Wellness Live

Filling your diet with omega-3 fatty acids is crucial to maintaining a healthy body—and a healthy mind. Omega-3 fatty acids pack benefits for your heart, bones, mental state, and more.*

Omega-3s are deemed necessary for your health, but your body doesn’t produce them. In order to incorporate the right level into your daily routine, it’s important to understand how much you should consume per day, and how you can make them work for your unique diet.*

The low-down on omega-3s

A common misconception about fat is that it’s all bad. While you certainly want to watch your fat intake—and limit saturated & trans fat consumption—there are healthy kinds of fats like omega-3 fatty acids.*

In a nutshell, omega-3 fatty acids help you build and maintain a healthy body. They act as a source of energy that assists in regulating your heart, lungs, immune system, and even your blood vessels, and keep everything working in proper order.*

There are multiple types of omega-3 fatty acids

There are 11 types of omega-3 fatty acids—but three you should specifically focus on working into your daily diet.*

ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) are the top three omega-3 fatty acids to focus on incorporating into your routine, and each have a host of different benefits for your body and mind.*

ALA is likely the most common omega-3 in your diet and is found in many plant-based foods like spinach, kale, soybeans, seeds (hemp, chia, and flax, to name a few), and even some animal fats. It can be converted to EPA and DHA, the other two important omega-3s; however, this process isn’t very efficient in humans, meaning ALA omega-3s are typically stored in the body and repurposed into energy, just like other fats. Unique to ALA is its potential to help promote a healthy heart, which we’ll delve into later.*

EPA omega-3s are found mainly in seafood. Salmon, eel, and shrimp have the highest concentrations of EPA. Some grass-fed animal products contain EPA as well, just in smaller concentrations. Your body produces signaling molecules called eicosanoids from EPAs. These molecules have physiological properties that help support a healthy inflammatory response.^*

DHA omega-3 fatty acids pack benefits for your skin and eyes and are crucial to brain development, and, like ALAs, they help promote heart health. DHAs are found in the same fatty fishes and grass-fed animal products as EPA omega-3 fatty acids.*

They have significant heart benefits

For the last two decades, the American Heart Association (AHA) has recommended EPA & DHA omega-3 consumption to help support heart health. While these omega-3s can be found in certain seafood, it may be beneficial to introduce omega-3 fatty acid supplements into your diet, especially if you don’t like fish, or eat a vegan or vegetarian diet.*

Omega-3s are known for their mental benefits, too

Beyond the physical benefits, omega-3 fatty acids pack perks for your brain. Omega-3 fatty acids are considered important to healthy brain development and function, and studies suggest they may help improve mood. Omega-3s easily travel through the blood-brain barrier to your brain, where they can positively interact with mood-driving molecules.*

Studies also suggest omega-3s may support focus and aid task completion, two things that energetic, creative, and easily distracted people may have as health goals.*

If you don’t get omega-3s through your diet, supplements can assist

For those who don’t consume fish on a regular basis (the AHA recommends eating fish at least twice a week to reap omega-3 benefits), there are other options to boost your omega-3 consumption. Supplements like Vegan Omega-3s EPA-DHA are an easy, safe, and effective way to incorporate more healthy fats into your diet and are rich in DHA & EPA. This supplement is a great option for vegetarians and vegans, created from algae and packing the same mind and body benefits that traditional supplements are known for.*

For all omega-3 supplement offerings and other award-winning health supplements, visit the Source Naturals website.

^Not all inflammation is associated with disease states. Inflammation is also the body’s healthy immune response to life’s normal stressors such as strenuous exercise or an occasional high-fat/high-calorie meal. The body’s inflammation response to life’s occasional, normal stressors is important for optimal health.