Omega-3 fatty acids are one of the most critical elements in nutrition today especially for avoiding diseases and staying healthy.
However the benefits of omega-3’s also play a massive role in your ability to drop body fat and put on muscle.
People eating an average western diet usually have quite low levels of omega-3’s so the great thing about improving these levels if you are one of these people is that you will be able to achieve noticeable body composition results in a short space of time.
Omega-3’s are a type of essential polyunsaturated fatty acid. This means that the human body is unable to make these fats on its own and must rely on receiving them through the diet.
This wasn’t a problem as little as several hundred years ago when people’s bodies would have cravings for things like butter or honey or fish.
No doubt there was an ocean, river or lake not too far away where you would be able to catch fish or at least buy some from a friendly native.
These days however it is a little bit more difficult as there are so many more ‘food’ options available and people are more likely to crave things like sugar, chocolate or donuts, meaning that omega-3’s can often go missing in the diet.
There are 3 types of omega-3 fatty acids involved in human physiology, α-linolenic acid (ALA) which is found in plant oils from things like walnuts, flaxseeds and chia seeds. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are found in marine oils from algae and phytoplankton or the animals that eat them, oily fish like salmon, herring or mackerel.
INFLAMMATION
One of the major processes that omega fatty acids are responsible for in the body is the inflammation response.
If you cut your thumb for example and it swells up and gets red and inflamed this is inflammation. The omega fatty acids are responsible for this response. Omega-6 increases inflammation while omega-3 dials back the response.
Inflammation is great and obviously very essential for surviving if we get attacked by something so that we are able to heal ourselves and avoid bleeding to death.
Naturally we have an even ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fats in the diet which is ideal for turning on inflammation when it is needed and then turning it back off again when it’s no longer needed. Both the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids ‘compete’ for the same enzyme in the body so a ratio of 1:1 is ideal.
The problem with the modern diet is that most people are severely deficient in omega-3s, a typical western diet leaves people with ratios of omega-6 to 3 from anywhere between 10:1 to 30:1. ₁
A major reason for this is the unnaturally high ratios of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in hydrogenated vegetable oils like sunflower, cottonseed and corn oil.
The inflammation is turned on but the body is unable to turn it off.
This chronic inflammation is a major problem causing disease, illness, delayed recovery from injury, and obesity.₇
Inflammation is a factor in virtually every major degenerative disease we know of, including diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancer, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases and obesity. ₂, ₄
FAT LOSS
Omega-3 fats are a non-negotiable when it comes to fat loss.
They are essentially what allows your cells to burn the body fat you do have and use the food you eat for fuel instead of storing it as fat.
Omega-3 fats are highly sort after by your body as they are the ideal fat for making up the cell membrane or outside layer that protects each of our body cells.
This cell membrane is the barrier between each cell and the outside environment, it is designed to keep the bad stuff out and at the same time let all of the good nutrients in.
Any kind of fat can be used to do build this layer but your cells will function most optimally if it is made from omega-3s as they are the most permeable and insulin sensitive.
The phospholipids (the yellow bit) they should be made of omega-3's so the insulin can get in.
Remember that being insulin sensitive is almost essential for fat loss and if you have poor insulin sensitivity, you will have a very difficult time losing fat.
As well as the whole insulin sensitivity thing omega-3s have also been found to; inhibit enzymes that cause you to store fat ₉, stimulate enzymes that promote fat burning ₁₀ and decrease the stress hormone cortisol. ₁₁
A study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition demonstrates this where healthy participants were given either 4 grams of fish oil ( a combined EPA and DHA content of 2.4 grams) or 4 grams of safflower oil (an omega-6 fat) for 6 weeks.
The participants where asked not to change their eating or exercise habits and the study was double-blind meaning neither the participants or the conductors of the study knew who was taking what to avoid any bias.
At the end of the trial the participants who took the fish oil significantly lost body fat and increased muscle mass, no exercise required. The participants who took the fish oil also had decreased levels of the catabolic stress hormone cortisol after supplementing. ₅
MUSCLE GAIN
Because omega-3 fatty acids improve the insulin sensitivity of your body’s cells, insulin can more optimally shuttle glucose from dietary carbs into the muscle cells to be stored and used as energy later.
Insulin will also improve the muscle building process by helping to load nutrients into the muscle like creatine and carnitine that are essential for physical performance and fat burning.₇
A study that gave middle-age adults 4 grams of fish oil a day found that it increased protein synthesis, producing a significant muscle building effect ₆
Remember that fish oil also helps to lower cortisol so its catabolic effects of breaking down muscle can also be avoided.
SOURCING QUALITY OMEGA-3’S
As mentioned earlier the longer chain more essential omega-3s EPA and DHA are found in oily fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies and sardines. Remember to always choose wild-caught fish as opposed to farmed for maximal omega-3 availability. You can also get omega-3s from grass-fed cattle and eggs.₈
Supplementing with fish oil or krill oil is also definitely recommended because omega-3s are so essential for both health and fat loss.
It is important to only choose a quality brand of fish oil as a lot of the cheaper options contain fillers and heavy metals that can be more harmful then beneficial.
Nufit recommends Designs for health, Thorne or Poliquin brand supplements, contact us for help sourcing these quality brands.
References
- Hibbeln JR, Nieminen LR, Blasbalg TL, Riggs JA, Lands WE (2006). “Healthy intakes of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids: Estimations considering worldwide diversity”. The American journal of clinical nutrition 83 (6 Suppl): 1483S–1493S. PMID 16841858.
- Simopoulos A. The importance of the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 2002;56(8):365-379. doi:10.1016/s0753-3322(02)00253-6.
- http://articles.mercola.com/omega-3.aspx
- http://jonnybowden.com/much/
- Noreen EE, Sass MJ, Crowe ML, Pabon VA, Brandauer J, Averill LK. Effects of supplemental fish oil on resting metabolic rate, body composition, and salivary cortisol in healthy adults. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2010;7:31
- Smith, G., et al. Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Augment the Muscle Protein Anabolic Response to Hyperaminoacidemia-Hyperinsulinemia in Healthy Young and Middle Aged Men and Women. Clinical Sciences. 2011. 121(6), 267-278.
- http://www.poliquingroup.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/964/Five_Reasons_Fish_Oil_Will_Make_You_Stronger_Leane.aspx
- Duckett SK, Neel JP, Fontenot JP, Clapham WM (2009). “Effects of winter stocker growth rate and finishing system on: III. Tissue proximate, fatty acid, vitamin and cholesterol content” (PDF). Journal of Animal Science 87 (9): 2961–70.doi:2527/jas.2009-1850. PMID 19502506.
- Hannah VC, Ou J, Luong A, Goldstein JL, Brown MS. Unsaturated fatty acids down-regulate srebp isoforms 1a and 1c by two mechanisms in HEK-293 cells. The Journal of biological chemistry 2001;276(6):4365-72.
- Desvergne B, Wahli W. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors: nuclear control of metabolism. Endocrine reviews 1999;20(5):649-88.
- Delarue J, Matzinger O, Binnert C, Schneiter P, Chiolero R, Tappy L. Fish oil prevents the adrenal activation elicited by mental stress in healthy men. Diabetes & metabolism 2003;29(3):289-95
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