WHY OMEGA 3?

In 2000, Dr. William Connor and Sonja L. Connor presented a paper entitled 'THE IMPORTANCE OF N-3 FATTY ACIDS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE". In it they stated:

Interest in the omega 3 (n-3) fatty acids began some thirty years ago from the remarkable studies in the Greenland Eskimo by the Danish scientists Dyerberg and Bang. These Eskimos had a low prevalence of coronary heart disease despite a high fat diet because their fat contained high proportions of n-3 fatty acids. This discovery stimulated a large amount of subsequent research about n-3 fatty acids as indicated by the several thousand papers that have appeared in the literature. There is little doubt that n-3 fatty acids have a decisive importance in human nutrition. They are significant structural components of the phospholipid membranes of tissues throughout the body and are especially rich in the retina, brain and spermatozoa.

N-3 fatty acids are essential fatty acids, necessary from conception, throughout pregnancy, in infancy and undoubtedly throughout life. The second important feature of the n-3 fatty acid family is in their role in the prevention and modulation of certain diseases common in Western civilization.

Critical Functions

One of the critical functions of omega 3 is found in the body's most basic unit - the cell. Human cells absorb various raw materials, process them and then send this processed material to the required destination within the body . The outer membrane of these cells acts as a gateway allowing the raw materials in and the processed materials out. This outer membrane requires a constant turnover of PUFAs to remain functional. Omega 3's are an essential part of this replenishment. A shortage of omega 3 reduces the cells ability to efficiently perform their functions, leading to nutrient starvation and occasionally chronic and debilitating disease.

Omega 3s are also converted into another class of chemical called EICOSANOIDS, the most critical of which are PROSTAGLANDINS. PROSTAGLANDINS operate within most tissues to regulate most bodily functions....... cardiovascular, digestive, immune system, etc. If the diet is inadequate, the omega 3 prostaglandins produced are either lacking or unbalanced, leading to disease in the vital body systems.

Omega 3s have also been found to modulate the movement of cholesterol through the blood system. Some researchers have reported that omega 3 tends to change the balance of cholesterol in the blood by lowering the "bad" and raising the "good" cholesterol. Omega 3 PUFA's have been shown to remarkably lower plasma triglycerides even in "healthy people".

The Facts

• Omega 3 is an essential and vital fatty acid that is found in the human body at birth.
• Omega 3 does not naturally restore itself, therefore it most be obtained from external sources, either through diet or supplements.