According to the renowned research scientist and inventor of the Z one Diet Plan Dr. Barry Sears, studies are increasingly focusing on high dose fish oil. Actually, fish oil has been studied for some time. However, it has been looked at with more intensity ever since the Greenland Eskimos were analyzed by Danish and other European doctors in the 1970's. They wanted to know why the greenlanders suffered very little in the way of heart disease-even though they had a lot of fat in their diets.

Fish oil effects a specific set of hormones. The more fish oil that is consumed, broadly speaking, the more "good" and the less "bad" eicosanoids (a certain type of hormone) an individual will have in their body. A key for 21st century medicine will be to balance these hormones as much as possible.

High dose pharmaceutical grade fish oil may be the top source of omega-3 fatty acids since purification methods have become so advanced in recent years, particularly with molecular distillation. And quite unlike traditional cod liver oil, newer methods have mostly eliminated impurities such as mercury and pcb's from high-grade fish oil. Fish oil has EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which are both long chain omega-3 fatty acids.

Essential fatty acids(EFA's) are grouped into two distinct families, omega-6 EFAs and the omega-3 EFAs. Broadly speaking, omega 6 fatty acids promote the production of the "bad"eicosanoids, responsible for cellular inflammation within the very cells of the body, while long chain omega 3 fatty acids do just the opposite.

The US National Institutes of Health has recognized the benefits of DHA and EPA and has published Recommended Daily Intakes of these important fatty acids. They recommend a daily intake of 650 mg of DHA and EPA, and 4.44 g/day of linoleic acid.

Dr. Sears has said that the purity of the fish oil is the single most important factor to think of when taking it as a supplement. To manufacture ultra refined or pharmaceutical grade fish oil requires a lot of purification. It takes some 100 gallons of health-food grade fish oil to make a single gallon of ultra refined or pharmaceutical grade fish oil! Dr Sears has 13 U.S. patents in this field of medicine, and is the author of the 1995 New York Times bestseller 'The Zone' and several other books.

If you intend to supplement your diet with fish oil, it may be a good idea to take pharmaceutical grade fish oil as you do not have the same concerns about mercury and pcb's as you may have with an inferior fish oil product.