Fats are generally classified into 2: good fats and bad fats. Bad fats are those that are artificially produced and contain trans-fatty acids. They are usually derived from animal fats and will mostly come in solid form at room temperature. Good fats, on the other hand are liquid and they contain essential fatty acids or EFA’s – these must be present in the body or we slowly die. EFA’s can be grouped in 2: Omega 6 which is plant derived and therefore easier to find in a diet and Omega 3 which is found only in fish oil. EPA’s and DHA’s are found in Omega 3.
All fish oil contains Omega 3 fatty acids. These acids are considered essential acids, meaning that they cannot be synthesized naturally by your body; you can only introduce them through your diet or supplements. Thus the reason for the recent interest that has been shown in fish oil!
There are 3 elements in Omega 3 fatty acids, but with fish oil, you will mainly get eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The third kind is actually not found in fish but in some rare kinds of algae making it extremely rare. If you happen to get it and consume it however, it converts into both EPA and DHA. It has very low absorption rates and cannot be relied on as a sufficient source.
If you are wondering where or when the interest in fish oil started, it was back in the 70’s. Scientists observed that Eskimos ate a really high fat diet – they would catch seals and skim all the fat and process it for all their meals and many other uses. They however seemed to suffer very low incidence of many kinds of illnesses, especially heart disease and arthritis.
They soon discovered that the fat that the Eskimos used was different from the regular fat that everyone else used. It was comprised mainly of EPA and DHA and these were the 2 elements that enabled them to ward off disease. Further research showed a lot more benefits; fish oil was beneficial in preventing many cancers, depression, was good for babies and children and nursing mothers, was essential for a healthy skin and good hair and more. They also found that diseases like diabetes ulcerative colitis and Raynaud’s Disease were brought under control if the patient was on a regular dosage of fish oil.
Both EPA and DHA can only be found in fish – they are absent from plant sources. This means that to get enough of it for it to be beneficial in your body, you have to have either a highly fish intensive diet or take fish oil supplements. If you come from a fish diet community, you can live off the fish and get the necessary EPA and DHA for optimum health. Norwegians, who have a diet that’s mainly sea food based, and who are the world’s greatest and best producers of fish oil and fish oil supplements, will confess that they hardly take fish oil as a separate part of their diet. But they exhibit the same healthy dispositions that come with taking fish oil as a supplement on a regular basis.
Many manufacturers have for long touted EPA as the most important component of fish oil, dismissing DHA as good for you but not necessary. Today this view has been discounted because it’s been proved that EPA and DHA, when synthesized together, provide maximum benefit.
Why is all this important for you?
There are many fish oil supplement manufacturers who still include only EPA as the essential element in their supplements, when it’s actually not very effective without DHA. Some research has even suggested that DHA is the more important component as it gives most of the benefits and enables EPA to be synthesized.
When you are choosing, its important to choose a supplement that contains both so that you can get the maximum benefits that fish oil can give. Look specifically at the packaging to confirm that both EPA and DHA are present. Check to see that the DHA content is higher than the EPA. A 3:2 ratio is recommended.