On many occasions, I have been asked by patients, family and friends which single nutrient is the most important to take. The answer for me is clearly omega-3 essential fatty acids, two of which are EPA and DHA. The benefits of EPA and DHA are numerous. There are studies in the medical literature indicating that women who supplement their diets during pregnancy have smarter, better coordinated children. Children supplementing DHA seem to have better mood and attention. And, of course, omega-3 essential fatty acids for adults can help promote healthy cognition, pain, joint function, skin, immunity and cardiovascular function.

There was an article published in the March 2008 edition of the prestigious Mayo Clinic Proceedings¹ discussing the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids and cardio protection. The study indicated that there have been three large control trials involving 32,000 individuals randomized to receive EPA and DHA or act as controls. The trials noted reduction in cardiovascular events of anywhere from 19% to 45%. The article revealed that the target amount of EPA and DHA consumption should be about 1 gram in people with known heart conditions and at least 500 mg a day for those without any heart related problems. Individuals with elevated levels of triglycerides can benefit by consuming 3 to 4 grams per day of EPA and DHA. I personally recommend a range between 1,200 – 2,400 mg of EPA and DHA per day to my patients, friends and family.

Green tea is another important nutrient. There were two recent articles published on green tea extract that are worth mentioning. In the first study, published in the March 2008 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition², a group of healthy men participated in 30 minutes of exercise before and after supplementing with green tea extract. In a second part of the study, 11 healthy men took an oral glucose tolerance test before and after supplementing with green tea. It was found that those men who consumed the green tea extract had average fat oxidation burning that was 17% higher than those who were given placebo. It was also found that those men who supplemented with the green tea showed improvement in insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance compared to placebo.

In a somewhat related study published in the March 2008 edition of the journal Nutrition, 14 subjects who were doing heavy exercise including bench press were supplemented with green tea extract. Those men given the green tea showed a reduction in oxidative damage caused by exercise compared to those given placebo.

In my opinion, Nutraceutical Sciences Institute® (NSI®) has the finest pharmaceutical grade fish oil product on the market called Mega EFA®. Each two soft gel serving provides 800 mg of EPA and 400 mg of DHA. The product is molecularly distilled to remove impurities, including heavy metals such as mercury and PCBs. A total of 240 soft gels cost less than $22 or less than 10 cents per softgel. NSI® also offers a lemon flavored Mega EFA® product with each teaspoon containing approximately 1500 mg of EPA and DHA. A serving size of 48 costs less than $12.

We also have several green tea products. Our NSI® Green Select® Green Tea provides 600 mg of green tea extract in two capsules standardized to 19% to 25% polyphenols and 13% ECGC. It is caffeine-free for those of you who are concerned about consuming excessive amounts of caffeine. We also offer a concentrated green tea extract with each one capsule containing 500 mg of green tea extract standardized to 98% polyphenols and 45% EGCG. The polyphenols and EGCG are the active components, the higher the % the more powerful the standardized supplement is.

And don't forget that we also offer green tea in our combination products and also in our Synergy line of multi-vitamins. In fact NSI® Synergy Energy has 500 mg of standardized green tea per serving. If you have a few minutes, I would spend the time reading the customer reviews on NSI® green tea and fish oil products. I'm sure you'll be very impressed, as I am.

1. Lee JH, O'Keefe JH, Lavie CJ, Marchioli R and Harris, WS, Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Cardioprotection, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, March, 2008, 83:324-332.

2. Venables MC, Hulston CJ, Cox HR and Jeukendrup AE, Green tea extract ingestion, fat oxidation, and glucose tolerance in healthy humans, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 2008, Vol. 87, No. 3, 778-784.