Heartburn or GERD can Kill

Heartburn is a common annoyance. The busy lifestyle, quick meals, fatty or spicy foods all contribute to the occasional need of a chewable pain reliever. The acceptance of heartburn as an inconvenient, but natural, part of the daily grind can blind you to the warning that a severe heartburn symptom can bring.

Heartburn as a Disorder

Heartburn can be a symptom as well as a disorder. Simple heartburn or GERD can be controlled and dealt with. However, heartburn can signal the presence of a much more serious problem. If it’s heartburn, you will have a burning sensation in the chest usually after eating. There may be a spread of the burning to the throat, sometimes accompanied by a bad taste, difficulty in swallowing, belching, coughing, hoarseness and/or wheezing.

It can become worse by lying down or bending over or by eating. Relief can come from an antacid. While the more severe heartburn symptoms may be mistaken for a heart attack, simple heartburn is usually not made worse by exercise. If there is any concern that the pain may signal a heart attack, get help quickly.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Omega3 Fatty Acids. Should You Eat Fish To Get Them?

By Peter Bertonich

It's a good question isn't it. Fish is contaminated with mercury, so should we be eating fish to get those good omega3 fatty acids in our diets?

And if you shouldn't eat fish how do you get that Omega3 in your diet?

Ive pointed out before that Omega 3 fats are most prevalent in fish, but that there are plant sources like flax seeds but they dont have the optimum types, or amounts, of Omega 3 fats that you need.

But surely there's a problem with eating fish, because we all know that now fish is contaminated with mercury.

The EPA says that there is mercury contamination in all fish.

And it's not a good idea to get mercury into your body, particularly for children. Your body doesn't get rid of it.

However the EPA doesnt recommend that you eliminate all fish from your diet. Fish is healthy, in small quantities, and if you follow some simple guidelines you should be ok eating it. Just dont eat too much.

2 serves a week is fine, but for children and pregnant women they do offer some more guidelines about the types of fish to avoid.

Pregnant women and children ought to avoid eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish. These fish are high mercury fish.

But dont eliminate all fish from your diet just because youre worried about mercury. If you like fish you can eat it, sensibly and in relatively small quantities.

But there's another problem before we conclude that we all ought to be eating fish for our Omega3 fatty acids. Fish is scarce and getting scarcer. Have you seen the price of fish lately? It's really expensive.

And although the EPA says its ok to eat it, if youre eating fish to get your Omega3 then there is a better way. Of course if you just love fish then go for it.

And although it's small amounts, there is still mercury in fish. So if you can find a way of getting your Omega3 fats that isn't so expensive, and doesn't have mercury, that's got to be a better way.

Use fish oil supplements. You can get Omega3 fatty acid supplements. They contain fish oil, and they are extremely clean, sourcing their oil from fish that live in the cleanest ocean in the world, the southern ocean, and then this is put through a molecular distillation process until contaminants are undetectable.

But there are no enforced standards for fish oil contamination levels. and not all fish oil supplements are totally clean. Be careful.

So if you're just eating fish for it's Omega3 fatty acids, don't bother. There's cheaper ways that allow you to take your Omega3 fats daily, without the mercury. But if you just love to eat fish then go for it.

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