fish oil Archives

bottle of EndoMune Advanced Probiotic next to a digital graphic of Omega-3 oil

Omega-3s and Probiotics Team Up For Better Health (Yours!)

Digestive Health, Drug interactions, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

For a very long time, omega-3 rich fish oil has sat alongside probiotics as an important go-to supplements patients rely on every day for their good health.

That’s a good thing. Our go-go-go lifestyles often leave little time for eating anything but highly processed meals chock full of omega-6 fatty acids and lacking in any nutritional value.

This tendency to eat on the run has gone a long way toward fueling our country’s continuing obesity epidemic that leaves you vulnerable to metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions occurring all at once that increase your risks of more serious cardiovascular problems.

A team of Swedish researchers has shared some interesting ways both omega-3s and probiotics team up for better health (yours!) in a recent report appearing in the medical journal Nutrients.

Treating inflammation

Reducing inflammation in your body is critical as we’ve learned with leaky gut. This condition, created by breakdowns in the intestinal wall, allows bacterial particles to seep into the bloodstream that stimulates inflammation and triggers health problems like metabolic syndrome.

In this Swedish review, researchers examined some of the mechanisms in which probiotics and the omega-3s in fish oil work together and on their own to promote better health.

The key reason why omega-3s and probiotics may work so well together: Both share a common pathway to work with our body’s immune system, a critical part of keeping inflammation in check.

For example, scientists describe how omega-3 fatty acids may work just like prebiotic compounds, the unsung heroes of gut health.

The EndoMune family of probiotics, from EndoMune Jr. Advanced Chewables to EndoMune Metabolic Rescue, also contains proven prebiotics that do the dirty work of feeding the good bacteria in your gut and a whole lot more.

Probiotics and omega-3s have also been connected to improvements in insulin and blood glucose levels among patients battling diabetes and pre-diabetes, part of the cluster of problems associated with metabolic syndrome.

The real benefit

The best benefit of pairing omega-3 fish oil and probiotics: It’s a safe, drug-free strategy most people can follow very easily. The real challenge, however, is choosing the best ones for your health.

When you’re looking for the best fish oil supplement, review product labels to ensure you choose one that contains the most EPA and DHA, two difference-making omega-3s. Many brands have little to none of either one.

Studying product labels is very important when selecting the best probiotic for your health too.

As you search for the right probiotic for your health, look for brands that contain multiple species of beneficial bacteria. For example, EndoMune Advanced Probiotic is carefully formulated with species from the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium families that support a balanced, healthy gut and protect your immune health.

Resources

Nutrients

Mayo Clinic

Healthline

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Protect Your Baby’s Health From Allergies Early

Children’s Health, Women’s Health / By @drHoberman

One of the best things an expecting mom can do to protect the health of her baby from all kinds of health problems, even before he or she is born, is to take a probiotic.

An extensive meta-analysis of studies by researchers at Imperial College London published recently in PLOS Medicine supports those benefits, showing how probiotics and fish oil may reduce problems in a baby’s early days with eczema and allergies.

Out of more than 400 studies that were examined, 28 trials determined moms who took a probiotic from the 36^th week of their pregnancies, then for up to six months while breastfeeding, lowered by 22 percent their baby’s risks of eczema, a skin condition that causes the skin to be irritated or inflamed.

Overall, up to 20 percent of infants are affected eczema, which shows up as patches of red, dry or itchy skin.

Many of the probiotics identified by researchers in their meta-analysis contained Lactobacillus rhamnosus, one of 10 strains of beneficial bacteria found in EndoMune Advanced Probiotic.

A similar pre-birth benefit was discovered by moms who took fish oil daily. Starting from the 20^thweek of their pregnancies up to four months of breastfeeding, babies avoided common allergies to eggs by a nifty 30 percent.

Interestingly, a mom’s avoidance of foods like nuts, dairy and eggs during her pregnancy made no difference in her baby’s risks of experiencing allergies or eczema.

Your breastfeeding wakeup call

At this juncture, It’s good to remind moms that breastfeeding (along with natural delivery) does a great deal of good for the health of their newborns, as it gives them an extra gut health boost that helps their tiny bodies fight off diseases naturally.

While most experts recommend that moms breastfeed their newborns for as long as they’re able — the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends at least 12 months — even the best choices can fall by the wayside due to unexpected health concerns, like a caesarean (C-section) delivery.

However, moms who can’t breastfeed as long as they planned or at all can do a lot to protect the health of their babies, just by giving them a probiotic made just for them, like EndoMune Jr. Powder recommended for children up to age 3.

Like its “big brother,” EndoMune Jr. Chewable, EndoMune Jr. Powder contains four strains of beneficial bacteria from the Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus families along with a prebiotic (FOS) that feeds the growing and diverse group of critters in your baby’s gut.

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Fish oil promotes healthy gut bacteria

Diet, Digestive Health / By @drHoberman

Taking a fish oil supplement rich in omega-3 fatty acids has emerged as a potent and necessary weapon for maintaining optimal health by protecting our bodies from an assortment of problems, including many related to cardiovascular health.

The need for omega-3 supplementation has grown due to an imbalance in our Western diets, which are full of high-fat, processed foods containing omega-6 fatty acids, and has perpetuated our current obesity epidemic.

Our bodies require both kinds of fatty acids to thrive. Ratios of 2:1 to 4:1 (omega-6 to omega-3 fats) are necessary to maintain good health. Unfortunately, the average diet contains up to 25 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3s.

If you don’t eat fish high in omega-3s like salmon, herring, sardines or tuna at least twice a week, a fish oil supplement may be a smart choice for the health of your body thanks to your gut, according to a new study featured in Cell Metabolism.

First, European scientists monitored the metabolic health of mice while feeding them fish oil or lard for 11 weeks. Based on the problems of the Western diet, the lard “diet” promoted the growth of Bilophila, gut bacteria linked to inflammation.

On the other hand, mice that consumed fish oil increased their production of Akkermansia mucinphila, gut bacteria that improved the metabolism of glucose and reduced extra weight.

“We were surprised that the lard and the fish oil diet, despite having the same energy content and the same amount of dietary fiber – which is the primary energy source for the gut bacteria – resulted in fundamentally different gut microbiota communities and the microbiota had such large effects on health,” says study co-author Dr. Robert Caesar, according to a press release.

Scientists conducted a follow-up round of tests, transplanting fecal samples from mice fed fish oil or lard into antibiotic-treated mice fed a lard diet for three weeks. Mice receiving fecal samples enhanced by fish oil gained less weight and produced lower levels of lipopolysaccharides than those fed lard.

Based on this small mice study, taking fish oil may be a good supplement for your overall gut-health along with a probiotic, ideally a multi-strain product like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic containing 10 strains of beneficial bacteria.

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