Friday, July 10, 2009

Omega3 Fatty Acids. Should You Eat Fish To Get Them?

By Peter Bertonich

It's a good question isn't it. Fish is contaminated with mercury, so should we be eating fish to get those good omega3 fatty acids in our diets?

And if eating fish is a bad idea because of the mercury, how else do you get that Omega3 in your diet?

There are other places to find Omega3 fatty acids, like some plant sources, but by far the best place to find the right types of Omega3 is fish.

But there is a problem with eating fish isn't there? What about mercury contamination? Isn't fish contaminated with mercury?

According to the EPA there is mercury contamination in all fish.

And you don't want to be getting mercury in your body do you? It's not something that your body gets rid of, and it's not good for children in particular.

But notwithstanding, the EPA doesn't tell us to remove fish from our diet. Fish is ok in small quantities and they do offer some guidelines for how much, and what type, you should eat.

Its ok to eat around 2 serves of fish a week. However for children or pregnant women theres some more things to think about, because mercury is more of a risk to children or developing fetuses.

Pregnant women and children ought not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish. These types of fish are higher in mercury.

But you can eat fish,in small amounts, you don't need to eliminate it from your diet.

But there's another problem before we conclude that we all ought to be eating fish for our Omega3 fatty acids. Fish is scarce and getting scarcer. Have you seen the price of fish lately? It's really expensive.

And it's ok to eat it in small quantities, but if you're just eating it for those good fats there are better ways. Of course if you love eating fish then no problem. Eat it.

And although it's small amounts, there is still mercury in fish. So if you can find a way of getting your Omega3 fats that isn't so expensive, and doesn't have mercury, that's got to be a better way.

Use fish oil supplements. You can get Omega3 fatty acid supplements. They contain fish oil, and they are extremely clean, sourcing their oil from fish that live in the cleanest ocean in the world, the southern ocean, and then this is put through a molecular distillation process until contaminants are undetectable.

But there are no enforced standards for fish oil contamination levels. and not all fish oil supplements are totally clean. Be careful.

So if you're just eating fish for it's Omega3 fatty acids, don't bother. There's cheaper ways that allow you to take your Omega3 fats daily, without the mercury. But if you just love to eat fish then go for it.

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