Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids

Good For the Heart Muscle And The Rest

By Doctor Groul

The essential fatty acids known as omega-3s have achieved worldwide fame and it is now commonplace to see every type of food advertised as being enriched with these healthy fats. From milk and yoghurts to eggs, cereals, etc, it seems that today omega-3 can be added to anything to make it more healthy and, above all, more marketable, since the general public know omega-3s are good for you and sales increase proportionately. Yes, omega-3 fats are good for your heart, but they are also good for the skeletal muscles, since it has been shown that they support anabolism and the breakdown of excess fat.

Before going further into the omega-3 fatty acids, let me remind you that we are talking about fats, and there are good and bad types of this macronutrient. That’s right, there are good and bad fats. The human body needs fats, as they are in numerous metabolic processes and form parts of our very structure. For example, the brain, spinal column cellular walls are built from fat, so that without fat we would become ill and die. However, it has to be remembered that some fats are harmful to us, while others are good and necessary. Harmful fats are those that come from butter and lard, processed meats, fast food and industrial baking, while healthy fats are contained in vegetable oils, nuts and seeds and some green vegetables.
During the fifties and sixties the consumption of fat was linked to cardiovascular disease and high cholesterol. Later scientists learnt more about fat in the bloodstream and found that not cholesterol behaved the same way. While one type, LDL, deposited in arteries causing plaque and high blood pressure leading to heart attacks, another type, HDL, did just the opposite, eliminating plaque from the arteries and expelling it from the body. So they had discovered there was good cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL), and bad cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), and in the same way there are good and bad fats in the diet.
In simple terms, fats that are solid at room temperature are dangerous as they are saturated, while those that appear in liquid form at room temperature are unsaturated and therefore healthy. Soon we’ll get to omega-3. 

The Eskimo Diet
At the time, scientists called attention to the discovery that while the Eskimos lived on a diet lacking vegetables and consisting entirely of protein and a large amount of fat from the oily fish they ate, they suffered no cardiovascular disease and practically no cancer. As you are no doubt aware, there are no vegetables to eat in the Arctic, and the animal and fish that live there carry a high percentage of fat to withstand the low temperatures. This fat formed a large part of the Eskimos’ diet, flying in the face of the Western findings that there was a direct and close link between fat consumption and a significant increase in cardiovascular disease.
The next step was to analyse the types of fats involved and it was discovered that the Eskimos’ diet included a high percentage of essential fats that the human body required for various functions but could not produce itself. Specifically, these were eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), classified as omega-3 fatty acids due to their chemical structure and where their double bonds are found.
Although the human body can create fatty acids from raw materials when necessary, there are two types that it cannot create: linoleic acid, or omega-6, and linolenic acid, omega-3. It is from linolenic acid that the body can create EPA and DHA, which are in themselves members of the omega-3 family, having 20 and 22 carbon atoms respectively. These are absolutely essential for normal growth and development and play an important role in the prevention and treatment of many illnesses. 

Fish Oil And Omega-3s Are Good For The Heart
Fish, particularly oily fish like salmon, mackerel, trout and sardines, contain significant quantities of EPA and DHA. Scientific tests show that these essential fatty acids can have beneficial effect on health such as:

• Reducing the risk of thrombosis, which is blood clotting that can lead to heart attack.
• Reducing levels of bad cholesterol, LDL, and as a consequence reducing blood pressure.
• Preventing the growth of arterial plaque.
• Improving arterial and endothelial function.
• Reducing the risk of palpitations, which can damage the heart.
• Improving fluidity and circulation of blood.
• Regulating inflammation.

Thus it is clear that fish oils are good for the cardiovascular system.
It is important to note that only some of the linolenic acid consumed will be converted into EPA and DHA, because the body preferentially converts it into energy. This means that eating sources of linolenic acid does not guarantee optimum levels of EPA and DHA, whereas fish oils provide these substances directly. 

Omega-3s Are Good For Muscles And Bodybuilding
Naturally the heart protecting properties of omega-3s are of interest to everybody, including athletes, and particularly those who train intensely or due to their specialty suffer stresses such as forced dieting or using dope or steroids that are harmful to the cardiovascular system. There is also scientific evidence to suggest that omega-3s can be good for musculature for various reasons, such as their ability to raise insulin sensitivity.
A three-week study on laboratory animals showed that adding omega-3 to the diet (not omega-6) increased insulin sensitivity so that the muscles utilised twice the amino acids, leading to an increase in protein anabolism, especially in the skeletal muscles. The result lead researcher to claim that through this mechanism omega-3s could help athletes gain muscle mass.
In addition, when omega-3s are incorporated into red blood cell membranes, these become less viscous and therefore less resistant to circulation. This is the same as saying blood flow is improved, carrying more oxygen and nutrients to the muscles, improving performance and raising the threshold of fatigue.
Other studies claim that a regular supply of omega-3s in the diet significantly increases caloric expenditure, regardless of activity level. It is not difficult to see that this would lead to a substantial reduction in accumulated excess fat.

In Conclusion
Omega-3 essential fatty acids are highly beneficial to the human body and the cardiovascular system in particular, however, according to the results of numerous studies they not only benefit the heart muscle but also the remainder of muscles in the body, that is, the skeletal muscles, exactly the ones you are enthusiastically training.
Make sure your diet is not lacking in oily fish, and as a safety measure add a fish oil or omega-3 supplement. This will have you healthier and looking good with more muscle and less fat. 

Bibliography
Huffman DM et al. Chronic supplementation with fish oil increases fat oxidation during exercise in young men. J Exerc Physiol, 2004; 7:48-56.
Wang C et al. n-3 Fatty acids from fish and fish-oil supplements, but not alpha-linolenic acid, benefit cardiovascular disease outcomes in primary-and secondary prevention studies: a systematic review. Am J Clin Nutr, 2006 Jul;84(1):5-7.
Gingrass AA et al. Long-chain omega 3 fatty acids regulate bovine whole-body protein metabolism by promoting muscle insulin signalling to Akt-mTOR-S6K1 pathway and insulin sensitivity. J Physiol, 2007 Feb, 15;579(Pt 1):269-84.