Good Fish, Bad Fish

Fish has always been the healthier meat to eat in most people’s eyes. Fish is a great source of protein and contains omega-3 essential fatty oils that are very important to good health in humans. Protein is great, but it is the essential fatty oils that are the most important benefit to your diet, they are the “good fat” you so often hear of.

They are called “essential” because they cannot be produced in your body; they can only be obtained through your diet. These essential fats are primarily found in fish, smaller amounts can also be found in some vegetable sources. However, humans are not designed to extract these effectively from plants; we are more of a carnivorous species. Essential fatty acids are crucial in the health and integrity of every cell in your body, as it plays a role in the quality of the cell membrane, the very thing that holds each individual cell together. Therefore, omega-3 fatty oils are essential for the proper function of every cell, organ, and gland in the brain and body. Deficiency in essential good fats has been correlated in children with development and behavioral problems. Deficiency in adults has been correlated with heart disease, strokes, arthritis, high blood pressure, depression, arthritis, digestive disorders like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, prostate, colon and breast cancer as well.

The simple solution is to eat more fish, but there’s a problem with that. The problem is that all of the world’s wild fish supply is contaminated with mercury. The FDA only suggests you eat no more than 2 servings a week for it to be safe for most types of fish. Most farmed fish are fed grains, so they do not share the same diet as wild fish and therefore do not contain proper levels of omega-3 oils. Therefore the best and safest way for people to get their omega levels up is through nutritional supplementation. It is important to choose a good brand, as good brands will have a higher quality and higher standards of toxin removals from the fish oil. That way you get all the good and none of the bad. If you have any further questions on this topic please feel free to contact us at Zimmerman Chiropractic.