Ground Up Strength

Fish Oil: Just the Facts

If you have a few years under your belt, then you can still remember what I call the “Fat-Free 80’s.” Think back to a time when dietary fat was the enemy. Ah, yes… A time when fat-free products lined the outer shelves of the supermarket. A time when it was not a bad thing to get a box of Entemann’s cinnamon rolls, as long as they were the FAT-FREE cinnamon rolls. Health Valley made some positively disgusting fat-free cookies, along with a host of other fat-free products that tasted like sugary cardboard. And we can’t forget the 75% sugar weight gainer products, those were priceless. 1,000, 2000, 4,000 calories per serving, and all you had to do was mix about a cup of powder into your favourite drink. No worries though, these gainers were virtually fat-free! What we were led to believe was that fat-free products equated to fat-free physiques. Unfortunately, that was far from the truth.

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Common Fish Oil Questions Answered: A Baker's Dozen

Here at Ground Up strength you can find the answers to most common questions regarding fish oil in the various articles we have but we have some fairly heavy reading so you need to dig a bit to find the particular answer you're looking for. So I thought I'd write a blog post that provided simple answers to the most common questions about fish oil supplements. I will keep these answers short and to the point in a radical shift from my usual style although a few will be a bit longer for the purpose of clarity.

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Omega 3 Fatty Acids And Inflammation

Long chain fatty acids influence inflammation through a variety of mechanisms; many of these are mediated by, or at least associated with, changes in fatty acid composition of cell membranes. Changes in these compositions can modify membrane fluidity, cell signaling leading to altered gene expression, and the pattern of lipid mediator production. Cell involved in the inflammatory response are typically rich in the n-6 fatty acid arachidonic acid, but the contents of arachidonic acid and of the n-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) can be altered through oral administration of EPA and DHA. Eicosanoids produced from arachidonic acid have roles in inflammation. EPA also gives rise to eicosanoids and these often have differing properties from those of arachidonic acid-derived eicosanoids. EPA and DHA give rise to newly discovered resolvins which are anti-inflammatory and inflammation resolving. Increased membrane content of EPA and DHA (and decreased arachidonic acid content) results in a changed pattern of production of eicosanoids and resolvins. Changing the fatty acid composition of cells involved in the inflammatory response also affects production of peptide mediators of inflammation (adhesion molecules, cytokines etc.). Thus, the fatty acid composition of cells involved in the inflammatory response influences their function; the contents of arachidonic acid, EPA and DHA appear to be especially important. The anti-inflammatory effects of marine Omega 3 PUFAs suggest that they may be useful as therapeutic agents in disorders with an inflammatory component.

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Fish, Mercury, Selenium and Cardiovascular Risk: Does the Danger of Mercury Outweigh the Benefits of Fish Intake?

Controversy has arisen among the public and in the media regarding the health effects of fish intake in adults. Substantial evidence indicates that fish consumption reduces coronary heart disease mortality, the leading cause of death in developed and most developing nations. Conversely, concerns have grown regarding potential effects of exposure to mercury found in some fish. Seafood species are also rich in selenium, an essential trace element that may protect against both cardiovascular disease and toxic effects of mercury. Such protective effects would have direct implications for recommendations regarding optimal selenium intake and for assessing the potential impact of mercury exposure from fish intake in different populations. Because fish consumption appears to have important health benefits in adults, elucidating the relationships between fish intake, mercury and selenium exposure, and health risk is of considerable scientific and public health relevance. The evidence for health effects of fish consumption in adults is reviewed, focusing on the strength and consistency of evidence and relative magnitudes of effects of omega-3 fatty acids, mercury, and selenium. Given the preponderance of evidence, the focus is on cardiovascular effects, but other potential health effects, as well as potential effects of polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins in fish, are also briefly reviewed. The relevant current unanswered questions and directions of further research are summarized.

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Are Omega-3 Fatty Acids Like Fish Oil Effective for Treating Asthma?

Considerable interest exists in the potential therapeutic value of dietary supplementation with the omega-3 fatty acids. Given the interplay between pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids, and the less pro-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids, it has been thought that the latter could play a key role in treating or preventing asthma. The purpose was to systematically review the scientific-medical literature in order to identify, appraise, and synthesize the evidence for possible treatment effects of omega-3 fatty acids in asthma.

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Are all Omega-3 Fatty Acids Created equal?

Omega-3 (N-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids have been shown to have potential beneficial effects for chronic diseases including cancer, insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in particular have been studied extensively, whereas substantive evidence for a biological role for the precursor, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), is lacking. It is not enough to assume that ALA exerts effects through conversion to EPA and DHA, as the process is highly inefficient in humans. Thus, clarification of ALA's involvement in health and disease is essential, as it is the principle n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid consumed in the North American diet and intakes of EPA and DHA are typically very low. There is evidence suggesting that ALA, EPA and DHA have specific and potentially independent effects on chronic disease. Therefore, this review will assess our current understanding of the differential effects of ALA, EPA and DHA on cancer, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular disease. Potential mechanisms of action will also be reviewed. Overall, a better understanding of the individual role for ALA, EPA and DHA is needed in order to make appropriate dietary recommendations regarding n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid consumption.

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Fish Oil May Help You Burn Fat...

But Not THAT Much Fat!

What the latest research says about omega-3 fatty acids and weight loss

By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
www.BurnTheFat.com

Unless you’ve been living under a rock somewhere for the last several years, you’ve probably heard about the health benefits of eating fatty fish or taking fish oil supplements. Well, it looks like you might be able to add fat loss alongside the other benefits like heart, blood (cholesterol/triglycerides), brain, skin and joint health (and the rest of the list, which is too long to print here).

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Fish Oil Quality

Fish oil paranoia is rampant right now.

Of course you do need to be careful what fish oil products you use. There is always some contaminated product floating around out there. Even some of the nutritional experts seem to be a little misled, however. Perhaps because they have more money than I it’s easy to get lazy and assume more expensive means better quality.

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