Generally when it comes to my diet, I like to get as many things as possible naturally.
Of course, I take a daily vitamin, but I do the very best that I can to get most of my nutritional requirements from the actual foods that contain them, like eating bananas for potassium and drinking plenty of milk to keep my bones strong with calcium.
However, there is one aspect of my diet in which this is not the case for me.
That aspect is one that is so important - it helps keep my heart healthy, my mind sound and my stress levels low - that I feel I cannot afford to rely on diet alone to keep me in line.
That facet of my diet is my omega 3 fatty acid level.
Omega 3 fatty acids have incredible health benefits.
They are most commonly known for their positive impact on heart health, but they also build up the immune system and help keep your reference memory - where you store facts, figures, names and faces - intact.
Omega 3 fatty acids are found naturally in fatty fish like salmon, and the American Heart Association (aha.
org) recommends that you eat two servings per week of these fish in order to keep your omega 3 levels appropriately high.
However, most studies indicate that you would need far more than two servings per week of this essential nutrient to keep your body functioning at the levels that you wish it to.
In fact, it's more like two pounds per day! And while I love salmon, I just cannot do that.
So I take a simple, daily salmon oil supplement that keeps me in line as far as omega 3 fatty acids go and that keeps me from having to constantly obsess about where my next mouthful of fish is going to come from.
Learn more about appropriate dosages of omega 3 fatty acids at omega-3.
us.