Ever wondered what are the major health benefits you could derive from fish oil? A number of clinical studies conducted in various parts of the world have proven that we can benefit significantly from fish related oil health supplements.
We also get the same health benefits from fish oil taken directly from fresh fish and other seafood products. These benefits cover a wide range of health issues, including brain, heart and pregnancy health, among others.
There are two types of Omega 3 fatty acids from which we obtain fish oil health benefits - Docosahexaenoic acid or DHA and Eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA. While there are other sources from which we can get Omega 3, there are people whose body will have difficulty converting this into DHA or EPA. Fish oil, however, naturally provides DHA and EPA thus enabling our body to freely enjoy its benefits.
Here we will discuss the seven major health benefits that we can get from fish based oil.
1. First is the fact that fish related oil significantly lowers the levels of triglycerides in our bloodstream. This is a very important fish oil health benefit because high triglycerides levels are known to be among the common risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
2. Fish oil also helps prevent blood platelets from sticking together, thus preventing the formation of blood clots.
3. Furthermore, fish based oil helps relieve high blood pressure that is caused by the hardening of arteries due to high cholesterol levels.
4. It has also been shown to protect our nervous system, thus lowering our risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
5. DHA and EPA also helps reduce the effects of inflammation-causing substances in our body, which means fish based oil can help protect us from diseases like gout, psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, among others.
6. Fish oil also improves the overall function of our body's immune system. In fact, studies have found significant links between the amount of fish related oil intake and the risk levels for breast and prostate cancer.
7. The seventh major health benefit that we can get from fish based oil health supplements is that it has been proven to reduce the rates of depression. Lowered rates of depression, in turn, results in reduced incidences of suicide. Of course, there are still other health benefits that can be obtained from fish based oil intake but the aforementioned are the most significant.
In spite of the numerous wonderful health benefits that fish based oil has to offer, there are a number of precautions that we have to take, especially when choosing the sources of the fish oil that we are going to ingest. Some fish based oils can have contaminants like mercury and other fish oil sources may also have very low levels of DHA or EPA. There may also be artificial additives that may cause more harm than good.
So, there you have it! When purchasing fish based oil health supplements or other fish oil products, be very careful in making sure that the products do not contain any substances that may cause you harm. Read the labels on these products carefully to make sure that the fish based oil content is harvested from clean ocean waters and that proper quality standards were adhered to in the manufacturing process.
