Monday, February 23, 2009

The Steelers and Their Secret Weapon?

By Dr. Bill

I'm off for another trip to Long Island, where I'll be settling for a while. Hopefully the sunshine will be settling there too since these bones don't much like the cold anymore.

Today I read an article published in Sports Health: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach. It's a medical publication, and those always make for pretty dry reading ordinarily.

I mean the title alone proves my point: "Evaluation of Lipid Profiles and the Use of Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acid in Professional Football Players." Most people would run for the hills, but I eat this stuff up. And you get to benefit from my nerdy pursuits.

To sum up the article, 36 Steelers were provided with pharmaceutical grade fish oil, and then given a VAP(R)Cholesterol Test. The researchers were looking for emerging cardiovascular risk factors, and determining if omega 3 EFAs (essential fatty acids), the kind found in pharmaceutical grade fish oil, can reduce these factors.

Each participant was given 2560 mg per day during the period of study of EPA/DHA omega 3 fatty acid supplements.

A partner in the study, Dr. James Erlick (who is also Chief Medical Officer of Atherotech), has found professional football players have a higher risk statistically than normal for future cardiovascular disease and sudden heart attack.

This doesn't surprise me, judging by the bodies when they line up to play. These guys are massive, and linemen are considered "light" at 280 pounds these days. A 300 pound lineman is now common. When their careers end, the sheer body mass catches up with them.

The VAP Tests determined that pharmaceutical grade fish oil improved good cholesterol in Steeler players, and lowered damaging particles and triglycerides. Elevated levels of triglycerides (ie., animal fats) are associated with diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The pharmaceutical grade fish oil taken by the Steelers may not have benefited them in the game against the Cardinals, but it surely benefits them in the much longer game of life. These guys are big, strong, tough, and a little crazy. You have to be to play professional sports.

And too many die too young, often from strokes or heart attacks. Giving these gridiron players pharmaceutical grade fish oil is a definite step in the right direction.

Pharmaceutical grade fish oil isn't just for professional athletes, big guys that weigh 300 pounds, or more. It helps virtually everyone who takes it some way, from stopping migraines to helping quell joint pain to assisting in the flushing of your arteries.

If you want to extend your reservation at this grand hotel, get some now, and keep taking it. - 15437

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