Benefits Of Fish Oil - 7 Major Clinically Proven Health Benefits

To understand the benefits of fish oil, first you need to know what are the contents of fish oil and how these can be beneficial to your health. It consists of Omega-3 fatty acids that have two major components such as Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) may also be found, but no conclusive studies have been established yet on its benefits.

EPA and DHA are also known as essential fatty acids (or EFA in short). This is because these two cannot be produced or generated by our own body naturally. They can only be replenished especially by taking dietary supplement, and some of the best sources would be salmon, tuna and hoki from unpolluted seawaters. The following explains the fish oil benefits that proven by many researches:

1. Skin. It can help to improve appearance and health of your skin. Deficiency of these EFAs will cause characteristic scaly skin disorder and excessive epidermal water loss, which leads to severe dry skin condition. Also, they possess the anti-inflammatory property, which is used to treat skin disorders like psoriasis (skin disease marked by red, itchy and scaly patches) and UV-induced skin damages.

2. Heart. America Heart Association (AHA) recognizes the benefits of fish oil consumption and AHA recommends daily intake of 900mg for patients with heart disease. Many studies show that specifically DHA is capable to lower the risk of arrhythmias (a disorder of normal rhythm in heart beating), which subsequently reduces the potential of sudden death by a heart attack.

3. Blood Pressure. Omega-3 is effective to lower mild blood pressure that caused by cardiovascular disease like high cholesterol and atherosclerosis (hardening of artery walls). It can also help to prevent hypertension, and reduce or completely stop the medications for mild hypertension. Non-drug therapy in prevention and control of hypertension has been demonstrated to be possible.

4. Triglyceride. EFAs are able to lower blood triglycerides or fats that known to be the main factor of cardiovascular disease. DHA supplementation has been proven to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol that normally leads to heart disease. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is beneficial for cardiovascular health, and Omega-3 will not affect the level of HDL in our body.

5. Arthritis. EPA and DHA are found to be capable to reduce the amount of compounds causing inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and other inflammatory forms of arthritis, for example gout. These can help to lower the medications and corticosteroids. Rheumatoid arthritis patients with higher risk of cardiovascular disease will benefit more from these two fatty acids.

6. Depression. Researches have revealed that lack of Omega-3 fatty acids and particularly DHA in the brain may lead to mood disorders such as depression. The brain has the most fatty acids in our body, because nerve cell function depends on proper membrane fluidity. Lack of membrane fluidity would result to negative impact on personal behavior, mood and general mental function.

7. Pregnancy. It is known that fish oil can control the symptoms of food allergies and allergic skin conditions. Likewise, omega-3 intake during pregnancy would protect babies against the development of allergies. DHA has been proven to have the ability in improving memory and learning capabilities. Thus, mothers with DHA supplementary during pregnancy may help to increase baby's IQ.

The benefits of fish oil are not restricted to these seven major benefits that have just mentioned above. But there are some concerns of contaminant poisoning particularly in mercury and dioxins. Due to the escalating pollution of seawaters, fish consumption may be harmful to your health, and so molecularly distilled and purified fish oil supplement is the only safest way to maximize its benefits.