Omega-3 fatty acids and fish oil are foundational to good health!  So important, in fact, that researchers say that low-grade systemic inflammation (the root cause of atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and cardiac failure in adulthood) can actually be prevented with omega-3 oils.

Unfortunately, our intake of omega-3 oils has fallen 80% in the last 80 years.  More and more our diets are filled with omega-6 oils, esp. the chemically altered “partially hydrogenated,” deadly trans fats. 

Omega-3 oils include essential nutrients like ALA (Alpha-linolenic) EPA (eiscosapentaenoic) and DHA (docosahexaenoic) fatty acids.  These long-chain fatty acids cannot be created by our bodies so we must get them from our diet or by supplementation.

Since 2000, the American Heart Association’s dietary guidelines have recommended that healthy adults eat at least two servings of fish per week, particularly fish such as mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna, and salmon.  These fish contain two omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.  A third kind, alpha-linolenic acid, is less potent.  It comes from soybeans, canola, walnut and flaxseed and oils made from those beans, nuts, and seeds.