The Surprising Benefits of Omega 3 (Part One)

Cardiovascular diseases? Weight issues? Hypertension? Diabetes?

Perhaps you’re lacking Omega 3.

Feeding animals with grains has lowered our intake of Omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, which are necessary for optimal health. The thousands of scientific studies that incontrovertibly suggest that Omega-3s can be useful in treating various pathological disorders are now too numerous to count.

The importance of Omega 3 in human nutrition is now well understood and established; indeed, essential fatty acids, like certain vitamins, cannot be “manufactured” by your body. According to over 24,000 scientific studies, Omega 3s play an important role in the well-being of your body.

In fact, with a diet rich in foods high in Omega 3, you can obtain many benefits for your health and also for your sports performance. The term Omega 3 encompasses four types of fatty acids: ALA, EPA, DHA, and DPA.

Omega 3 and 6 are essential fatty acids: this term means that our body is not capable of synthesizing them, and therefore their introduction through the diet is absolutely essential. Omega-3 can come from animal and plant sources; the primary animal sources are krill oil (from small crustaceans) and fish in general, especially in salmon. The primary plant sources are flax seeds, chia, and hemp.

Marine animals such as salmon and other fish provide eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are famous for their protective effects on the heart. On the other hand, flax seeds, chia, hemp, and a few other foods contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). However, most of the health benefits related to omega-3 fatty acids are linked to animal-derived EPA/DHA and not to the ALA form, which is converted to EPA and DHA in the body at a very low ratio.

This means that, even if you consume large amounts of ALA, the body can only convert a relatively small amount into EPA and DHA, and only when sufficient enzymes are present. It is important to underline this because some authors (especially from vegetarian/vegan backgrounds) insist on the superiority of plant-based omega 3s over those of animal origin.

In reality, plant-based omega-3 fats are not intrinsically harmful or should be avoided, but it is however essential to include fish and/or animal-derived omega-3 supplements in your diet. For example, you can combine flax (not hemp, which is not advisable, as it contains substances called lectins that damage the intestine) in your diet with animal-derived omega-3s.

The Countless Benefits of Omega-3

There is no doubt that Omega-3 is one of the most important essential nutrients in the world. In 2008, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published three studies assessing the role of Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA in older populations (1,2,3). Low concentrations of EPA and DHA were linked to an increased risk of death from all causes, as well as accelerated cognitive decline. The studies also suggest that higher intake of Omega-3 can provide health benefits that short-term supplementation cannot achieve.

Here is evidence of some of the benefits of Omega-3:

Six American medical researchers reported that men who consumed fish once or more each week had a 50 percent lower risk of dying from a sudden cardiac event compared to those who eat fish less than once a month. But Omega-3 fatty acids, in addition to protecting the heart from the risk of myocardial infarction, are also effective post-event. That is, taken daily, they help reduce scarring outcomes while also improving blood pumping.

These are the results of a study conducted by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, USA, published in the journal Circulation in 2016.

THE STUDY – It’s innovative: the first to have evaluated the action of Omega-3 fatty acids on an infarcted heart. The protective and preventive benefits derived from consuming fish oil for heart muscle health are well known, especially if predisposed to cardiovascular events due to family history or other causes.

But what about after a myocardial infarction?

This question finds an answer in an American study that considered 360 heart attack patients divided into two groups, one of which underwent therapy with an Omega-3 based supplement, four one-gram doses taken daily, and the other a placebo: treatments, in both cases, started one month after hospitalization and continued for a full semester. All patients were also evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging at the beginning and end of the study, informed about the correct lifestyle, and monitored over time by a group of specialists.

THE RESULTS – Six months after starting the therapy with Omega-3, it was possible to observe a significant reduction in scarring (fibrosis) in the region of the heart affected by the infarction and improved blood pumping by the heart muscle.

“After a heart attack,” explained Raymond Kwong, director of cardiac magnetic resonance at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, “part of the muscle dies and the remainder is forced to work harder to pump blood, directly resulting in the development of scars at the tissue level due to the fragile conditions in which the heart pump operates. Over time, these two processes can lead to heart failure, a fairly common risk among those who have had a heart attack, although survival from a heart attack has greatly improved today thanks to the effectiveness and refinement of treatments.”

Furthermore, the study highlighted that patients who were better able to absorb fish oil, i.e., showed higher levels of Omega-3 in the blood, benefited from a 13% reduction in residual blood in the left ventricle compared to an average of 6% in the remaining patients, who were also treated with Omega-3.

IMPROVING THE RISK OF RECURRENCES – The intake of Omega-3 post-heart attack also favored the reduction of mortality risk and possible recurrences. At least according to the results of a study published in the American Journal of Cardiology. It emerged that the intake of Omega-3 fatty acids integrated with the reference therapy could reduce the chances of a second non-lethal cardiovascular event by almost 35% within 12 months after the start of the therapy, or significantly lower deaths by more than 24%.

Omega-3 normalizes and regulates cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Compared to a statin (i.e., the “active” principle of anti-cholesterol drugs), fish oil can be even more efficient in this specific role. According to a study on the effectiveness of fish oils in reducing triglyceride levels, it was proven that they significantly reduced them in the liver. (7)

Fasting triglyceride levels are a powerful indicator of your ability to have healthy lipid profiles, which can be indicative of your heart health. Studies have also shown that Omega-3 fats are:

• anti-arrhythmic (prevent or counteract cardiac arrhythmia)
• anti-thrombotic (prevent thrombosis or blood clots inside a blood vessel)
• anti-sclerotic (thus prevent deposits of fats and fibrosis of the inner layer of your arteries). In this context, the support work of Vitamin K2-MK7 and Vitamin D is also fundamental.
• anti-inflammatory (countering inflammation – heat, pain, swelling, etc.).

DHA Aids Learning and Behavior in Children

Do you want to maximize your children’s intellectual potential?

A study published in PLoS ONE in June 2013 linked low levels of DHA to memory problems, reading difficulties, and behavioral disorders in healthy school-aged children (8). Another study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in August 2013 found that children who consumed an omega-3 fatty acid supplement from infancy scored higher on learning, vocabulary, and intelligence tests between the ages of 3 and 5 years (9). Previous research has also discovered that children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), related to behavioral or learning difficulties, are more likely to have low levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

I can assure you that even the most mischievous children become very calm and more focused after a week of omega-3 supplementation.

Omega-3 has such a significant impact on your brain health that EPA and DHA maintain high levels of dopamine in the brain, enhance neuronal growth in the brain’s frontal cortex, and improve cerebral circulation.

Omega-3 plays a crucial role in saving the lives of children who suffer from Short Bowel Syndrome (SBS), which is rare but impacts thousands of people in the United States. SBS can occur from birth (when a part of the intestine fails to develop) or due to an inflammatory infectious disease affecting premature infants. In adults, it can be caused by surgery for the disease or injuries resulting from Crohn’s disease. Alarmed by the situation, Dr. Mark Puder, a surgeon at Boston Children’s Hospital, noted that they knew most children with SBS were about to die. However, the doctors observed that when the children received a fish oil-based dietary supplement, they began to improve drastically. Fish oil treatment was administered to 112 children in the hospital, where over 90 percent of the children with SBS are still alive. The results were so surprising that the fish oil supplement has also been made available in 70 hospitals worldwide.

Omega-3: Protects the Heart and Vessels by Reducing Blood Pressure

A 2016 study from the University of Zurich, presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, highlighted the benefits of an Omega-3-rich diet on blood pressure in the arteries.

The Study

The research considered about 2,000 subjects aged between 25 and 41 years. All participants, at the beginning of the experiment, were in optimal health and had a similar body mass index. The researchers decided to divide the people into four groups, depending on the amount of circulating omega-3 in their bodies.

 Goodbye Hypertension

In subjects with the highest levels of these essential fatty acids, results showed clear improvements in systolic pressure (reduced by 4 mmHg) and diastolic pressure (reduced by 2 mmHg). This means, according to the researchers, that a diet rich in omega-3 foods helps lower blood pressure in the arteries, thus warding off hypertension. Therefore, Omega-3s represent a valid natural therapy for the prevention and control of hypertension, one of the main cardiovascular risk factors.

Their action mainly translates into a hypotensive effect and reduction of atherosclerosis. Blood pressure is a “easily” modifiable parameter. Indeed, keeping it under control reduces the likelihood of developing circulatory system diseases and, consequently, the risk of strokes, myocardial infarctions, or states of dementia. Normally, doctors simply recommend the intake of antihypertensive drugs for hypertension.

However, it is often not emphasized that optimal nutrition, such as the Paleo Diet, and regular physical activity (for instance, weight training) can do much more than a pill. Numerous studies have shown that fish oil supplements can reduce blood pressure, especially in older adults and those suffering from hypertension. Since even small reductions in pressure can significantly decrease the risk of cardiovascular events, even the modest effect exerted by Omega-3 can be beneficial in this regard.

Moreover, EPA/DHA reduce cholesterol levels, hinder the formation of thrombi, and regulate the dilation of blood vessels. These functions grant Omega-3s an important role in the prevention and control of atherosclerosis.

Therefore, regular consumption of fish rich in EPA and DHA and taking dietary supplements based on fish oil help combat hypertension because they improve triglyceride concentrations, platelet aggregation, and functions of the inner wall of blood vessels.

Omega-3 Leads to Weight Loss

A group of Japanese scientists has recognized how Omega-3 fats can transform the body’s ‘bad’ fat cells into healthy ones that burn calories. The study, published in Scientific Reports in 2016, began by examining three types of body fat, namely ‘white’ fat that causes excess calories to contribute to belly and thigh fat, ‘brown’ fat that burns calories, and ‘beige’ fat, recently discovered in mice and humans, which functions similarly to brown fat.

According to the research, fish converts ‘white’ fat cells into ‘beige’ ones, proving particularly beneficial from middle age onwards, when the number of ‘good’ fat cells (brown and beige) begins to diminish. “We knew from previous research that fatty fish has huge health benefits, including preventing weight gain. We tested whether the food was linked to an increase in brown fat cells,” explained Teruo Kawada of Kyoto University, the author of the study. The team of experts monitored the weight of mice fed a fatty diet for four months and after their diet was supplemented with fatty fish, the animals lost up to 10% of their weight and up to 25% of their fat, aspects that could contribute to a longer life.

For the scientists, the third advantage of a diet rich in fish is indeed longevity. “It has long been known that the typical Japanese diet contributes to living longer, but why these two types of cuisine have positive effects was still a matter of discussion,” added the researchers, certain to now have a better understanding of the mechanism.

Omega-3 Increases Average Lifespan

The previous study also revealed another fundamental aspect of Omega-3, namely its ability to grant, in addition to health, a few more years of life. To understand this step well, we must first take a step back and remember what cell telomeres are.

They are specialized structures located at the terminal part of the chromosomes, involved in replication in the stabilization of DNA during the cell duplication phase.

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