In an ideal world the best way for us to get our daily dose of Omega 3 essential fatty acids would be from regularly eating fresh fatty fish such as Mackerel, Salmon, Tuna, Swordfish, Sardines, Herring and Anchovies as well as others, right from the sea.
Unfortunately though, we live in a world that is far from ideal as we have managed quite successfully to pollute all our rivers and oceans with toxins, which in turn have contaminated all our fish with poisons such as Mercury, Dioxins and PCBs.
Health professionals and governments know only too well the importance of eating fresh fatty fish for the health benefits that Omega 3 brings so we are advised by them to continue to eat our contaminated fish but to limit our intake to one or two portions a week. Basically they believe that the benefits of getting the Omega 3 outweigh any risk to our health posed by the toxins.
So are there any other sources of Omega 3?
You will often hear it said that we don't need to consume fish in order to get our Omega 3 as it is also present in some plant sources. However this is a bit misleading.
The problem we have is that the type of Omega 3 fatty acids we really need for the health benefits they offer are Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and these are only really found in fatty fish.
The type of Omega 3 that exists in vegetable sources is Alpha Linolenic (ALA). ALA can be found in dark green leafy vegetables, it is also in hemp and flax seeds, in walnuts, and in some vegetable oils.
Theoretically, our bodies should be able to convert ALA into the more beneficial EPA and DHA but in practice this isn't the case at all. Some researchers maintain that our ability to convert ALA into EPA and DHA could be as little as 5 percent or even less. This means that no matter what quantities of vegetable sources we consume, it would never be enough to make a difference. This is where fish oil comes in, but what kind should you buy.
Fish oil right from the sea - which one is best?
Many people think that fish oil and cod liver oil are one and the same thing. They are not. Fish oil is produced by extracting oil from the fleshy parts of the fish whereas Cod Liver Oil, as the name suggests, is extracted from the Liver of Cod.
Both Fish oil and Cod Liver Oil contain the right kind of Omega 3 fatty acids but Cod Liver Oil also contains Vitamins A and D which can be toxic in high doses so unless you are deficient in these vitamins, Fish oil would be a better option.
Fortunately, these days we can purchase pure Fish Oil which has been sourced right out of the sea but which has been through processes to remove all the toxins leaving behind only concentrated Omega 3.
Now many people ask whether EPA or DHA is better. The truth is we need both EPA and DHA but at different times. We need plenty of DHA when our brains are developing so this fatty acid is important during pregnancy for example, or for very young children. However, for the rest of our lives we need an adequate and ongoing supply of EPA for our brains to function effectively and for numerous other health benefits too.
Nowadays, you can buy pure Fish Oil with very high concentrations of EPA and this is the best kind of fish oil available on the market today.
