Basics of Fish Oil Omega-3s; The omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), derived from fish oils, have been the subject of a significant body of research over the past few decades, revealing substantial benefits to human health. However, at the same time, a recent California lawsuit claims the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), even at sub-trace levels, in fish oil products merits warning labels. PCBs are toxic, organic compounds, for which no evidence of harm currently seems to exist for the levels discussed in the aforementioned court case.1 Furthermore, a well-publicized January 2001 federal advisory and subsequent scientific research regarding methylmercury contamination in certain fish species raised questions about whether fish oil could contain excessive levels of mercury, a neurotoxic heavy metal.2 As a result, demand for “clean” fish oil supplements has led different methods to “molecularly distill” crude fish oil into purified forms, which has also led to the ethyl ester (EE) form of omega-3 fatty acids.
Fish oils naturally contain triglycerides containing DHA, EPA and a saturated fat. A triglyceride consists of a glycerol “backbone” with three fatty acids attached. During the fish oil “molecular distillation” process, the fatty acids are liberated into free EE forms. Some fish oil products are made by synthesizing the free fatty acids back to a triglyceride form while others, including the pharmaceutical forms, maintain the purified oil in the EE form. Some companies selling fish oils claim the triglyceride form is better absorbed than the EE form. Research, however, has demonstrated EE omega-3s are at least as well absorbed as triglyceride omega-3s, if not better.3 Furthermore, in a cardiovascular study, EE-EPA was found to be more effective than an equivalent amount of triglyceride EPA.4
Beneficial Effects
Human beings evolved on a diet with approximately a 1:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 EFAs, whereas in Western diets, the ratio is 15:1 to 16.7:1. Obviously, Western diets are deficient in omega-3s and have excessive amounts of omega-6s compared with the diet on which human beings evolved and their genetic patterns were established.5 As a matter of fact, a recent Harvard School of Public Health study suggested omega-3 deficiency causes 96,000 U.S. deaths per year.6 Excessive amounts of omega-6 fatty acids and a very high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio may promote many diseases, including cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, whereas increased levels of omega-3 exert protective effects.7 In fact, omega-3s have beneficial effects in many different areas of the body.
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