Omega 3 fat myths busted and why you really need to have them as supplements

Spring Valley - Fish Oil Omega-3, 1000 mg, 200 Softgels (Twin-Pack 2 Bottles

Last month my over 50 year old diabetic uncle began to experience tingling in his feet. He’s the elder among my uncles and the one with the most responsibilities and visions concerning our family, so I guess his blood sugar level was rising too much for his regular medications for diabetes. Being a doctor, I went over to his office and confronted him that sometimes life issues can make us forget about ourselves, and our problems until, an issue like a disease, or a complication of a disease, which I consider a slap on the cheek from God, awakes us from our chosen sleep and makes us wonder about the importance of life.

We’ve found out that his fasting blood suger level was 275 mg/dl and that his glycosylated Hemoglobin was 13. Disasterous numbers to say the least. So, I’ve changed his diabetes medications and prescribed new medications for his numbing feet. Next week his fasting blood sugar level was surprisingly 110 mg. Days passed by, and his follow up tests became more reassuring, but his weight didn’t seem to increase in proportion to the ability of his body to benefit from his glucose, when I started thinking about omega 3 supplemets.

I knew his daily concerns, stresses , willingness to adhere to the prescription, weak teeth that won’t let him bite food as he did before, all will prevent him from gaining that much weight , so I began considering omega 3 supplements to provide him with the power of both body and mind and – at the same time – don’t  elevate his blood sugar so much.

I began to read a lot about omega 3 supplements and what I’ve found was far more rewarding than I’ve ever expected. I can safetly consider giving it to my young children, my wife and my parents as well. I was also enlightened about another food ingredient that was  hidden from me and many people all the past years although it’s wandering  inside our bodies  and may be causing us a lot of harm, and by that I mean THE OMEGA 6 FAT.

In fact the story behind the omega 6 fats dates far back to 1930 something, when it was discovered, and categorized by George and Mildred Burr at the university of Minnesota. Yet it was the first family of essential fats, and it was another 40 years before the omega 3s were also discovered and found to be essential by a researcher at Hormel named Ralph Holman. And while information was being discovered about those two families, some very interesting highlights began to be shed on how human health began to deteriorate over the years.

The first fact that was discovered was that the omega 3s and their in-laws, the omega 6s, were found primarily in plants, and that they don’t originate from fish as many people think ( a good news for people who are allergic to fish ofcourse ).  Fish are full of omega 3s because they eat phytoplankton (the microscopic green plants found in lakes, rivers and oceans) together with seaweed. Within plants , these special omega 3 fatty acids help turn sunlight into sugars, the basis of life on earth.

Later, omega 3s were found to speed up metabolism, i.e. they are fats that animals and humans can use to get ready for times of activity. That was supported by the discovery of omega 3 fatty acids in high concentrations in all active tissues: brain, eyes, hearts, the tails of sperms, the flight muscles of the humming bird. Because fish had so many of these fats in their diets, they are active in cold dark waters.

But a question about the nature of omega fats in plants began to arise in concern to the cyclic life of most plants during the different seasons of the year, and the answer was surprising : Omega fats change with the seasons. Omega 3s are spring fats, while omega 6s are autumn fats. In light of the above two paragraphs, one can find an explanation of why omega 3s are spring fats and why they are located mainly in green leaves, but since omega 6s are fall fats, one can predict that they are concentrated more in plant seeds, the storage areas for renewal of life when conditions became better.

So, animals and humans take both omega families from plant with food, but the characteristics of each family of omega fats play a leading role in its effect on the human body. Omega 3 fats alone were found by studies to lower the incidence of blood clotting and inflammation, and also it accumulates in the brain and can help children with learning difficulties. They also accumulate and metabolcally active tissues, so it also lowers the risk for joint inflammation, cancer and help fight wrinkles and may block fat cell formation. A recent study in Harvard school of public health found that absence of these fatty acids from our diets are responsible for up to 96,000 premature deaths per year in England. On the other hand, omega 6 fatty acids promote blood clotting and inflammation, the milestone of many diseases.

The proper mix of these two fats help create tissue with the right amount of blood flow and inflammation, but because they are in constant competition to enter our cells, if your diet consists of too much omega 6s, your boby will be deficient in omega 3s. And that’s what has been happening to us as we’ve been eating more and more seed fats in the form of soybean, corn, and other vegetable oils. Since 1909, according to the USDA, Americans have more than doubled their daily intake of omega 6s from about 7 grams to around 18. Also, heart diseases has risen in tandem with our increasing intake of these seed fats, or omega 6s, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). Over the same time period, omega 3s began disappearing from our food supply. Cows used to be raised on grass and other greens, producing meat, milk and cheese with much higher concentrations of omega 3s. Now these livestock are fed on corn and soy, and their tissues are swamped with omega 6s. Chickens apply to that too. We are now eating a diet that is supposed to fatten us up for winter, so our supply has shifter from leaves to seeds, and this simple change means our bodies are storing more fat, leading to obesity and all its associated diseases.

So it’s important for us to correct that forced omega 3s deficiency by taking it as a supplement