Omega-3 fats are essential to the health of your heart and your brain, but new research is emerging revealing many many benefits of this most important natural source of fat.
Most people are very deficient in omega-3 fats and they consume way too many damaged omega-6 fats (damaged by heating them), which are found in vegetable oils and processed foods. The ideal ratio is 1:1, but the average American's ratio is more like 20:1 in favor of omega-6. Because of this great imbalance, you need to supplement your diet with krill oil and reduce your intake of omega-6 oils to bring this ratio into a more healthy ratio.
There are both plant and animal sources for amega-3 fats and there are differences between them. All have different ratios of three important omega-3 fatty acids-ALA, EPA and DHA. DHA is the most important for your brain. EPA is also required by your brain,but in smaller amounts.
Plant based omega-3 sources like flax,hemp and chia seeds are high in ALA, but low in EPA and DHA. Although ALA is an essential nutrient, it is important to remember that the conversion of ALA to the far more essential EPA and DHA is typically quite inhibited by impaired delta 6 desaturase, an enzyme necessary for you to convert the ALA into the longer chain EPA and DHA.
Elevated insulin levels impair this enzyme and more than 80 percent of the U.S. population has elevated insulin levels. Because of this it is important to include animal based sources of omega-3 fats in your diet.
Krill is superior to fish oil in the following ways:
Krill oil may be 48 times more potent than fish oil according to a 2011 study published in the journal Lipids.
Krill oil contains phospholipids which is the form that the body can use. This means krill oil is absorbed very quickly and can cross the brain barrier, so it is able to reach important brain sructures.
Fish oil is quite perishable and subject to oxidation and oxidation leads to the formation of free radicals. Fish oil is weak in antioxidant content, but krill oil contains astaxanthin which is probably the most potent antioxidant in nature making krill oil very stable.
Fatty acids are water soluble, but they can't be transported in their free form in your blood. They require packaging into lipoprotein vehicles. The omega-3s in krill are already in these perfect packages,so your body doesn't
have to do anything to them to prepare them for transport in your bloodstream. Also phospholipids are one of the principle compounds in high density lipoproteins (HDL) which you want more of.
Three studies in 2009 showed that omega-3 fat deficiency might cause or contribute to up to 96,000 premature deaths each year. Omega-3 oil can reduce your risk for metabolic syndrome, obesity and type-2 diabetes.
Omega-3 oil helps protect your brain and nerves. DHA is converted into substances called neuroprotectins. Alzheimer's disease is associated with a shortage of these neuroprotectins. Fats make up about two-thirds of your brain tissue. Myelin, the protective sheath that covers your neurons, is composed of 30 percent protein and 70 percent fat. Omega-3 fats are important to infants and children for proper cognitive development and vision.
A study published in April 2010, found that older adults with higher blood levels of omega-3 fat were 33 percentg less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and 38 percent less likely to develop dementia than those with lower omega-3 levels.
A 2010 study found omega-3 fat so effective for treating psychotic disorders that they concluded omega-3s are a safe altenative to anti-psychotic drugs. Researchers also stated that omega-3s may delay the onset of schizophrenia.
Low concentration of EPA and DHA are known to accelerate congnitive decline and increase your risk for mood swings and mood disorders. Those suffering from depression have been found to have lower levels of omega-3 in their blood, compared to nondepressed individuals. A 2010 study involving 46 depressed elderly women concluded that omega-3 supplementation is an effective treatment for depression and can improve quality of life.
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