"Should We Take EPA and DHA Omega-3 For Our Heart?"
According to two of perhaps the most credible nutrition authorities,
the World Health Organization and the European Food Safety Authority,
we should get at least a half a percent of our calories
from the essential short chain omega 3 ALA, which is easy, just like
a tablespoon a day of chia seeds or ground flax seeds and you're all set.
Our body can then take the short chain ALA from our diet
and elongate it into the long chain omega 3's, EPA and DHA.
But the question has long been can our bodies make enough for optimal health?
Well, how would you determine that? Take fiber for example.
A convincing body of literature showed an increased heart disease risk
when diets were low in fiber. So the Institute of Medicine came up
with a recommendation for about 30 grams a day, which is an intake
observed to protect against coronary heart disease and reduce constipation.
Thus, just as cardiovascular disease was used
to help establish an adequate intake for dietary fiber,
it was used as a way to develop a recommendation for EPA and DHA.
So with reviews published as late as 2009 suggesting fish oil capsules
may help with heart disease, nutrition authorities recommended
an additional 250 mg a day of preformed EPA and DHA, since evidently
we were not making enough on our own if taking more helped.
So in addition to the one or two grams of ALA, 250 mg of preformed DHA, EPA,
which can be gotten from fish or algae.
Fish is a toughie because on one hand, fish has the preformed DHA and EPA,
but on the other hand, our oceans have become so polluted
that fish may contain various pollutants, including dioxins,
PCBs, pesticides like DDT, flame retardant chemicals
and heavy metals, including mercury, lead, and cadmium
that can negatively affect human health.
This was an editorial comment on a recent study on women
that found that dietary exposure to PCBs was associated with increased
risk of stroke, and almost three times higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke.
Unless you live next to a toxic waste dump, the main source of exposure
to PCBs is fish consumption, of which perhaps salmon is the worst, though
PCBs can also be found in lesser quantities in other meat sources as well.
This may explain why studies in the U.S. have shown
that just a single serving of fish a week may significantly increase one's risk
of diabetes, emphasizing that even levels of these pollutants,
once considered safe, may completely counteract the potential benefits
of the omega 3's and other nutrients present in fish, leading to the type
of metabolic disturbances that often precede type 2 diabetes.
Now one could get their 250 mg a day from algae oil rather than fish oil,
which is free from toxic contaminants
because it never comes in contact with anything from the ocean.
Then one could get the best of both worlds,
the beneficial nutrients without the harmful contaminants.
But recently it was demonstrated that these long-chain omega 3's
don't seem to help with preventing or treating heart disease after all.
And since that's the main reason we thought people should get
that extra 250 mg of preformed EPA and DHA,
why do I still recommend following the guidelines?
Because the recommendations were not just based on heart health,
but brain health as well.
To be continued . . .