Taking Fish Oil – 10 Fish Oil Health Benefits

Most fish oil health benefits that are believed to exist are mainly related to your skin, brain, heart and lifestyle diseases.

Fish oils are simply the oils that have been extracted from oily fish. Sea food is a great source of protein in a healthy diet.

Fish oil health benefits centre around fact that it contains essential fatty acids derived from oil that are needed for the brain and the heart, and other functions the body needs to perform. Taking fish oil has a whole variety of health benefits.

However fish oil also has another side to it, and side effects ranging from burping and bloating, to vitamin overdose from too much vitamin in some fish oils. If you must use fish oil, it is imperative

Essential Fats

Two types of essential fats, omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids are contained in fish oils. The amount of omega-3 or omega-6 contained in a particular type of fish will depend on the type of fish, and what they’ve been fed with.

Omega-3 fatty acids come in two main forms – EPA and DHA fatty acids (eico-sapentaenoic acids and docosahexanoic acids).

The best animal sources of omega-3 are herring, mackerel, salmon, fresh sardines and tuna. In fishes, omega-3s are readily available for the body to use, and do not need to be converted.

Good plants sources of omega-3 include soybean oils, hemp seeds and walnuts.

Fish and other seed sources like sunflower and sesame and their oils contain omega-6 fatty acids.

10 Health Benefits

Some of the greatest fish oil health benefits are outlined below:
1. Taking fish oil helps to protect your heart.

2. Helps improve brain and memory clarity.

3. Helps to fight cancer.

4. Helps you to lose weight by helping to increase your metabolism.

5. Helps to lower blood pressure. A lower blood pressure will reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and a host of other health problems.

6. Helps to greatly lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and bad fats in the blood.

7. Gives you healthier hair.

8. Makes your skin glow better. Great for healthy skin! If you have any skin conditions, it can also improve them.

9. Helps your nails to grow healthily and helps repair brittle nails. Hair loss, brittle nails are some of the symptoms of not getting enough protein in the body.

10. Helps your liver to stay healthy and function better.

If you are not getting essential fats from fish or fish oil, or getting too little of it, you may be missing out on important fish oil health benefits. You will need to ensure you’re getting the required amount of essential fatty acids.

Natural is Always a Better Option

It’s always best to eat fish itself naturally, than taking fish oil, which is processed. You must always err on the side of caution regarding processed versions of anything.

Think organic when buying fish, and they should be wild or sea-caught ones. They are more natural than farmed ones.

Although fish also contains saturated fats, they also contain very good fats that are poly-unsaturated.

If you are not vegetarian, the best thing is always to ensure your diet contains a wide variety of foods that include fish two or three times a week. If you are vegetarian, you should eat more foods that contain the essential fatty acids you need, like nuts and seeds (almonds, walnuts, hemp seeds and others).

When eating fish, you are best eating them cooked (don’t overcook), and not fried to maximize the amount of nutrients you get from them. You do not want to be missing on the major fish oil health benefits, if in fact all the nutrients have been cooked out or fried out!

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