Why are fish oils (omega-3's) so important for fat loss?
Quite simply, every single person will benefit from adding a high quality fish oil supplement to their diet!
Omega-3s “burn body fat in 3 different ways”
“First off, they allow the body to burn fat in situations where
fat burning is turned off, such as after a high-carb meal or after high-intensity exercise (where the body preferentially burns glycogen).”
“Secondly, high amounts of omega-3s increase insulin sensitivity. If your body is sensitive to insulin, less insulin is produced after a meal, which means less fat is stored. Similarly, if the body is sensitive to insulin, and the hormone is properly managed, more stored fat is released and incinerated each day.”
“Thirdly, omega-3s increase the heat of your cellular “furnaces”, which are otherwise known as the mitochondria and the peroxisomes. Omega-3s make these organelles burn more and more energy, thus turning you into a fat-burning machine.” As if that weren’t enough to convince you, including more omega 3 in your diet is considered one of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce inflammation. This doesn’t just mean in relation to sports injuries. We’re talking headaches, everyday muscular aches, chronic joint pain, arthritis, poor exercise recovery and repetitive strain injuries. What’s more, if you’re not consuming foods high in omega 3, or a good quality omega 3 supplement, then not only are you not helping reduce inflammation, you’re actually compounding the problem! History shows us that humans living ‘in nature’ would typically consume around 35-40 grams of omega 3 each day, a ratio equivalent to the amount of omega 6 in their diet. This ratio is crucial to every aspect of your health – from your ability to build hormones, to your energy levels, your sex drive, the quality of your sleep, and most certainly your moods. But that’s just the start of it. According to Charles Poliquin, every single disease or illness known to man is positively affected by the introduction of more omega 3’s in your diet. The problem is, it’s not so simple to consume that perfect 1:1 (omega 3 to omega 6) ratio these days. In fact, recent research shows that most people are eating nearer to a 1:20 ratio, which is not only nowhere near what we should be consuming, but ratios like that can actually be damaging. What’s even more alarming is how easy it is to unknowingly sabotage your health and your body fat.
Let’s look at where you find omega-3 essential fatty acids. They’re most commonly found in natural animal foods such as fish, eggs, seeds, beef, and – to a lesser degree – green vegetables, especially the dark green ones, and there are three main types of omega 3’s:
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA): EPA is found primarily in fish (bigger fish) and fish oil.
Docosahexanoic Acid (DHA): DHA is especially important to your body, and is also found
primarily in fish (smaller fish) and fish oil.
Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA): ALA is found mostly in seeds, vegetable oils, and leafy green
vegetables. It is converted into EPA and then into DHA in your body.
Doesn’t sound that hard, does it? Eat some fish, get your veggies in, and don’t miss out on the red meat now and then. Maybe a few capsules from time to time to top you up.
Don’t be so sure. The quality of the foods you’re eating plays a drastic role in the omega 3 content. What’s more, even the freshest, oiliest, best quality (wild as opposed to farmed or genetically modified) fish – salmon, for example – only has 2.6 grams of omega 3 per 100grams. Just how much fish are you going to eat each day to get your 35-40 grams? At those levels, you’d need to consume almost 2 kilos of fish a day. And if you’re overweight or suffering with any health complaint, you may need even more than that!
Of course, you could vary it with some beef or eggs, but first make sure you check out this chart. It depicts quite clearly how cattle fed on grain (a totally unnatural feed for these animals), can in 3-6 months lose all their omega 3 fatty acids.
Also, the same rule applies with cage and even some free-range eggs. Couple this information with the knowledge that all food processing not only reduces omega-3 but increases omega 6 and you have a sure recipe for a fatter and less happy you.
So what to do?
Quality really does matter. In fact its crucial to your fat lose goals and your overall health.
Here are some ways to make sure you do your best with omega 3 from your diet:
When you can control it, only eat organic and grass-fed meat.
Only eat wild organic fish. Other fish need to be kept to a minimum as they will contain high
levels of mercury (highly toxic!). When you choose seafood go for the smaller oilier fish.
Eat green veggies at 3 meals each day.
Animal protein is a must at least 4 times per day (yep, that does mean eating meat and veg
for breakfast, you will feel great)
Only eat seeds or nuts that are raw (cooking destroys the Omega-3 EFA’s) and organic
(otherwise they are irradiated, which also destroys the Omega 3 content).
Eliminate processed foods or foods containing trans fats. You already know there’s more than a handful of reasons why these ‘foods’ are not good for you, and now you have one more. Even when sticking to the above, you will still be in need of a high quality supplement. It’s a crucial way to ensure you have adequate levels of Omega 3 EFA’s. We never ever buy supplements off the shelf, and wouldn’t recommend you do either.
We believe everybody should supplement with Omega 3 capsules or liquid and the results we’ve had using this with our clients speak for themselves. Of course cavemen didn’t need to down capsules or liquid, but they lived an all-pure 100% organic lifestyle. It’s not only bad foods that rob you of Omega 3’s, but toxins, chemicals and everyday stress which is about 100 times what it used to be.
The quality of fish oil you take is super important. You can buy the highest quality fish oils available from the following link:
