Gone in a flash
Until you actually HAVE one, there's just no way to understand how miserable hot flashes really are. And anything that could cut the number of them you have in a day in HALF would be a godsend. That's particularly true when the substance responsible is also completely safe. And, I'd venture to guess that, for most women, the fact that it has benefits for practically every other aspect of your health is just icing on the cake. I'm talking about fish oil, and a study published this month in the journal Menopause that showed this natural wonder can significantly reduce the frequency of hot flashes. The researchers recruited 120 menopausal women and randomly assigned them to receive either omega-3 fatty acid supplements or a placebo each day. At the beginning of the study, the women reported having an average of 2.8 hot flashes a day. Just eight weeks later, the women in the omega-3 group were having 1.6 less hot flashes a day. The placebo group's frequency, on the other hand, only decreased by .5. While the study participants took omega-3 fatty acids in the form of EPA capsules, Dr. Wright always asserts that there are other omega-3 fatty acids and probably other useful nutrients in whole fish oil that you can't get in EPA capsules alone. That's why it's a good idea to use some of "the whole thing" along with extra amounts of certain fractions (like EPA/DHA) to get the most health benefit -- including fewer hot flashes. Source:
"Omega-3 improves menopausal side effects: Studies," NutraIngredients.com (www.nutraingredients.com), 2/3/09 | 
