Go Fish!

Unless you've been living under a rock - and admittedly, that's pretty paleo - you've most likely heard something about the benefits of fish oil. Fish oil has been shown over and over again to provide numerous health benefits, and as I mentioned in a previous post I myself supplement my diet with fish oil.

In case you did just crawl out from under your rock to check the internet, Mark's Daily Apple has a great rundown of what you need to know about fish oil. The many benefits include:

* Improvements in cardiovascular health
* Decreased risk of stroke
* Decreased blood pressure
* Reduction in blood triglyceride levels
* Improvements in mood and cognitive ability
* Reduction in symptoms of depression
* Improved immune function
* Reduced risk of some forms of cancer
* Anti-inflammatory properties, which can reduce the incidence and severity of a number of ailments such as joint pain and asthma


Science Alert!

For those of you who prefer your information in peer-reviewed form, here's an interesting paper that discusses the evolutionary basis for omega-3 requirements, and the kinds of issues one might expect from a diet deficient in them.

Essential fatty acids in health and chronic disease
Am J Clin Nutr 1999;70:560S-569S.


Interestingly, much of the benefits of fish oil supplementation probably derive from its capacity to correct the omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid imbalance that is a hallmark of the modern agricultural diet. Basically, we are so out of whack from eating the way we do that we are now prone to a host of illnesses that our ancestors rarely encountered. In fact, if you eat a strict paleo diet with a focus on lots of vegetables and grass fed meat, your need for an omega-3 supplement is likely much less or even non-existent. If you're like most folks though, you could probably benefit from some fish oil supplementation.

So how much do you need? Well, opinions vary - but it's probably more than the conventional wisdom would have you believe. For those of you who are interested in a more cutting edge view, there is now a convenient Fish Oil Calculator designed by Robb Wolf and the folks at Whole9Life.

My personal view is that a paleo diet based on grass fed meat, fish, free-range poultry and plenty of vegetables and fruit will provide a human being with the correct ratios of fatty acids and other nutrients. However, few people eat that diet these days - and even if you do there is likely still some residual imbalance remaining from years of eating the standard modern diet. So fish oil supplementation is a good option in my book!


Workout du Jour

Over the last few days I've been putting in a new vegetable garden, so in lieu of hitting the gym I've been stripping sod, shoveling dirt and tilling heavy clay soil. I get a lot of sunshine doing this too. With any luck I'll have some good veggies to show for all the hard work. Oh, and last Saturday I raced my 8 year old son up one of the steepest hills in Cape Girardeau, MO - the infamous Cardiac Hill for those of you who are in the know. Good times!