Fish oil has been in the news a lot in the past few years, expounding on the health benefits of this nutritional supplement. But what is fish oil, and how can it help? Fish oil is oil that is derived from the body tissues of oily fish like salmon and tuna. Fish oil contains Omega 3 fatty acids as well as certain other compounds.
These compounds help to reduce inflammation throughout the entire body. Fish obtain the Omega 3 acids by eating microalgae which contain these acids, as well as from eating other fish who have the acids already built up from their diet on this algae. Fish do not produce the omega 3 acids in their body. Fish that are fatty include Salmon, Tuna, Mackeral, Lake Trout, Sardines, and Herring.
Eating these fish will give you some of these fish oils, but not as much as a supplement will. Unfortunately, these fish are usually predators, and as such they may accumulate toxins and harmful chemicals by eating other fish which have these toxins in their body. The FDA has a recommendation concerning the consumption of these fish, because many of these fish have things like mercury, dioxin, Chlordane, and PCBs, built up in their fatty tissues. Because...