What can healthy oily fish do for you? Why, they can reduce your inflammation. And doctors agree reducing chronic inflammation is one of the most important things you can do for your health.
You may know of the dangers of ongoing inflammation-the medical community now agrees it’s one of the major links to rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease and Alzheimer’s.
The problem with chronic inflammation is it’s a symptom of your immune system being out of whack. And when it’s internal you can’t see the swelling and throbbing that’s going on-you may feel aches and pains in certain areas but it’s hard to detect.
There two things you can do to manage your inflammation-get more exercise and eat better foods. Specifically, eat more healthy oily fish because they’re loaded with DHA which are proven to reduce inflammation and protect your health.
DHA is an omega 3 fatty acid and oily fish like mackerel and sardines are full of these essential nutrients. But all fish have them. You can eat salmon, shrimp or scallops too to get these fatty acids.
Omega 3 fatty acids is a major reason fish is considered so healthy. People who live in countries to eat a lot of fish have far lower rates of those diseases I mentioned-heart disease, Alzheimer’s and rheumatoid arthritis are rare in places like Japan and Alaska. In most of the United States-where we don’t eat as much fish–they’re the top killers.
Doctors say one reason is because we’re so deficient in those omega 3 fatty acids.
They’re natural anti-inflammatories so they reduce chronic inflammation. Harvard University did a study and found 63,000 to 100,000 American deaths occur a year prematurely. The study found these deaths were linked to not enough omega 3’s such as those found in healthy oily fish.
But it’s not just fish where you can get these essential nutrients. You can also get them in fish oil supplements-recommended by many doctors and in foods like walnuts and flaxseeds.
The rule of thumb is ¼ cup of walnuts a day or a tablespoon or two of flaxseeds daily or fish 2-3 times a week or a fish oil supplement daily.
If you’re concerned about toxins in your fish like mercury but you want to eat fish, choose the smaller ones, the herrings and sardines. Doctors recommend limiting your intake of the bigger fish like tuna and swordfish because they can harbor more of these toxins. However, wild caught can be cleaner than farmed.
If you’d like to learn more about healthy omega 3 fish oil supplements where you can get the benefits of healthy oily fish without eating sardines 3 times a week, please visit my website where I share the research I’ve uncovered over the years.
Audrey Alexander is a passionate advocate of health and nutrition. To learn more about effective Omega 3’s and supplements she recommends after extensive research, visit http://www.omega3-reviews.com.
