Let’s Start Off With 3 Big Reasons Why Your Primary Nutritional Focus Should Be On Getting Enough Omega 3 Fatty Acids:
1. Nine out of ten Americans are deficient in Omega 3’s!
2. The Omega 3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA are by far the most researched nutrients on Earth.
3. Omega 3’s are needed by every cell and raising their levels positively impacts every organ system in the body.
The benefits of optimal Omega 3 levels are wide ranging. You can expect:
- better mood
- less brain fog
- less aches and pains
- lower inflammation
- improved cardiovascular health
- a better overall sense of well being
An Incredible Study Demonstrates Just How Important Omega 3’s Are For Cardiovascular Health
Perhaps the most talked about aspect of health involving Omega 3’s is cardiovascular health. According to a March 2018 study published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology, and funded by the National Institutes of Health, a higher Omega-3 Index (the EPA+DHA content of red blood cell membranes) was associated with a lower risk for cardiovascular disease events, coronary heart disease events, and strokes. Amazingly, the results showed that the risk for death from any cause was reduced by about 33% comparing the lowest Omega-3 Index participants to the highest.
An optimal Omega-3 Index is 8-12%, sadly the average American’s level is 5%.
If so many people are deficient in Omega 3’s and they’re so important for overall health, it makes sense why several disease epidemics exist such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. With all of this evidence, why aren’t more health care professionals focusing on this incredibly important nutrient?
Feel Good On CBD? Try Omega 3’s!
Consider how good a lot of people feel when they consume CBD (cannabidiol.) Hemp oil and the phytocannabinoids it provides has been all the rage for a few years now and rightly so. The endocannabinoid system is involved in several aspects of health and well being including mood, stress, pain, immunity, sleep and appetite. No wonder CBD is such a powerful nutrient that has given many users drastic relief from pain and anxiety.
Unfortunately, this relief is fleeting and CBD/hemp consumers must continue to use the product, often at higher and higher doses in order to maintain the benefits. Did you know that Omega 3’s provide the building blocks for the body to produce endocannabinoids? This means that people with an optimal Omega-3 Index also likely have a healthy endocannabinoid system. They sleep better, cope with stress better, and live with less pain. The cannabinoid boosting effect of Omega 3’s is one of the main reasons people feel better when they take a fish oil supplement, and it further illustrates why it’s the one supplement to take to get the most overall benefit.
Omega 3’s Are Essential: What Does That Mean?
Why are nearly all of us lacking adequate levels of this integral nutrient? Omega 3’s are essential fatty acids, which means you have to get them in your diet because your body can’t manufacture them. Other essential nutrients include vitamins, minerals, and certain amino acids. A lot of us focus on getting enough of these other nutrients and they’re easier to procure by eating our fruits and vegetables or taking a multivitamin. Omega 3’s, on the other hand, are now scarce in the standard American diet. Wild caught fish is one of the best sources of EPA and DHA, but researchers estimate that only 10% to 20% of U.S. consumers meet the federal Dietary Guideline for seafood consumption. Americans’ weekly seafood intake has stayed around 5 oz per week for the past 30 years which is less than the recommended 8 oz per week. However, the five top species consumed by Americans are shrimp, salmon, canned tuna, catfish, and tilapia (altogether comprising 70–80% of the U.S. seafood supply,) and unfortunately the majority of this seafood is farm-raised.
Fish farming or pisciculture involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures such as fish ponds. Studies have shown how farm-raised fish can be higher in contaminants. Additionally, farm-raised fish tend to have a higher instance of disease due to farming conditions. Focus has shifted and continues to shift from wild caught to farm-raised aquaculture further limiting the quality of our Omega 3 intake.
So we don’t eat fresh wild caught seafood at the levels our ancestors did. Even people that eat fish regularly are challenged due to the declining amount of Omega 3’s in the food supply. The big challenge is that affordable fish sources are usually farm raised and low in Omega 3 and wild caught seafood is difficult to find and really expensive. You definitely want to include fish in your diet, but to get proper EPA and DHA levels, you really have to look to a daily supplement.
There is still a challenge even if you decide to add a fish oil supplement to your daily regimen. That problem is that most fish oils are of low quality and negligible potency.
I always tell people to look at how much Omega 3 they’re getting – specifically EPA and DHA – not how much fish oil they’re getting in their supplement. I’ve looked at 1000 mg per softgel fish oil supplements that hardly contained any Omega 3. Fish oil, on it’s own, doesn’t do anything for you. If there’s a negligible amount of Omega 3 in your fish oil supplement, then it’s basically worthless. I like to compare it to olive oil. Good cooks know that the best and most flavorful olive oil is extra virgin (the first pressing with all the nutrients.) You can get less expensive olive oil that has already had all the best nutrients stripped out of it, but you’re sacrificing taste and healthiness. You want your fish oil from a reputable company that knows how to process it and can verify that you’re getting a supplement that is beneficial to your health.
What Brand Of Fish Oil Is The Best?
There are a few different fish oil supplement brands that I really like. Unfortunately there are thousands of brands to choose from and it is much easier to buy an ineffective supplement than an effective one. I really like what Carlson’s, Nordic Naturals, and New Chapter are offering in the way of Omega 3 supplements. These brands offer good potency and quality fish sourcing. Some of these brands aren’t available at Nature’s Outlet. When customers come in looking for them, I ask them if they’re happy with the results they’re getting, and if they are, I never try to switch them to another brand. However none of these brands is my personal favorite. That would be Wiley’s Finest and I really like the products they produce and the way that they do business.
Wiley’s uses high quality, sustainable wild Alaskan fish oil that’s 3rd party tested by NSF for purity (no mercury or lead) and potency (therapeutic amounts of Omega 3.)
Good For Us, Good For The Planet
I think about our impact on the environment for both moral and economic reasons. A great example of this is the fishing industry. I talked about how farm raised fish is far less nutritious for us because of contaminants and lower Omega 3 levels, but it also creates a lot of toxic waste that ends up in our oceans and drinking water. The best option for us and the planet is definitely wild caught fish, but over-fishing is also a big problem. For years we caught more fish than fisheries were able to replenish which led to dwindling numbers. Certain species became endangered, or sadly, even went extinct.
Wiley’s Finest garnered the Marine Stewardship Council’s prestigious certification for sustainability. This is a big deal and the gold standard for sustainably caught fish. Sustainable fishing is about what isn’t caught and “Bycatch” is one of the most important concepts. It is defined by the unintentional removal of seabirds, marine mammals, turtles, or other sea creatures while fishing for a target species. The wild Alaskan Pollock (a member of the cod family) that Wiley’s harvests for their fish oils typically has 1% or less Bycatch (non-target species). No other large commercial fishery in the world can make this claim. Furthermore, the Alaskan Pollock fishery is well managed to prevent overfishing which allows the fish stock to replenish and maintain healthy population levels.
Everyone Likes To Say They’re The Best So Independent 3rd Party Validation Is Key
Wiley’s Finest is dedicated to quality, transparency, and sustainability by offering the only full line of NSF tested and certified fish oil supplements to ensure exceptional quality and safety for their customers. NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) is an independent, nonprofit organization that has been a recognized global leader since 1944. Their process consists of testing products to ensure they meet label claims and standards (which are more rigorous and difficult than standard FDA and cGMP requirements), inspecting/auditing cGMP facilities, and certifying products, components, ingredients, and equipment.
Last, but perhaps most important of all, Wiley’s Finest supplements contain therapeutic doses of the Omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA as well as other nutrients. If nine out of ten Americans are deficient in Omega 3 and over-consuming inflammatory Omega 6, then the Omega 3 supplement they take needs to be potent and easy to take. One softgel of Wiley’s Peak EPA contains 1000 mg of Omega 3 (750 mg EPA and 250 mg DHA.) I’ve looked at dozens of other fish oil brands and often times you’d have to take five or more of their softgels to equal this dose!
Putting It All Together
Most of us are deficient in Omega 3 and this is a serious problem. Omega 3’s impact nearly every aspect of our health including brain, eye, cardiovascular, and joint health. There is even a direct correlation between the Omega-3 Index and cardiovascular disease/death. Getting enough Omega 3 from the best source, fish, presents several challenges such as high cost, availability, and actual Omega 3 content. A supplement is a good way to ensure you’re getting enough Omega 3, but not all fish oils are equal. Wiley’s Finest uses high quality, sustainable wild Alaskan fish oil that’s 3rd party tested by NSF for purity (no mercury or lead) and potency (therapeutic amounts of Omega 3.) Wiley’s has been the go-to Omega 3 supplement for years at Nature’s Outlet. We feel like everyone can benefit from taking a quality Omega 3 supplement and we enthusiastically recommend it to all of our customers. Make sure you’re signed up for our weekly Wellness Club Nature’s Outletter email to find out when there are deals on Wiley’s and other great products at Nature’s Outlet!
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