Well, you’ve been thinking about getting some fish oil supplements, and then you take a step back and start wondering… “Why fish oil?”
And the truth is, that’s a very intelligent question.
I mean, really, why get fish oil if there isn’t a point in it.
And truthfully, there really is a good reason, and here’s what it is.
You need fish oil because of it’s high concentration of Omega 3 fatty acids. And sure, you can get those from other sources, like flax seed, walnuts, etc. But the problem with walnuts and flax seeds are that they are *short* chain fatty acids and can’t be used as easily by your body as *long* chain fatty acids.
Fish oil is a *long* chain fatty acid, and it’s Omega 3 fatty acids are already set up to be used by your body. When you eat short chain Omega 3 your body needs to metabolize it in a different way that basically ends up needing literally about 10 times more Omega 3 to make the same impact as a long chain Omega 3.
So you could get 10 grams of flax seed Omega 3 fatty acids, or 1 gram of fish oil Omega 3 fatty acids. And they would be the same.
Flax seed also has lots of phyto-estrogens in it too (which is a totally different topic but they’re not the best stuff for you) so getting tons of flax in your diet is a little “iffy” so say the least.
Also if you get a ton of seeds/nuts like walnuts into your diet to get more Omega 3, then that Omega 3 also comes packaged with a ton of Omega 6 as well, which can throw off your Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio and cause other health problems, and nullify the Omega 3 that you think you’re getting in the first place.
So really, the only good way to get Omega 3 into your diet without extra junk like excess Omega 6 and/or phyto-estrogens is to just take a high quality fish oil supplement.
Any other way and you’re not only making things harder on yourself, but you’re risking your overall health at the same time.
