Who Would Have Thought This Fat Could Improve Your Bones?

Seems conventional medicine is really beginning to appreciate how omega-3 fats can protect and develop bones, according to this study about the role fatty acids play in building the bone mineral density of young men.

Researchers evaluated the bone health (hip, spine and body) and measured the concentrations of fatty acids in 78 teenage men over an eight-year span.

No surprise, concentrations of omega-3 fats were associated with positive bone mineral densities. Moreover, docosahexaenoic acid -- better known as DHA -- was linked to better total bone densities, particularly in the spine, as well as positive changes at the spine between ages 16-22.

This conclusion merely underscores the results of a study I posted two years ago in which higher ratios of omega-6 fats were tied to lower bone densities. Unfortunately, the diets of most patients are weighted heavily toward omega-6 fats, no doubt due to surviving on fast-food diets that do no one, save big business, any good.

In addition to increasing your consumption of vegetables, based on your body's unique nutritional type, the secret weapon that protects your bones while balancing your levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fats is taking a high quality fish oil or krill oil.