Benefit of Fish Oil Supplement
From LoveToKnow Vitamins
If you want to know the benefit of fish oil supplements, you might be surprised to discover all they can do for your health. By taking a fish oil supplement (or eating more fatty fish, such as salmon) you can greatly improve your health and prevent disease.
What Exactly Is Fish Oil?
While all fish contain oil to some degree, fish that come from cold water areas - such as northern Europe, around Norway and Sweden - contain more fat than their warm water relatives. Just like cold weather animals, cold water fish need to pack on more fat to keep warm in their native low temperatures.
A few cold water fish that contain high levels of fish oil are:
- Salmon
- Cod
- Mackerel
- Tuna
- Herring
- Sardines
These fatty fish are a great source of many nutrients, such as vitamin A, vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids. You can get a great dose of these important compounds by eating more of the above fish, though it can be much easier to take a supplement – especially if you live in an area where fresh fish are not so plentiful.
The Benefit of Fish Oil Supplements
Fish oil supplements have many benefits that make them worth adding to your daily nutritional regimen. Here are just a few of the ways that fish oil can keep you healthy.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
One of the most popular reasons for taking fish oil is to supplement your diet with omega-3 fatty acids. This healthy fat actually help to improve cardiovascular health by lowering cholesterol, prevents arrhythmias, and prevents the accumulation of triglycerides. It also helps to lower blood pressure, prevent atherosclerosis and discourage excess blood clotting, which can help to lower your chances of heart attack and stroke.
Two of the most important fatty acids, DHEA and EPA, are also found in fish oil. These fats are very important for maintaining brain function, nervous system function and good eyesight.
Vitamin D
Fish oil is also high in vitamin D, which is important for healthy bones. Vitamin D helps your body to absorb calcium, which in turns helps to improve bone density and keep your skeletal system strong. The D vitamin is also important in preventing cancer, as it helps to prevent runaway cell proliferation.
Fatty fish are a big part of what keep the folks who live in cold climates healthy. For centuries, Eskimos and northern Europeans have made fatty fish (and, subsequently, fish oil) a large part of their diet, since sunlight tends to be sparse the fish oils contain a great deal of vitamin D. This dietary dose of vitamin D is necessary for those who do not get adequate exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays, and in turn helps to keep their immune, nervous and cardiovascular systems running strong.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A, or retinol, is a very important nutrient for your eyes, skin and mucous membranes. It is necessary to maintain proper eyesight, immune function and skin health. A few of the conditions vitamin A may help you to prevent are:
- Glaucoma
- Acne
- Eczema
- Psoriasis
- Anemia
- Cancer
- Immune disfunction
A powerful antioxidant, vitamin A also helps to prevent free-radical damage to your cells, which in turn helps to prevent diseases such as cancer.
More Information
If you want to know more about the benefit of fish oil supplements, here is some reading that will help you in your research.
- Time Magazine talks about why you should take fish oil to improve your health.
- The American Heart Association has a great page that discusses how fish oil can improve your heart health.
- FishOilBenefit.net is a site dedicated solely to discussing the benefits of fish oil supplements.
- The National Institutes of Health have a lot of information on how fish oil and fatty acids can improve your health.
Learn More
This page has been accessed 190 times. This page was last modified 16:23, 28 August 2009.
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