Health and Nutrition Info
By Didrik J. Sopler, Ph.D, L.Ac.
06-21-06

Recent research on omega 3 fatty acids

Omega 3 fatty acids, the type of fat found in fish and also flax seeds are well known for its anti-inflammatory effect.

It is so effective that a reduction in several inflammatory markers has been measured. Omega 3 fatty acids have shown to inhibit interleukin -1, interleukin -6, tumor-necrosis factor alpha and C-reactive protein (Adam O. 2003. Clubataru I, et al. 2003).

Knowing that it should be no surprise that omega 3 fat has been documented to reduce neck and back pain. When patients who had been seen by a neurosurgeon and were found to have nonsurgical neck and back pain, they were told to take 1200 mg of omega 3 fish oil (Maroon JC, Bost JW. 2006).

After taking the fish oil for 75 days, 78% were taking 1200 mg and 22% were taking 2400 mg per day, 59% discontinued to take their prescription nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. 80% stated that they were satisfied with their improvement.

Numerous studies have shown a reduction in pain, joint swelling and stiffness from rheumatoid arthritis. Some of these studies were reviewed in an earlier newsletter. In those cases the dosage taken was a lot higher from 6000 mg to 10000 mg daily.

It may not be as well known that omega 3 fatty acids are very important for the nervous system as well. In a study conducted at the University of Siena in Italy the researchers investigated the effect of omega 3 fat on the central nervous system (Fontani G, et al. 2005).

When compared with a placebo the omega 3 fatty acids improved the mood with increased vigor and reduced anger, anxiety and depression. The reaction time was also found to be reduced.

Most of the studies investigating the effect of omega 3 fatty acids are using fish oil. The reason is that fish oil contains EPA and DHA the active ingredients in omega 3 fat. In this instance the body does not have to convert the omega 3 fat to EPA, DHA. Omega 3 from flax seeds however has to be converted by enzymes into EPA and DHA. This conversion does not always work properly and even if it does, a lot more flax oil has to be ingested compared to fish oil to get the same amount of EPA, DHA.

It is very important that the fish oil used has gone through a vigorous quality control check to ensure it is free of contaminants. The Better Fish Oils from BioPro, Inc. provides high quality omega 3 fatty acids, giving you the benefits you expects form omega 3 fat.

For more information log on to www.tissuerecovery.com supplements and scroll down to “Better Fish Oils.” Under articles and abstracts you will also find more research related to omega 3 fatty acids.

Wishing you the best of health,

Didrik

References:

Adam O. Dietary fatty acids and immune reactions in synovial tissue. Eur J Med Res. 2003 Aug 20;8(8):381-7.

Ciubotaru I, Lee YS, Wander RC. Dietary fish oil decreases C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and triacylglycerol to HDL-cholesterol ratio in postmenopausal women on HRT. J Nutr Biochem. 2003 Sep;14(9):513-21.

Fontani G, Corradeschi F, Felici A, Alfatti F, Migliorini S, Lodi L. Cognitive and physiological effects of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in healthy subjects. Eur J Clin Invest. 2005 Nov;35(11):691-9.

Maroon JC, Bost JW. Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) as an anti-inflammatory: an alternative to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for discogenic pain. Surg Neurol. 2006 Apr;65(4):326-31.