Hi everybody this is Monica Reinagel and you're listening to the nutrition

diva quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous. By now

almost everyone has heard about the omega-3 fatty

acids in fish and how important they are for your health. But some people don't

care for fish and even those who like fish usually don't eat it every day and

that probably explains why fish oil is now among

the top selling nutritional supplements. In fact the demand for fish oil has gotten so

huge on the strength of the omega-3 story that now there are serious concerns about the effects of overfishing.

And just last week, there was a big scandal when it was discovered that some well-known

brands of fish oil contained unacceptable levels of PCBs.

Now a lot of people are wondering what they should do.

A colleague of mine actually stopped me in the hall last week to ask my advice.

Were she and her husband better off without the fish oil supplements, she asked, or did the health benefits of the omega-3

still outweigh the risk of chemical exposure?

Well, actually, I have a slightly different perspective

on omega-3 fats, one I bet you haven't heard in the popular press.

Omega 3s are very important to your health.

However, you don't necessarily need to increase your intake

in order to get the benefits.

Before I explain, many of you may think I've overlooked an obvious solution.

There are certain seeds, including flax, hemp, and chia that are also rich in omega-3s.

I haven't forgotten about these other sources of omega-3 fats, but the kind of omega-3 found

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