age children. Another study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in August 2013 showed that children who have been supplemented with omega-3 fats from infancy will learn the rules and regulations when they are 3 to 5 years old. Get higher scores in vocabulary and intelligence tests.

· Studies have shown that Omega-3 can save the lives of children with Short Bowel Syndrome (SBS). Although this condition is not common, thousands of people still suffer from it. SBS can be onset from birth (partial intestinal dysplasia) or due to inflammatory diseases that premature infants are susceptible to infection. Adults may be affected by Crohn's disease surgery or injury.

Omega-3 benefits cover many aspects of health, from mental health and behavioral health to prevention of premature death due to disease, including the following:

Coronary heart disease and stroke

Essential fatty acid deficiency in infancy (retina and brain development)

Common brain functions, including memory and Parkinson's disease

ADHD

Autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and kidney disease

Osteoporosis

Crohn's disease

Breast cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer

Rheumatoid arthritis

You may not have enough of these beneficial fats

Most people do not consume enough oega-3 fats, which leads to omega-3 deficiency. This deficiency can lead to or cause serious mental and physical health problems and become a major factor in the premature death of 96,000 people every year.

In fact, dietary fat intake is the most widely studied dietary risk factor for breast and prostate cancer. Two studies in 2002 explained how omega-3 prevents breast cancer. BRCA1 (breast cancer gene 1) and BRCA2 (breast cancer gene 2) are two tumor suppressor genes. If they function normally, they will help repair DNA damage, and this repair process will also help prevent tumor growth.

Studies have found that Omega-3 and omega-6 fats affect these two genes-omega-3 tends to help reduce the growth of cancer cells, while the more processed and toxic omega-6 can make cancer worse.

Given that omega-3 deficiency is a common cause of cancer and heart disease, it is not surprising that statistics such as "this deficiency causes approximately 100,000 deaths each year".

In addition, it is important to note that most women are severely deficient in omega-3. A study organized by the Mayo Clinic in 1991 focused on the “normal diet” of 19 “normal” pregnant women. There is a lack of omega-3 fat. Another study compared Inuit (Eskimo) women with Canadian women and found that breastfeeding Canadian mothers lack omega-3.

Animal cells cannot make up omega-3, so the fetus can only obtain omega-3 fatty acids through the mother's diet. The mother's dietary intake and the blood concentration of DHA directly affect the DHA level of the developing fetus, and affect the child's brain and eye health.

Therefore, please remember that if you are pregnant, your baby will depend on your diet to get omega-3 through breast milk. It is important to ensure that you get enough omega-3.

You should maintain a balance of Omega-3-Omega-6 in your body

Omega-3 and omega-6 are two fats that are vital to human health. However, we usually consume too much omega-6 fat in our daily diet, and the intake of omega-3 is very low.

The ideal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fat is 1:1. It took our ancestors millions of years to reach this ratio. However, the current average ratio is as high as 20:1 to 50:1-this can pose serious risks to your health! In fact, the mainstream media has finally begun to report that omega-3 deficiency is one of the most serious and urgent health problems throughout the world.

Omega-6 is mainly derived from corn, soybeans, rapeseed, safflower and sunflower oil. A typical diet contains too much Omega-6, which leads to high levels of omega-6 in the body.

Omega-6 fats dominate the American diet, which promotes inflammation in the body. Many scientists believe that one of the reasons for the high incidence of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, premature aging and some cancers is the imbalance of omega-3-omega-6.

Animal source of Omega-3 fat

You may be wondering what ingredients are available for easy access to animal omega-3. The following are the relevant main ingredients:

· Fish-Ideally, fish can provide all the omega-3s you need. Unfortunately, most fish today are heavily contaminated with industrial toxins and pollutants, such as heavy metals, PCBs, and radioactive poisons. These toxins make fish no longer a highly recommended food of choice.

Only wild Alaskan salmon and very small fish (such as sardines) are excluded. Large carnivorous fish have the highest mercury content, such as tuna, sea bass and sailfish. You also need to pay special attention to canned tuna, because an independent test conducted by the Mercury Policy Project found that the average mercury content of canned tuna far exceeds the "safety limit" set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) .

It is also important to avoid eating farmed salmon, whose omega-3 content is only half of that of wild salmon. And it may contain a lot of pollutants, including toxic substances in the environment, synthetic astaxanthin and harmful metabolic by-products, and pesticide residues in GMO corn and soybean feed.

· Fish oil-Fish oil is the main resource people use to increase omega-3 fat intake. Although high-quality fish oil does provide a number of health benefits, fish oil has very low antioxidant properties. This means that if you use fish oil to increase your omega-3 intake, you must add additional antioxidant protection.

· Cod liver oil-I no longer recommend this food because it may cause an imbalance between vitamin A and D.

· Krill oil-this is my first choice for obtaining animal omega-3 fats. Its antioxidant capacity is 48 times higher than fish oil. It also contains astaxanthin, a flavonoid derived from the ocean, which can form a special link with EPA and DHA to directly metabolize antioxidants, so it has better biocompatibility.

Krill-called "okiami" in Japanese-is a very small shrimp-like creature that has been a precious ingredient in Asia since the 19th century or earlier.

Krill fishing is completely sustainable and one of the most economical industries on the planet. There are huge numbers of krill in the world and spread all over the oceans. Antarctic krill is the largest population, managed by the Committee for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), an international organization composed of 25 countries.

The use of Antarctic krill biomass strictly complies with international preventive fishing restrictions and is regularly reviewed to ensure sustainability. CCAMLR has never predicted a shortage of krill resources.

Fish oil and krill oil are the two leading players in the field of animal omega-3 fats. But I have enough reasons to believe that krill oil can provide the best benefits. In fact, two studies have shown this point:

· A study published in "Lipids" in January 2011 found that the metabolism of the two oils is "essentially the same." Krill oil contains less EPA and DHA, but the effect is not inferior.

· Another unpublished data that year shows that the absorption rate of krill oil is 10 to 15 times that of fish oil. It is said that the better molecular structure makes it have a better absorption rate.

Provide children with Omega-3 fats

From pregnancy to life after the child, the omega-3 fats DHA and EPA play an extremely important role in protecting brain health and other functions. I recommend supplementing with krill oil before and during pregnancy, as well as during breastfeeding. Babies get DHA through breast milk, so continuous breastfeeding during the first year will provide a good start for your child's health and success.

When your child can safely swallow the capsule, you can start taking a high-quality krill oil supplement, which of course must be a child's dose or half the size of a regular capsule. Supplements should be free of odors so that children can swallow them easily and happily.

Final recommendation

Make sure you and your child are getting the correct type of omega-3 fats. Choose non-polluting, economical and sustainable sources, such as krill oil. Fortunately, the dosage of krill oil seems to be relatively small, which can save a lot of cost and is more cost-effective than fish oil.