LDL Cholesterol is Affected by Fish Oil

Although it is not necessary to know all the specifics of the dynamics between fish oil and LDL cholesterol on your well being, some basic understanding should be helpful to encourage you to get regular amounts of fish oil. First we must recognize that cholesterol is usually broken down into two major categories. What is known as HDL cholesterol is usually good in that it is capable of moving easily to the liver to be elliminated from the body. Contrarily, LDL cholesterol is much less dense than HDL cholesterol and tends to cling to the walls of the blood vessels creating plaque and narrowing. Since today on average some seventy-five percent of the cholesterol in the human body is LDL cholesterol which adds to plaque formation and in turn significantly contributes to the development of heart disease as well as.

Fish Oil or Drugs?

A primary factor to reduce the risk of heart disease is keeping the LDL cholesterol levels low. It is usually time to look for a way to reduce the LDL cholesterol when it is above 100 mg/dl. Of course this can be done with synthetic drugs made for this precise purpose but naturally along with these medicines come side effects that could potentially be worse than not taking the drug at all. Whether these drugs are for you or not should only come with serious consultation with your doctor.

However, these synthetic drugs have alternatives. Testing and history have shown that LDL cholesterol interacts with fish oil in such a way that it is facilitated in acting like HDL to assist the moving of excess cholesterol back to the liver for processing. Fish oil is high in Omega 3 fatty acids. These three fatty acids, DHA, EPA and ALA are capable of adhering with the LDL cholesterol so as to reduce the chances of it becoming plaque in the blood stream. The overall effect is that the combination of fish oil and LDL cholesterol is that it achieves similar results without exposeure to the harmful side effects as the synthetic drugs.

Best Source of Fish Oil

The book seems to still be open on what the best source is for the Omega 3 fatty acids. Some say you should eat fish that is high in Omega 3 such as salmon, tuna or mackerel at least three times a week. Some indicate that a good way to go is with a quality capsule processed by a reputable manufacturer. The contoversy will probably continue for sometime but it will not be about fish oil and LDL cholesterol but rather about how to take the fish oil.

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Tags: cholesterol, fish oil, ldl cholesterol