According to totalhealth Associate Editor and Science Advisor Parris M. Kidd Ph.D. the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA combine to be the big news in nutritional medicine today. And for good reason. First, they are present in all our cells, where they help build the dynamic membrane systems that do just about everything. DHA and EPA are part and parcel of larger phospholipids molecules that are the structural and functional building blocks for all cell membranes. This makes them crucial to the survival, growth, renewal and assorted life functions of our cells, and by extension to our tissues and organs and our body as a whole.

The DHA and EPA content of our cell membranes responds to our dietary intake so that we have power over the omega-3 content of all our cell membranes. From the huge amount of research conducted over the past three decades, here’s some of what DHA and EPA do for our health:

• Support brain development and maintenance from conception to the end of life;
• Support and protect the heart muscle, coronary circulation, and all blood vessels against artherosclerosis, and contribute to blood pressure maintenance;
• Support healthy anti-inflammatory balance in the brain, intestines, joints, all other organs;
• Help maintain positive mood, including lifting depression and calming manic activity;
• Very likely contribute to cancer prevention (more studies needed);
• Probably assist with weight maintenance (more studies needed);
• Improve skin quality through enhanced blood flow and other means;
• Overall, increase quality of life and extend disease-free lifespan.

Lifesaving Benefits for the Heart and Circulation
With heart and blood vessel diseases still the number one cause of death, and coronary heart disease killing half a million people annually in the United States alone, DHA/EPA’s proven cardiovascular benefits make them a salvation for public health. In late 2004, the United States FDA approved one of their famously grudging qualified health claims: “Supportive but not conclusive research shows that consumption of EPA and DHA omega 3-fatty acids may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.”

The evidence supports the following cardiovascular benefits for DHA/EPA:

• Prevention of first or second heart attack, including sudden cardiac death;
• Protection against cardiac arrhythmia, improvement of heart rate variability;
• Prevention of coronary artery re-blockage brought on by artherosclerosis reoccurrence;
• Reduction of clotting risk from inappropriate platelet behavior;
• Slowing of artherosclerosis by improving the vessel lining (endothelium);
• Improvement of insulin sensitivity, and lowering of circulating triglyceride levels;
• Reduction of triglyceride surge after a meal (linked to heart attack risk.

In a totalhealth interview with renowned integrative cardiology pioneer, Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D. we discussed the fact that in 2002 coronary artery disease (CAD) was the single leading cause of death in the United States accounting for 498,382 deaths. About 335,000 (40 percent) of these individuals died of cardiac arrest in hospital emergency rooms or before they ever received medical attention. Also, up to 50 percent of the time sudden death is the first symptom of coronary artery disease.

When asked are there warning signals or what precautions people can take he replied, “This is a serious dilemma cardiologists are faced with, it could literally claim your life as you leave your doctor’s office after a thorough physical exam. However, that is why I’m a big proponent of fish oil, because of its impact on heart rate variably. Fish oil gets inside the soft plaque and hard plaque of blood vessels and makes them more resistant to rupture. I think one of the best ways to protect yourself from this syndrome of sudden cardiac death is use fish oil on a daily basis.”

Essential to Brain Development, Cognition and Mood
The human brain doesn’t work to its full potential without omega-3s. The dynamic properties they give to cell membranes are especially necessary for our nerve cells, which are the largest and busiest cells in the body. DHA/EPA gives a fluidity to cell membranes that allows for efficient conduction of the electrical stimuli and for overall high efficiency within the brain.

High brain demand for DHA/EPA begins in utero, even as the fetal brain is being mapped out. Demand rises as the brain grows exponentially in the third trimester, and it continues after birth as the baby’s circuitry becomes consolidated through environmental experience. After years of scandalous neglect, omega-3s are finally in infant formulas, though breast milk is still best, the mother should generously endow her milk with DHA/EPA.

As the child grows and matures, the high demand continues, since DHA/EPA are necessary for learning, memory and other cognitive functions, and mood and appropriate self-control. The brain’s demand for DHA/EPA continues throughout life. Population (epidemiologic) surveys and other clinical studies indicate that adults in middle age or older who have more DHA/EPA in their cell membranes have a lower risk not just for heat attack or stroke, but for suffering accelerated brain decline and progression to dementia.

DHA/EPA are very effective in managing mood disorders: clinical depression, manic depression (bipolar disorder), and, to a lesser extent, schizophrenia. They’re also good for developmental disorders such as AD(H)D and dyslexia’s, and have the potential to help autistic kids. The intakes required for these disorders are on the order of grams per day, amounts that can only be fully obtained by taking concentrated supplements.

DHA/EPA Omega-3s Have Something for Everyone
Just as every thinking family has a bottle of vitamin C around, now they will have a high-quality DHA/EPA supplement. The pregnant mother needs generous intakes to nurture her fetus, throughout pregnancy postpartum depression has in fact, been linked to omega-3 deficiency. The newborn needs it to build and mature all the organs. Older kids need the omega-3s to help them function in school and avoid behavioral problems. But their parents need them also, maybe more so.

All adults should be taking DHA/EPA, not just to protect them against heart attack or stroke but to help them stay energetic, positive and balanced as they deal with the stresses of work and family. Women with menstrual or menopausal problems and men with fertility problems also stand to benefit. The grandparents need it for their arthritis, their intestinal problems, to help prevent osteoporosis, to feel good period. There’s also fast-accumulating evidence that DHA/EPA supplements help fend off memory loss. They may help for weight control, and likely lower the risk of some cancers. DHA/EPA has something important to offer everyone.

Currently, the typical Western diet provides 100 mg DHA+EPA per day or less. The most reliable minimum intake figure for protection of the heart and circulation is 850 mg per day of DHA+EPA. This is likely the lowest daily intake necessary for adults to maintain their health. DHA/EPA have a broad intake range, a few hundred milligrams a day for most kids, less than one gram for healthy people, more than one gram for heart attack survivors, and up to 10 grams for mood disorders. Society needs to have access to these and all the other nutrients in their safe dosage forms and potencies. DHA/EPA are opening the door to a Golden Age for nutrition. Let’s protect them, so that we and our children’s children can benefit from them.