Health benefits of omega 3s

If it is too good to be true, it usually is. At least that was the common sense I was taught back in America's heartland.

But if I had told my heartland physician father that there was something that one could put into their body that could wrestle autism, heart disease and irritable bowel disease to the ground, he would surely assume I had moved way too far away from home, let alone any good sense.

Yet "essential fatty acids" (EFAs) provide those and many other benefits, and with good scientific evidence to back them up. Omega 3s are the EFAs that are getting all the press. They are called "essential", by the way, because our bodies don't manufacture them so they must be imported through food or supplements.

If you aren't sure of what I am talking about yet, think salmon. You don't have to be a "foodie" to know by now that eating salmon is a good thing.

Salmon, like other cold-water fatty fishes such as trout and sardines, is especially high in the two most powerful of the omega 3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA). If you are not into fish you can derive benefits, albeit less powerful, from a third type of omega 3 fat (ALA) gotten from such sources as walnuts, canola oil, soy and flaxseed.

Here are some of those remarkable health benefits that are supported by research.

1. Being smarter longer. As reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (December, 2004), a study that tested subjects in 1947 and then 54 years later indicated that consuming EFAs from fish oil supplements were positively associated with maintaining better cognitive functioning into one's later years.

2. Getting in a better mood. Studies across the globe are pointing to omega 3 fatty acids are a balm to the depressed mind. Like Prozac and similar anti-depressant meds, EFAs apparently boost serotonin levels in the brain.

3. Relieving pain. There have been several controlled studies showing that EFAs control arthritic pain equal to ibuprofen and other NSAIDs but without the sometimes unhealthy side effects of those medicines.

4. Gaining greater cardiovascular health. A study published in the April, 2005 edition of the journal "CHEST" concluded that fish oils can not only limit the problematic aftermath of cardiac events, but actually prevent them. The authors, from the Emory School of Medicine, found that increasing omega 3 fatty acids produced not only long term benefits to heart health but improvements in less than two weeks.

Clearly, these benefits derive mostly from the fatty acids in fish and fish oil supplements -- the so called DHA and EPA forms.

There is the issue of mercury and PCB contamination that has been widely reported in the press. The American Heart Association affirms that post-menopausal women and their brethren need not worry. Eating wild-caught salmon and removing the skin will help with these concerns.

The American Heart Association folks recommend that you eat a variety of fatty fish at least two times a week and include the ALA rich foods such as flaxseed, walnuts, soybean and canola oils. If you have a diagnosed case of coronary heart disease, you need to up your intake to one gram of EPA/DHA rich fish oils per day. Three ounces of salmon a day would qualify. That's a lot of fish. A viable alternative is to take supplements.

High quality fish oil supplements should not cause the dreaded fish breath and burping. Nordic Naturals is one of many good sources of fish oil supplements with exceptional purity and claims of being "repeat-free." (www.nordicnaturals.com)

Dr. Michael O.L. Seabaugh is a Cape Girardeau native who is a licensed clinical psychologist in Santa Barbara and Santa Monica, Calif. Contact him at mseabaugh@semissourian.com.