How Safe is Your Omega 3 and Fish Oil?

Where Does Mercury Come From Today?

One of the greatest sources of human mercury exposure today is from the consumption of fish, although some plants and animals also contain some mercury due to bioaccumulation of mercury from the soil, water, and air.  Fish contain mercury because the waters in which they swim in (i.e., our oceans, lakes, and streams have become polluted with mercury and other contaminates from common industrial processes, like coal plants and gold mining, and natural earth processes, like volcanoes. This mercury and pollutants (demonstrated in the drawing below) become deposited in the fish, with larger fish containing more, simply due to their ingestion of smaller fish that also contain mercury.

In addition, pregnant women and young children in America are advised to avoid eating fish with the highest level of mercury contamination we commonly eat, which include shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and albacore tuna.

 

The table at the bottom shows which fish are high, moderate, and low in mercury so you can make the best choices for your health.  The demonstration on the right shows the food chain affect of why some fish contain more mercury than others. Choose low-mercury fish and shellfish most often.

Did you know that Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of fat that your body cannot make on its own and, therefore, must obtain from food? This makes these fats "essential" and a mandatory item that we need to eat in our diets almost daily.
Omega-3 fatty acids are composed of EPA, DHA, & ALA. Brains lacking DHA are more likely to be prone to depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. ADHD is also associated with low blood EPA and DHA, while depression can be reduced with EPA + DHA treatment.  Also, people with mild Alzheimer's disease given EPA + DHA supplements have been shown to have improved cognitive scores after 6 months of treatment.

Remember, beginning from the day you were conceived, your body accumulated DHA and EPA in your central nervous system cell membranes because of their importance for normal brain, eye, muscle, and nerve functioning.

Decreased Inflammation Scientists are now discovering that almost every major disease that inflicts modern day society is related to increased inflammation. Enhanced inflammatory processes are usually found from heart disease, to cancer, to diabetes, to Crohn's disease, to pancreatitis.   

 

Omega-3 DHA is required to produce one member of a family of compounds called resolvins that participate in the body's response to inflammation. The DHA-derived resolving, in particular, helps to reduce inflammation brought about by ischemic insults (reductions in blood flow).  EPA also helps to temper inflammatory responses by decreasing production of pro-inflammatory compounds such as cytokines. In most diseases, cytokines are a major issue that underlies the damaging processes in the body. As such, EPA is also beneficial.  

 

Even though omega-3s, specifically EPA and DHA, are incredibly beneficial for your health, your doctor's recommendations to take fish oil and eat more fish as a solution may not be in your best interests. This is because of contamination issues that you can't see, smell, or taste, but still has detrimental effects against your health.  (Disclaimer: We are not your physician nor are we providing medical advice. This is simply a reminder, it is your RIGHT to ask for further information from your doctor when they recommend any drug or supplement. Always follow your doctor's recommendations.)

 

 When you were a kid, your parents probably told you that fish was "brain food" and you probably didn't really comprehend what this meant, until now. Fish is considered healthy for our brains because it contains our star omega-3 fats, EPA and DHA, which (as you learned above) are important for disease prevention, brain development, memory, and prevention of neurocognitive disorders, like Alzheimer's disease.  However, lately we're learning that some fish, and too much of these fish, may actually be harmful to our brains.

 

Government health agencies, including the American Heart Association, do recommend that fish be eaten twice per week to supply your body with essential omega-3 fatty acids. However, it makes this recommendation with a qualifying statement:"Some types of fish may contain high levels of mercury, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls),dioxins and other environmental contaminants. Levels of these substances are generally highest in older, larger predatory fish and marine mammals."

Have you ever heard of the term "Mad as a Hatter?"  Previously,  this was the main cause of mercury poisoning as  the phrase referred to the severe brain and nervous system damage that occurred in workers who made felt top hats. These men and women became mentally ill and were often given the label, "mad," as in "crazy." The cause...mercury poisoning. Thankfully mercury is not used in the process anymore, but it still has the same effects in our bodies, albeit from other sources.    

Excerpts & charts from: What Your Doctor Never Told You About Fish Oil; Cassandra Forsythe-Pribanic, PhD, RD, CSCS and Jayson Hunter, RD, CSCS 
                                               [You may need to adjust your zoom feature to read this chart]