Fish oil and flax seed oil have been touted as miracle supplements because of the health benefits of each one. One of the reasons why obesity and heart disease are on the rise is because the types of fat we consume as a whole are out of balance. You see, fat is not the enemy and never should be the enemy. We need fat in our diet. It is pivotal in many daily functions. Our fat soluble vitamins even need to be taken with fatty acids in order to be processed efficiently.

I cant stand the thoughts of people who think that eating fat will make them fat. This could not be further from the truth. The truth IS that any over consumption of a macro nutrient (carbs, fats, or protein) will make you fat. And if you dont exercise, well its almost a guarantee.

But there are different types of fats that are better than others. One big bad fat that has absolutely no purpose being in our diets is trans fats. Trans fats except CLA which is naturally found in high amount of organic, grass fed beef, is man made. Through the wonders of food science, we are able to molecularly change our food to taste better and last longer. This is where trans fats come into play. They add hydrogen atoms to the the specified fatty acid and break the double bonds.

What this does is make the fatty acid more stable aka, preserved. They are altering the chemical nature of the fatty acid to make it more durable.

A good example is to look on the back of a jar of peanut butter that is not natural or organic. When you look on the back, youll see the words partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated. That is a clear cut warning sign of a food product with trans fats. Now, if you have been living under a rock lately, trans fats have been shown to cause cancer, heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and obesity.

Now, what has been found with flax seed oil and fish oil are the exact opposite of trans fats. Almost.

Flax seed oil has been touted as a wonderful supplement because it contains omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids are hard to come by in the typical American diet. We need on average a 3:1 to 2:1 ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids. The typical American diet is around 20:1!Flax Seed Oil vs Fish Oil

So many people believe taking flax seed oil will help with this, but many studies point to something entirely different.

You see, there are 3 types of omega 3 fatty acids. These are alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, found in flax seeds), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, found in fish) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, found in fish).

Studies have found that all of the omega 3 enhancing benefits of flax seed oil and flax seeds is basically nil, compared to fish oil. This is because flax seeds lack EPA and DHA. Now, the body can produce EPA from ALA, but the quantities you would have to consume of flax seed oil would be huge and definitely not safe.

EPA and DHA are only found in fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, and herring and have proven health benefits such as a reduction in cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, increase in insulin sensitivity, a reduction in blood pressure, and even an increase in cognitive function. And in some studies, fish oil has been found to help aid in losing belly fat

So all in all, I would skip on the drinking the flax seed oil and just stay with fish oil. It has been proven time and time again to be a wonder supplement with tons of great health benefits.

If you want more nutrition advice on how to lose weight, then click on the link below.