Fish Oil and Its Unique Properties Working for You – a Complete List of Proven Health Benefits of Fish Oil!

Fish oil is extracted from the tissues of predatory fatty fish at the top of the food chain like shark, salmon, tile fish, king mackerel, albacore tuna and sword fish. Fish oil is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids namely Eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and Docosahexanoic acid (DHA). EPA and DHA are the precursor molecules for our body’s Eicosanoids, which play a major role against inflammation and stress in our daily life.
Interestingly, the EPA and DHA are not produced by the fish themselves. Rather, these two molecules get accumulated inside these fish throughout their life as they ingest microalgae and other fish that have consumed these microalgae as their food.

Fish oil is highly recommended by the National Institute of Health of US for the following three conditions:
1. High triglyceride levels (Hypertriglyceridemia)
2. Secondary cardiovascular disease prevention
3. Hypertension
Triglycerides are harmful cholesterols implicated in the development of stroke, heart attacks and peripheral arterial diseases. The recommended level of triglycerides in blood is less than 150mg/dl. Regular intake of fish oil decreases blood triglyceride levels, protecting individuals from the lethal complications arising out of triglyceride excess.

Make Fish Oil Your Font of Health!

Fish oil decreases the deposition of cholesterol inside the walls of the blood vessels of the heart and body (atherosclerosis).
In addition, it stabilizes the already formed atherosclerotic plague from totally occluding the blood vessel or predisposing to abnormal blood clotting in the area involved (thrombosis). Thus, it maintains the patency and caliber of the blood vessels, augmenting blood flow and decreasing target tissue starvation (ischemia).
Fish oil also lessens the likelihood of the heart to beat irregularly like in atrial or ventricular fibrillation. It also improves the compliance of the large blood vessels of our body, making them expand and shrink more effectively according to demand, without getting injured in the process. These are the mechanisms by which fish oil plays a vital role in secondary cardiovascular disease prevention and blood pressure reduction.

Fish oil supplementation to pregnant women has been conclusively proven to reduce the incidence of food allergies, atopic dermatitis, asthma, hay fever and eczema in their children.
This is a vital benefit, for some aspects of this protection persists till these children become adolescents! Children suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experience better improvement with fish oil intake without side effects, than when using conventional medicines.

Infants and children suffering from intestinal failure are given total parenteral nutrition, in which all the three major components of food (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) are given intravenously. One of the serious complications of intravenous lipid (fat) emulsion is life threatening cholestatis, where bile flow is sluggish leading to jaundice and liver failure. Addition of fish oil to intravenous lipid emulsions is observed to reduce the incidence of this complication. Similarly, adding fish oil to total parenteral nutrition in sick and septic ICU adult patients and in patients who had undergone elective major surgical procedures led to improved outcomes with shortened hospital stay and less susceptibility to infections.

Fish oil has shown successfully protecting individuals from breast, large bowel and prostate cancers.
It has been found to elevate the mood in depressive patients and decreases their suicidal tendency. It also benefits patients with schizophrenia. Similarly, elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease, leading to memory loss and loss of higher mental faculties benefit from regular intake of fish oil. Patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease also experience improvement with fish oil supplementation. The usual recommended oral intake of fish oil is about 1gram/day.