Chiropractor explains why her offices in Sunrise and Downtown Miami have switched from fish oils to plant-based nutritional supplements.  The overfishing of small marine life such plankton has severely impacted large mammals like whales.  It is becoming more and more common for severely malnourished Whales to wash up on beaches.  Stop taking away the food of larger sea mammals will certainly have a positive effect on the environment.

According to Ocean Ecologist, Dr. Paul Greenberg, smaller fish, such as sardines, krill and anchovies are a necessary part of the food chain and are essential to ocean ecology. They eat up the plankton and in and in turn become food for larger fish such as cod and whales. According to Dr. Greenberg “if you overharvest this middle layer of anchovies, of herring, of menhaden – if you take them out of the picture, there’s no way for the energy to be transferred from phytoplankton up to larger predators. So I guess that’s my main concern here.”

He continues “We are taking large amounts of perfectly delicious edible fish and boiling them down to make supplements and risking the collapse of whole species of fish in the ocean as well as allowing the plankton to go unchecked.”

Could this be the cause of these awful algae blooms we are experiencing here all over Florida?

Read more at The Environmental Hazards of Fish Oils

Current fishing practices will “likely lead to the complete depletion of currently fished fish stocks by 2048.”(1)
It is my opinion and the result of several studies sited by Dr. Greenberg on the long-term benefits of omega 3 supplementation is of little value to human health. Mostly because people buy low-quality unpurified fish oil that is contaminated with heavy metals. If you missed that boat to save money, lots of fish oil sold on the market is encapsulated in cheap capsules from China which are made with hydrogenated oils. Even brands that I would buy in the health food store usually test poorly on muscle testing patients.

Capsules of fish oil often go bad with age, providing no health benefit. Even though we have always used brands that purify out the heavy metals and test for purity, we feel the damage being done to the environment is unnecessary, and the same benefits can be derived from other plant-based oils.

WHY DESTROY DELICIOUS SMALL FISH WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY BETTER SUBSTITUTES AVAILABLE?
Already our younger generation believes that the seahorses we used to see as children in the 60s every time we put our heads in the ocean are similar to mythical unicorns. Let’s not do the same for cod, snapper, whales, tuna or other larger fish. There are lots of great substitutes, and the number one recommendation is “Udo’s oil”, a mixture of great plant-based oils that include sesame oil which blocks the chemical pathways that cause arthritis and increases cholesterol. Check out the video on the benefits of Udo’s oil. It is available in every health food store.

Udo’s is also great for salad dressing; just add equal parts apple cider vinegar and some salad seasoning from Publix on the top shelf in the salad dressing department. Undo’s must be kept refrigerated and has a great consistency for salads. Other great vegetable-based oils include Olive, black current seed, borage, flax, avocado and of course coconut oil, all of which have numerous health benefits. Healthy oceans are critical for our survival as a species if you would like your grandchildren to enjoy fish… take action to save our seas today. This is just one of the many threats facing our great oceans.   A small change may be better for everybody.