For many years now people have been taking fish oil supplements in the hopes of improving their good cholesterol numbers. Is this just good marketing or is this justified? Studies have shown that taking fish oil supplements can lower your triglycerides, that is important but there are other factors involved in whether or not you will develop heart disease.

So, lets take a look at the total cholesterol picture.

There are several different components that make up cholesterol in your blood. There is good cholesterol (HDL) and there is bad cholesterol (LDL). Doctors would like to see your good (HDL) cholesterol number be over 40 and your bad (LDL) cholesterol number be under 100. They also like your total cholesterol number to be below 200. But the most important number is your ratio of good cholesterol compared to bad cholesterol, this number should be below 4.3.

So what part do triglycerides play in this equation? If you have high triglycerides (over 150) along with high LDL and Low HDL you are at a higher risk of having a heart attack or developing heart disease. Another factor in developing heart disease is C-reactive protein, this is a measure of how much inflammation is in your blood. It has very little to do with cholesterol but recent studies have found it to be an important component for someone developing heart disease.

Studies have been mixed on the value of taking fish oil supplements to reduce cholesterol, but I believe you should be taking this supplement for many good reasons. Fish oil has been proven to be a powerful anti-inflammatory, thus it will help lower the inflammation in your bodies bloodstream, which in turn will help keep your arterial walls clear. It also will help to keep plague from forming on the arterial walls, which in turn allows blood to flow more freely through the arterial walls which can help in preventing heart attacks or heart disease.

Its the omega 3’s in this supplement that can help with this medical condition that is called atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). The pharmaceutical companies try to sell the public into believing that only by taking their statin drugs can we change bad cholesterol numbers into good. Never mind all the bad side effects that comes with taking statin drugs.

In conclusion, after careful study of this issue I take and I recommend taking fish oil supplements not only for improving my cholesterol but also because I believe, and there are many studies to support this belief, that the omega-3 fatty acid found in fish oils will improve your hearts overall health. If you would like more information on this supplement and my recommendations please visit my website.