My Elimination Diet - almost 1/2 way done

Really not that bad so far and I am almost halfway completed. Although today I had a serious headache in the morning, it was painful just to move. The previous couple of days were headache free and I thought that I was finally over the caffeine withdrawal. Of course I could be over it with the headaches being from something else but I like to think it is the caffeine since I have been there before a few times over the years and the symptoms are similar.

Image by D'Arcy Norman via Flickr

One of the supplements I am taking is fish oil which I was originally taking in liquid form till I noticed the citrus oil in it so I am now using capsules. For now I am taking 2 capsules, 2x/day but I have usually take around 10/day in the form of liquid oil.

Fish oil is one of the supplements I highly recommend for everyone. There has been lots of news on fish oil (often also referred to as Omega-3 fatty acids) in the lay press and in the research.

Here are some of the broad benefits or areas that fish oil (omega-3 fats) can have a positive impact:

improved heart health

fat loss (~65% of North Americans are obese)

Arthritis

brain function / memory

mental health (e.g. depression, ADD)

anti-inflammatory /joint health

Sounds pretty good to me, I will take improvement in all those areas.

When I look at all these broad benefits of fish oil, it is obviously (or at least to me) meant to be a part of a healthy diet just like eating your fruits and vegetables.

For the skeptics out, when you go to PubMed, which is a central registry for all notable research journals and use the following key words:

fish oil omega 3 fatty acids

You get back over 10 000 thousand research papers!

That is a s**t load of research.

Here is an example of one.

Schwalfenberg G. Omega-3 fatty acids: their beneficial role in cardiovascular health. Can Fam Physician. 2006 Jun;52:734-40.

OBJECTIVE: To examine evidence for the role of omega-3 fatty acids in cardiovascular disease.
QUALITY OF EVIDENCE: PubMed was searched for articles on the role of omega-3 fatty acids in cardiovascular disease. Level I and II evidence indicates that omega-3 fatty acids are beneficial in improving cardiovascular outcomes.
MAIN MESSAGE: Dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids has declined by 80% during the last 100 years, while intake of omega-6 fatty acids has greatly increased. Omega-3 fatty acids are cardioprotective mainly due to beneficial effects on arrhythmias, atherosclerosis, inflammation, and thrombosis. There is also evidence that they improve endothelial function, lower blood pressure, and significantly lower triglycerides.
CONCLUSION: There is good evidence in the literature that increasing intake of omega-3 fatty acids improves cardiac outcomes. Physicians need to integrate dietary recommendations for consumption of omega-3 fatty acids into their usual cardiovascular care.