Tahlia's Vitamins Journal

If you're looking to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) naturally, St. John's wort may not be your best bet. A recent study found that the herb was less effective than a placebo when it came to alleviating IBS symptoms such as stomach pain, diarrhea, constipation, and bloating.

The study included 70 IBS patients. For three months, half the participants received St. John's wort, while the other half received a placebo. After observing the patients' symptoms throughout the treatment period, researchers determined that the placebo group had a better response than study members taking St. John's wort.

A popular natural remedy for IBS, St. John's wort is thought to affect neurotransmitters found in the colon. In past studies, St. John's wort has been found to benefit people with depression, as well as individuals attempting to quit smoking.

More Information: Dr Sears Fish Oil

I know fats can be confusing; which ones are bad and how bad are they? And which ones are good? One of the good fats is called omega-3 fat, and you're probably not getting enough of it in your diet.

The omega-3 fats are good for us because they'll help to keep our hearts and blood vessels healthy and resent research suggests they may even help us live longer.

Most of us probably need more than what we're getting from our diets, but you can add more omega-3 fats when you eat fish, flax, canola oil, walnuts, soy and pumpkin seeds. Or you can take them in supplement form (and they're sneaking into many food products as a nutritional ingredient).

Read More
Why Are Omega-3 Fats So Important?
Plant or Fish for Omega-3 Fats?
Which Fish Are Good and Which Ones Are Bad?
What Are Some Good Omega-3 Supplements?
Daily Nutrition Tip

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When you think someone who may have high cholesterol, who do you think of ? It may be somebody older, and perhaps slighly overweight. However, a new study released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suggests that high cholesterol can strike even younger. According to the CDC, in a statement released yesterday, a little over 20% of teenagers aged 12 to 19 years have abnormal cholesterol levels.

The results were generated from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) over a 7 year period (1999 – 2006), which examines health and nutritional habits within the United States population. The majority of high cholesterol and/or triglyceride levels were noted in obese and overweight teens.

You can read more about this study on the CDC website.

Have you read about this lately? It is truly important that everyone get a sufficient dose of omega 3 acid ethyl esters every day, because they can make a real difference in your health. You've heard of omega 3 fatty acids, but have no idea what I am talking about when it comes to ethyl esters. Let me take a few minutes to explain to you why it is that it's important to ingest both the triglyceride form of fish oil every day, and the ethyl ester form.

The triglyceride form of fish oil is what you get initially when you “squeeze” the fatty fish and extract the natural oil from it. This form is easily absorbable by the body because it is in it's the omega 3s maintain their natural molecular shape. The drawback to consuming omega 3s in the triglyceride form only is that there are typically low levels of omega 3s present in the oil.

Omega 3 acid ethyl esters are formed by taking the natural triglyceride form of the fish oil and molecularly distilling the oil to eliminate the impurities. The molecular distillation process concentrates the omega 3s in the oil, and the results is a more potent form of fish oil. You have to be careful about the products you buy advertised as the natural form of fish oil, because you might not be getting what you paid for.

Many companies actually use synthetic triglyceride oil in their products, which means that they have concentrated the triglycerides into ethyl esters, and then converted the ethyl esters back into triglycerides. Doing this gives you a triglyceride form of fish oil that has had the original position of its carbon bonds altered, and this modifies the molecules overall structure.

When transferring omega 3 acid ethyl esters back to triglyceride form part of the oil becomes foreign to what the body is accustomed to. What this does is it negatively affects the bioavailability of the fish oil, which means that you will not get everything out of the fish oil that you should. You only want fish oil that is at maximum strength, so as to ensure you the preventative benefits of the omega 3s.

Omega 3 fatty acid supplements are necessary for balancing out the levels of your omega3s and omega 6s, so that you don't suffer from the inflammatory diseases that an over abundance of omega 6 fatty acids can cause. You can prevent the development of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, gout, asthma, allergies, and certain forms of cancer simply from increasing the omega 3s in your system.

The ideal fish oil formula will consist of 50%/50% blend of the natural triglyceride form of omega fatty acids, and the omega 3 acid ethyl esters. This mix will give you the greatest level of bioavailability, so that you can enjoy the maximum benefit from your product. In my opinion, a mixture of hoki oil and molecularly distilled tuna oil will give you the most potent form of the substance, but what you choose is up to you.

Now that you know this, just make sure not to forget to take in omega 3 acid ethyl esters every day. They are that important to you.