Tag: Fish Oil Supplements

The Dark Side of Fish Oil: The Side Effects

First you need to understand that fish oil has a lot of benefits. The omega-3 fish oil belongs to the essential fatty acids which our body needs. Our body does not have any capabilities of producing the omega-3 so we rely on external sources, mainly fish rich in oil, as our main source. The fact that it is labeled essential fatty acid means that our body really needs it and the lack of which could result to a variety of health consequences.

Among the known benefits of taking omega-3 includes reducing the risks of having heart disease, can reduce the development of cancer cells, prevents pregnancy complications, improves eyesight and helps prevent depression. We can have a longer list but I wont trouble you with that, needless to say the benefits of fish oil are real. But unknown to quite few, the fish oil supplements that we all think of as friends has the dark side too, has side effects which when left uncheck can be quite harmful and can even prove to be fatal.

If our list of benefits is quite long, the side effects not as many. The side effects only manifests when one overdoses with the intake and can even disappear after a few days. Sometimes that body just needs to get used to the fish oil and once it has adjusted, the side effects would disappear. Some of the minor and immediate side effects include a fishy after taste and diarrhea.

These two often appears during the first few days of taking the fish oil. These symptoms should disappear after a couple of days but in case they dont changing brands of fish oil supplements might help. But setting up a meeting with your doctor would be the best idea.

After a couple of weeks of taking fish oil capsules, you might notice some fishy burping before and after each meal. This can just be because your body is still adjusting. Give it a couple of days and the burping might stop. Although, you should check the expiry dates of your of your supplements. You might also want to consider that what you have been taking are bad quality produce. Changing brands might help. Some suggest keeping the supplements in a freezer to prevent the various gastrointestinal side effects.

On the other hand, blood thinning is something that you cannot eliminate by just simply changing brands. You see omega-3 from fish oils is great for the heart because it is a natural blood thinner. They help coagulate the blood which helps prevent blood clots which helps prevent heart diseases.

But because omega-3 is already a blood thinner, people who are already taking blood thinning medications should avoid the intake of either the fish oil or the blood thinning drug. The possible problem with this is that people will get too much blood thinners resulting to patients bleeding out. The bleeding could be internal which can damage organs and could result to something fatal.

You should watch out for signs of internal bleeding like black stools or the presence of blood in the stool or vomiting of blood which are all signs of gastrointestinal bleeding. When you bleed in the brain the signs could be changes in your vision or speech, numbness of an arm or leg, and severe headache.

The dark side of fish oil is just that, one part of a fairly good supplement. There are ways to prevent the side effects and most of them through proper consultations before you even start taking those fish oil supplements.

The Benefits of Fish Oil Supplements

The benefits of fish oil supplements should not outweigh the need to understand how these supplements should work or provide essential nutrients for the human body.

Although it is a general notion for nutrition experts to insist on regular food as the common and most basic source of vitamins and minerals important for the human body, fish oil supplements, be it in liquid or solid form, are needed to ensure a holistic enrichment and nourishment for the body.

Fish oil supplementation is ideally beneficial by providing for what the regular or daily diet may not provide, it can also be a preventive measure against diseases and illnesses.

Essentially, fish oil supplements are meant to complement a diet, not as a substitute for it, as what many believe to be the case. Since plant foods still contain many nutrients, among them phytochemicals, that still cannot be substituted or generated through synthetic means.

Why the need for fish oil supplements? Take for instance these circumstances;

Infants that are being breast-fed need to have their regular source of iron, especially when they reach their four to six months, since breast milk only provides little iron. This is where iron supplementation comes in with baby milk formula or alternative sources like fortified cereal meals or baby food.

Children also need fluoride supplementation to strengthen teeth and prevent tooth decay.

Pregnant women need multivitamin-mineral supplementation, to ensure that their nutrient levels are met for the development of the fetus inside the womb. Among those that need supplementation are increased levels of folate to prevent birth defects, as well as increased amounts of vitamins like B6, C and D and minerals like calcium, copper, iron and zinc.

For children who are picky eaters, they need to have their regular dosage of the required vitamins and minerals to ensure better growth and brain development.

Breastfeeding mothers also need supplementation, since they need increased amounts of essential nutrients that depletes during the process of breastfeeding. Among those are vitamins B6, C and D, as well as calcium, zinc, magnesium and potassium.

Even vegetarians are not exempt from the need to take in supplements, since they do not get all the essential nutrients only from vegetables, especially for growing vegan children who need to have the nutrients provided by dairy products, meat, poultry and fish.

Also those above the age of 50 have special needs for some nutrients that they need more of and some that they need less. Seniors need to have more vitamins B6, B12 and D, as well as folate. Postmenopausal women also need the supplement their calcium intake to lessen the risk of osteoporosis.

Alternative fish oil supplementation is a must to ensure a balanced and healthy lifestyle, but don’t be fooled by mass media advertising campaigns or too-good-to-true offers, since not all those supplements found in the market are what it seems to declare or state.

Be cautious. It does not mean that because it is cheaper than others you get good value for your money. It is best to investigate first.

Also try to seek advice from a nutritionist, dietitian or your physician as to what your body needs and does not need to have, since they may be able to help you establish what you need supplemented or fortified.

The benefits of fish oil supplements is indeed good for the body, but take note that anything good taken in excess can end up to negative results.

How Fish Oil Can Benefit Your Health

Fish oils are extracted fats from fish, a concentrated solution of omega-3 EFAs. It is the best source of omega-3 EFAs. You could add more omega-3 EFAs to your diet in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). The richest plant sources of ALA are the leaves and seeds of the perilla plants common in North America, Japan, Korea, China and Vietnam.

Green plants and algae also contain ALA as well as linseed oil. However, fats or oil from fish is considered the most important dietary source of omega-3 EFAs because it has concentrated amounts of the ALA derivatives EPA and DHA. These two nutrients are found almost exclusively in seafood.

Eating fish on a regular basis has its own risk as you are can never be sure if the fish you are eating has no toxins on it such as mercury and PCBs. During the manufacture of fish oils, toxins are eliminated. The supplements are meticulously purified to remove heavy metals such as mercury, lead, PCBs and other toxins as well as to reduce the incidence of rancidity and improve the taste and quality of the fish oil.

These makes fish oils as safe and effective food supplement. A 1-gram fish oil capsule contains about 180 mg of EPA and 120 mg of DHA. An intake of three 1-gram capsules would provide 0.9 gram (900 mg) of EPA and DHA. This means it comply the daily dosage recommended by the American Heart Association. However, you should always bear in mind that fish oil supplements are basically dietary supplements, not drugs.

Studies shows that many people are getting too much of the wrong kinds of fats found in animals (saturated fats) and vegetables (polyunsaturated fats), and need the fish oil to balance the family of fat nutrients. Intake of the wrong kinds of fats should be lowered to total 20 to 30 percent of daily calorie serving while fats found in the oils of certain fish should be appreciably increased.

Fish oil prevents and/or alleviates heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis and migraine, headaches, may be protective against cancer, immune deficiency diseases, kidney disease and others. Fish oils also have two special nutrients that protect the heart and arteries, reduce pain, inflammation and swelling, and protect cell membranes. Omega-3 EFAs found in oily fishes are believed to be essential for the healthy development of brain, retina, and nervous tissue among fetus and infant.

During pregnancy these fatty acids are transferred from the mother’s tissues to the fetus. However, the FDA has strict guidelines on eating fish during pregnancy because of the possibility of mercury or other toxic substances that may contain in fishes and the best solution is to take fish oil as food supplement

Over the past 30 years more than 7,000 scientific studies have provided evidence supporting the effectiveness of fish oil and omega-3 EFAs in the prevention and treatment of our most common diseases. Hundreds of clinical trials support the efficacy of fish oil’s omega-3 essential fatty acids in preventing, mitigating, and remedying an incredible range of health conditions. Some scientific and medical communities however are resisting to these facts and still support pharmacological treatment.

As a traditional dietary supplement that encourages good health, fish oil is a preventive medicine but as a natural alternative to NSAIDs or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and other pharmacological and medical treatments, it is complementary medicine.

With all the undergoing studies to prove its affectivity, fish oil is on the threshold of crossing over into traditional Western medicine.

How Can One Benefit from Fish Oil Supplements?

How can one benefit from fish oil supplements and there are actually a hundred and one reasons why people resort to taking fish oil supplements, whether it be the result of aggressive marketing and commercial campaigns or simply because it was proven effective by one and word spread like wildfire about its therapeutic or healing wonders.

Generally, a common view about fish oil supplements is that it gives the public a sense of security knowing that a particular ‘alternative’ or ‘natural’ health supplement is sourced from a commonly recognized raw material, for example, an herb possessing healing properties or plant life known for vitamin and nutrient qualities.

Psychologically, the public is much more at ease knowing that fish oil supplements are sourced from commonly known raw materials found in the environment, rather than medication or supplements synthetically or chemically-generated in pharmaceutical laboratories.

Among the most common popular – yet sometimes debatable – benefits one can get from fish oil supplements are the following;

An all-natural approach to healing and therapy. People are more comfortable knowing that alternative approaches to healing and therapy promotes the human body’s ability to heal itself, and with the introduction of fish oil supplements could enhance the body’s resistance to disease and illnesses.

Fish oil supplements are good sources of vitamins and minerals needed by the body. Many experts believe that natural resources of vitamins and minerals that are commonly found in the environment are more likely to supplement the body under ‘natural’ conditions.

A cheaper alternative than conventional prescription synthetic health medicines. Although this claim is a highly debated issue by health buffs and pharmaceutical hardliners, economics play a key role in determining this issue. While millions of dollars go into the research and development of vitamin and mineral substitutes for mass production, cultural and traditional forces are at play in rallying the cause of alternative supplements to boost one’s health.

All-natural supplements are safer than conventional medicines. Sometimes true and sometimes not, researches are still being conducted regarding the adverse effects of some ‘natural’ remedies and supplements, aside from promoting healing or therapeutic capabilities.

There is a wide array of choices in the long list of alternative health supplements, depending on one’s needs for supplementation and therapeutic needs. From seed to fruit extracts, depending on one’s preference for taste, health effects or supplementation needs, there are hundreds of options one can have in the choice for the best fish oil supplements in the market.

Natural and fish oil supplements are less-likely to create allergic or adverse reactions for the user. This again is another debatable topic, however, the public should take caution as to determining what is good or bad for their health.

Many fish oil supplements provide treatment for a wide range of major and minor health conditions, compared to the limited efficacy of their synthetic counterparts that only target a particular illness or disorder.

Almost all fish oil supplements are used for the prevention of illnesses by strengthening the immune system, rather than as a palliative measure at the onset or during the affliction of a disease.

Fish oil supplements can be taken to augment good nutrition and cater to the body’s need for the recommended standard dosage of vitamins and minerals. If one particular mineral or nutrient is not found in a standard diet, supplements can be taken to address the deficit.

Finally, fish oil supplements are good sources of fortified vitamins and minerals. Depending on our individual needs for vitamins and minerals, it can add to the body’s need for specific nutrients, for example, breast-feeding or pregnant women need more calcium, folic acid and every other essential nutrients for fetal development, compared to teens and men.

Whether these benefits bear truth or not, it is still essential to seek expert opinion about the medicines or supplements we take- be it synthetic or natural- since what may be good for one may be bad for another. It would still be good to know and understand what is best for us.