Nutrition scientist recommends ‘important’ supplement with ‘benefits’ | Personal Finance | Finance
You may want to add a supplement into your diet to support your brain and heart health. A nutrition expert has spoken about the key nutrient, as only certain foods provide enough for your needs.
Philip Calder, a professor of Nutritional Immunology, spoke about the importance of omega-3 fatty acids in your diet. He said: “EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) are the two most biologically active omega-3 fatty acids and are key structural components throughout the body.
“As a result, they have benefits for our body functions such as visual, brain and heart health, where omega-3s are recognised to support these functions. We cannot easily produce omega-3 from scratch, so we should try to get them through diet.”
However, there are only a certain number of foods that provide these important fatty acids. The expert said: “The main dietary source of EPA and DHA is oily fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines.
“The UK Government actually recommends an intake of at least two portions of fish per week, including one portion oily fish to make sure people are getting enough EPA and DHA.” He said that no other foods contain significant amounts of omega-3.
Fortunately, you can get supplements to cover your basic needs. Professor Calder said: “Fish oil supplements are a good source of EPA and DHA, and can be used for those who do not eat enough oily fish. Regarding the best time to eat foods that contain omega-3 (that is oily fish) it does not matter, but it is important to take fish oil supplements with a meal to top-up if needed.”
Read the label
The academic said there is extensive research that shows these supplements work. He said: “There is a vast amount of research on these omega-3s and most of the human research looking at their effects has been done using supplements, so we know that EPA and DHA from supplements have the recognised benefits.
“How well a supplement will work is all about how much EPA and DHA is in the supplement – the more, the better. So consumers should read the label and look for how much EPA and DHA there is in each capsule.”
The professor warned that many people are not aware of just how important omega-3s are to support their heart, brain and visual health, throughout your life. The science indicates that the optimal omega-3 index level, which shows the amount of omega-3 you have in your blood, is 8 percent.
But the average omega-3 index in the UK is at just 5.5 percent. Professor Calder said: “A daily intake of around 1000mg of EPA and DHA daily can support reaching an 8 percent index within 12 weeks or more.”
He also said that there can be a difference between different types of omega-3. He said that fish source omega-3s provide EPA and DHA, which have “recognised health benefits”, while plant omega-3s may not have EPA and DHA and so may lack these health benefits.
