Omega 3 Fish Oil and Weight Loss

A lot of people still don’t know there are fat burning
foods that can actually increase the number of fat calories
your body burns each day? These are know as free foods and
are generally low in calories; in fact some of these foods
are so low in calories that your body actually burns more
calories metabolising them, than the total amount of
calories in the food it’s self.

Although fat burning foods are important for anyone who
wants to lose weight and keep it off for good, they’re
vital if you’re one of these people who find it hard to
lose weight. No matter how much exercise you do or how hard
you diet, your genetics and metabolic make up play a vital
role in determining how fast and how much weight you lose.

Genetic differences also affect how much weight you gain
when you eat too much. One study of 12 groups of identical
twins was overfed for 100 days. One set of twins gained 29
pounds. A second set, however, gained only 13 pounds even
though both sets of twins were overfed with the same number
of calories. Of course, fat burning foods won’t compensate
entirely for genetic differences this ultimately comes down
to a balanced calorie controlled eating regime and
excersie. They will however make fighting fat a lot easier
in the long run.

Types of fat

There are two types of fat “good fat” and “bad fat”

Actually there are 4 types of fat: Monounsaturated,
Polyunsaturated, Saturated and Tran’s fat, but they can
still be catorigised as good and bad.

Monounsaturated (good fats)

Monounsaturated fats are considered good fats and are said
to help reduce cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood
pressure and to help control diabetes.

These good fats are found in food like; olive oil, peanut
oil, cashews, canola oil, hazelnuts, peanuts, macadamia
nuts, pistachios, pine nuts and chicken fat.

Polyunsaturated (good fats) omega 3 and omega 6

Polyunsaturated fats are also considered good fats and are
said to reduce triglycerides, inflammations and tumour
growth. They also help to improve immune function and help
protect against sudden death from heart disease.

Polyunsaturated fats can be broken down into two
categories: Omega 3 and Omega 6

Omega 3 is found in foods like Canola oil, walnuts,
flaxseeds, hempseeds, salmon, mackerel, trout, tuna,
sardines, and herring.

Omega 6 is found in foods like safflower oil, sunflower
oil, sesame oil, nuts, beans and soft margarine.

Saturated (bad fats)

Saturated fats are bad fats; they raise cholesterol and
increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. In fact they
are twice as potent at raising your bad cholesterol levels
as polyunsaturated fats are at lowering them. It is
difficult to eliminate these fats from your diet but one
way to reduce them is to choose fat free milk and other
dairy products.

Saturated fats can be found in foods such as meats, whole
milk, cheese, palm and coconut oil.

Trans (bad fats)

Tran’s fats are the ugly fats; they raise bad cholesterol
(LDL) and lower good cholesterol (HDL). They increase the
risk of heart disease and stroke.
Tran’s fats can be found in foods like crackers, cookies,
cakes, shortening, margarine, hydrogenated oils and
vegetable oils that have been subjected to heat-damage
during cooking.

Omega 3 fish oil and weight loss

A recent study that was published in the international
journal of obesity, researchers want to find out if by
supplementing the diet with omega 3 fish oil (good fat)
would increase the number of fat calories burned in a
single day.

The two groups were fed exactly the same diet apart from
one group were fed 6 grams of fat in the form of butter,
olive oil, sunflower oil and peanut oil, the other group
were given 6 grams of omega 3 fish oil.
The fish oil group were given 8 capsules per day, 2 in the
morning, 3 at lunch and 3 in the evening.

The Total daily intake of omega 3 long chain fatty acids
was 1.8 grams.
The out come of the test results were fairly conclusive.

The table below shows you the changes in fat oxidation,
body fat, and metabolic rate after three weeks for the
groups with or without fish oil

With fish oil without fish oil

Measurement of body fat -2pounds
-0.7

Measurement of daily metabolic rate 1775 calories
1710 calories

These results show that the group who were supplementing
with fish oil burned about 1.1 milligram of fat per kilo
per minute. This is roughly 26% higher than the other group
who weren’t supplementing with the fish oil.

One of the key reasons as to why omega 3 fish oil has such
a powerful effect on fat metabolism is that the insulin
levels were 50% lower when subjects used the fish oil.
Insulin is a hormone that reduces the use of fat for fuel,
while also promoting fat storage in the presence of excess
calories.

Insulin increases the activity of an enzyme known to
promote the storage of fat.

Insulin inhibits the action of hormone sensitive lipase,
which is responsible for breaking down stored fat and
preparing it for use as energy.

Insulin also activates an enzyme, which, along with fatty
acid synthesis, is responsible for converting carbohydrate
into fat.

Simply put, high levels of insulin make it less likely that
your body will use stored fat as a fuel source. The drop in
insulin levels when subjects used the fish oil would have
allowed more fat to be used for energy.

Conclusion

Any good doctor or nutritionist will tell you that the best
way to get any nutrient is to eat a very balanced diet. In
the case of Omega 3 oil this would be in the form of fish,
sadly due to the pollution levels found in our oceans today
eating large portions of fish every day is not advisable.
The frustrating truth is that there will never be an easy
quick-fix method of losing weight that is safe and simple.
However, with a little research into the workings of the
body, it becomes clear that there are many small things you
can do which add up over time to aid weight loss and make
you feel better about yourself. Taking a fish oil
supplement is a good idea for anyone wanting to make
positive steps towards weight loss.

About the Author:
Dave mcevoy is an award winning personal trainer with over
20 years experience, he also runs a high quality health
supplement website.
http://www.mind1st.co.uk

Posted by Lose Weight at 6:48 AM Healthy Weight Loss Program