Omega-3 Fatty Acids:"The Most Important Dietary Supplement You Can Take"


by Bill Gottlieb - Date: 2007-02-13 - Word Count: 560 Share This!

Those are the words of Leigh Connealy, MD, who I interviewed for my new book, The Natural Fat-Loss Pharmacy: Drug-Free Remedies To Help You Safely Lose Weight, Shed Fat, Firm Up, And Feel Great.

Dr. Connealy is the medical director of the South Coast Medical Center for New Medicine, in Tustin, California. (www.scmedicalcenter.com)

There, she and her staff have counseled thousands of people how to be healthier through natural means-including using vitamins and herbs as aids to weight-loss, the subject of my book.

But along with telling me about supplements that can aid weight-loss, Dr. Connealy was very keen to tell me about the supplement she feels is the most important for better health: omega-3 fatty acids.

"I put every patient I see on a supplement of omega-3 fatty acids," she says. "It is the most important supplement a person can take." Why?

Omega-3s, she explains, strength the membrane, or outer covering, of the cell. This aids in cell-to-cell communication, a crucial process in health.

Omega-3 also decreases inflammation, which is linked to many different diseases, including heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and Alzheimer's. In fact, omega-3 plays a role in every physiological function in the body, says Dr. Connealy.

There are two kinds of Omega-3 supplements: fish oil supplements, rich in DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosahexaenoic acid); and plant-derived supplements, rich in ALA (alpha-linoleic acid), a fatty acid that converts to DHA and EPA in the body. Talk to your doctor or other qualified health professional to determine which would be best for you.

I wrote The Natural Fat-Loss Pharmacy with Harry Preuss, MD, a professor at Georgetown University Medical Center, a top researcher with more than 300 scientific studies to his credit, a nutritionist, and an expert in natural remedies for health. In writing about omega-3, we reviewed literally hundreds of studies showing that the nutrient can strengthen the heart, boost emotional well-being, improve memory and learning, and decrease joint pain. Here are three impressive examples:

Heart attack. In a study conducted by Italian researchers, more than 11,000 people who had suffered a heart attack took an omega-3 supplement or underwent another type of medical, dietary or nutritional therapy. Among those who took omega-3, there were 30 percent fewer deaths and 20 percent fewer heart attacks.

Arthritis pain. Neurosurgeons at the University of Pittsburgh gave fish oil supplements to 120 arthritis patients with neck or back pain. After seventy-five days, 68 percent of the patients had stopped taking prescription pain medications.

Manic depression. People with manic depression (bipolar disorder) were given either EPA supplements or a placebo for several weeks. Those who took EPA had significantly less depression and mania. EPA is "an effective and well-tolerated intervention in bipolar depression" wrote the researchers, in the British Journal of Psychology.

In writing The Natural Fat-Loss Pharmacy, Dr. Preuss decided on a science-based approach to recommending brands of supplements: if a brand had been shown to work in a scientific study, it was the brand to recommend. For omega-3, Dr. Preuss recommends the brand Nordic Naturals, which has been researched at Duke University, the University of California-Davis, Texas A&M University, Oregon Health Science University, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in New York, and many other universities, hospitals and research institutions.

If you'd like to learn more about omega-3-and about vitamins and herbs for weight-loss-please consider reading The Natural Fat-Loss Pharmacy. You can find out more about it-and all my books on health and healing-at www.drugfreehealing.com.


Related Tags: weight loss, diet pills, supplements, diet, omega 3, fatty acids

Yours for better health, Bill Gottlieb, author The Natural Fat-Loss Pharmacy and Alternative Cures (1.5 million copies sold) billgottlieb@drugfreehealing.com http://www.drugfreehealing.com Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

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