Fish oil will help you to shift body fat for many reasons. Some of the benefits of fish oil are well known already and some are still being discovered. The omega 3 fatty acids found within fish oil are essential fats that the body cannot produce by itself, they must be consumed and they are a must have for optimal bodyily function. In a nutshell: you can not create omega 3 so you have to ingest them.
The body will not store the fish oil as fat, it will use the fat taken from the oil and use to build the outside fat layer that protects our cells. Any type of fat consumed can do the same job, but its optimal for metabolism when the body uses fish oil as the cell layer because it improves the activity of insulin. This scientific fact throws mud in the face of low fat advocates.
This in turn helps the body to become more sensitive to insulin which is a key factor in fat loss and staying lean. Having poor insulin sensitivity will make fat loss progress considerably slower. Fish oil has been shown to have a positive impact on cortisol (stress hormone) levels in recent studies. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone which means that it breaks down muscle, leads to fat gain and contributes to the feeling of "being stressed".
Regularly using fish oil also helps to decrease inflammation. Not only does inflammation impact your fat loss potential it also effects building muscle. Inflammation is something that needs to be addressed because it can cause: disease, illness and obesity. Fat tissue produces inflammation on its own accord, progressively increasing inflammation within the body.
Fish oil is a super power in reducing inflammation as it holds natural anti-inflammatory properties which is one of the main reasons it helps you to lose fat. The benefits of these properties are: faster detoxification from toxins in the body, improved production of muscle, decreased hormones that cause inflammation and it helps you to loose weight and stay healthy (lean)
Insulin is also involved in building lean muscle so it is classed as an anabolic hormone (building hormone). By using a fish oil supplement and reducing you carbohydrate intake insulin will improve the muscle building process by "feeding" the muscle nutrients to store that are essential for physical performance and fat burning.
Below are some ways you can get more omega-3s into your diet.
Try to get most of your omega 3s from EPA and DHA
- The omega 6 fats come from plants including: olive oil, nuts and isolated vegetable oils (corn, soybean, canola). The western diet is very high in terms of ratios of omega 6 to omega 3 mainly due to the overuse of vegetable oils.
- Try to avoid isolated vegetable oils completely as they cause inflammation when too much is consumed.
- Try to opt for a whole diet approach - Eat wild cold water fish, grass fed meats.
- Supplement with a high quality fish oil.
- Get your fats from avocados nuts and olive oil and go wild with green fibrous vegetables
