Natural Omega 3 Fatty Acids

It is, in our view, always advisable to consume natural omega 3 fatty acids, as supposed to synthetic or man-made versions of these nutrients. Why? This is because natural substances and compounds tend to be a lot more bioavailable to the body than synthetic compounds. To make things worse, man-made chemicals often even trigger undesirable adverse effects on health.

Nutrients which appear in whole-food form are also more likely to offer balance and synergistic effects, with less likelihood of causing unhealthy or even toxic imbalances in the human body.

These points, in fact, apply to the intake of foods, herbs and supplements in general - the natural forms are almost always better than synthetically formulated ones.

What are some sources of natural omega 3? Cold water fish (also called fatty fish or oily fish), such as herring, hoki, mackerel, salmon and sardines, are good sources of DHA and EPA. But it is important to eat wild-caught varieties, as those are the ones which are rich in natural omega 3; farm-raised fish are fed poor foods and have relatively low levels of omega 3 fatty acids.

Another thing to note - fish nowadays, due to environmental pollution, tend to be contaminated with dangerous toxins like mercury, and caution should be exercised if eaten in large amounts or too regularly. Purified fish oil supplements (tablets, pills, capsules, etc) and / or those certified to be toxin-free are alternatives to eating fish.

On a related note, studies which have researched the bioavailability of fish oil have either found that the natural triglyceride form of fish oil is better than the ester form, or that there is no marked difference; no studies have suggested the ester form, which is said to be cheaper to produce, is better. This is reported on Wikipedia.org.

There are many vegetarian sources of omega 3's (ALA) in the plant kingdom, too. Some examples include chia, flaxseed, purslane and walnuts. Vegetable oils like flaxseed oil, hemp oil and walnut oil are high in omega 3 fatty acids, too. Flaxseed and flaxseed oil, in particular, are highly favored omega 3 rich foods. There are many flaxseed oil supplements available on the market, in both capsule and liquid form, which can help provide a rich source of natural omega 3.

Foods such as grass-fed beef and eggs from chickens which are fed omega 3-rich diets are sometimes also touted as natural sources of omega 3 fatty acids, although these are generally not as widely promoted or used for this purpose.