Arthritis. Just the name conjurs up fear in the hearts of those of us growing older. Arthritis is a condition that affects mainly the older amongst us.

Lets have a look at Omega 3 fish oil for arthritis relief. Firstly lets start with a look at arthritis itself.

There's many different forms of arthritis, over 100 actually, but the general cause is the same. Inflammation of the joints and pain and difficulty of movement of the joints. This can be caused by nutritional problems or by repeated movements, repeated heavy lifting and so on.

Nutritional deficiencies or excesses can cause arthritis in several ways. For example chances are youve heard of free radicals. These can damage many parts of your body including your joints and are a result of poor diet and other factors like pollution.

An improvement in the intake of natural foods and less processed foods, particularly fresh fruit and vegetables, can help increase the levels of anti oxidants in our diet and thereby combat arthritis and a host of other ailments that our modern lifestyle causes.

Arthritis pain is caused by inflammation in the joints. Inflammation is a scourge and some scientists believe that inflammation as we age is one of the prime, if not the prime cause of many of the age related diseases we suffer from over time. Inflammation can cause the formation of chemicals in our bodies and these can eat away at many of our body parts, including parts of our joints.

Today I want to look at arthritis and fish oil, or more specifically the role of fish oil in reducing the symptoms of arthritis.

You may already know that there are a wide range of health conditions that are eased by increasing the intake of fish oils rich in Omega 3. Omega 3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats that are good fats for your body, unlike, for example, saturated fat which is a bad fat.

There's specifically 2 Omega 3 fats, EPA and DHA, that are shown to be good for your heart and many other health conditions. Now science has found a link between Omega 3 fats and arthritis relief.

And by increasing our intake of fish oil we can reduce the symptoms of arthritis and the pain of arthritis.

Why does Omega 3 fish oil help fight the pain of arthritis? Because it is extremely effective at fighting inflammation, including inflammation of the joints.

Over a period of time from taking fish oil capsules the effects of the good fats at fighting inflammation will help reduce the pain associated with arthritis and free up use of the joints.

This isn't just speculation, it's now established clearly that fish oil does reduce inflammation effectively.

Traditionally sufferers of arthritis have used anti inflammatory drugs like Vioxx and Celebrex. But these can cause significant side effects and Vioxx has in fact been linked to around 140000 cases of heart disease since 1999.

But unlike anti inflammatory drugs fish oil has positive side effects on general health.

Note that not all fish oil supplements are the same. There are, as with everything, good fish oil supplements and bad ones. I discuss this on my website.