EUGENIZATION.

(Note: This is part of a continuing series on useful supplementation for health, fitness, and weight management.)The first supplement that I would consider worth including as part of an already good diet would be fish oil.

No big surprise there. Fish oil, or rather, the Omega 3 fatty acids contained within fish oil (DHA and EPA) are the current media and health industry darlings with regards to fitness and longevity due to their effects on the cardiovascular and nervous system.It also doesn’t hurt that DHA/EPA are reputed to seriously aid fat loss. But more on that later.

Here are the 5 top reasons you should seriously consider supplementing with fish oil:

1) It’s “brain food.”
Omega 3 fatty acids comprise part of the myelin sheath (a fatty “insulation” for nerve fibers), improving function of the nervous system. Additionally, they help promote repair of nerve tissue in the brain. Although studies are inconclusive at this point, Omega 3 fatty acids also seem to help improve mental health (particularly in patients with diagnosed depression or bipolar disorder).

2) It helps to reset fat levels.
Studies (like this one and this one) show that fish oil is effective in stimulating greater fat loss, versus groups taking a placebo. May be of some interest to those of you looking to optimize your fat loss efforts.

3) It promotes CV health.
Ok, I know you’ve been good little readers. You’ve read Dr. Malcolm Kendrick’s The Great Cholesterol Con and The Cholesterol Myths by Dr. Uffe Ravnskov and you know that the almighty cholesterol doesn’t play a part in cardiovascular disease. Well, consuming fish oil appears to play a protective role anyway: in addition to lowering blood levels of triglycerides and VLDLs, a study from the British medical journal The Lancet showed that supplementing with EPA provided a protective effect against cardiovascular events.

4) Fat is good for your health in general.
You need fat in your diet, period. Even saturated fat is vital for optimal health. Why not get all the additional benefits from the Omega 3 fatty acids while you’re at it?

5) It reduces inflammation.
Dr. Andrew Weil is one of the many experts who promote fish oil consumption as a way to fight inflammation. But you don’t have to take his (or my) word for it - you can just read the science yourself.

Since there’s no RDA for fish oil, you’ll hear different experts make different recommendations (Dr. John Berardi recommends up to 6-12 grams a day). A good rule of thumb is not to exceed 3 grams per day (since benefits from fish oil consumption have been observed at low, moderate, and high doses).

Of course, you could just eat a whole lot of wild salmon every week.