This article is about a food from the oceans that humans and animals have been consuming for over 200 years. Fortunately for us all, it's now available as a daily nutritional supplement that's more powerful than fish oil and every other essential fatty acid for an amazing range of health conditions.

No matter what your concern, or if you're male or female, or whether you're 21 or 81, there's one thing your body can't live without: essential fatty acids (EFAs). That's why they're called "essential." See, the human body can't manufacture them. So you must get them from your diet and/or from nutritional supplements.

EFAs are largely omega-3 and omega-6 that exist mostly in the oils of plants, fish, and tiny shrimp-like cold water crustaceans called krill. Here you'll learn about essential fatty acids and why it makes sense to choose krill oil as the preferred source of essential fatty acids.

The three major types of omega-3 fatty acids are ALA or alphalinolenic acid; EPA or eicosapentaenoic acid; and DHA or docosahexaenoic acid.

Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids work together to support health. But you need to consume them in the right balance. The wrong ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 can lead to disease, and the right balance can maintain and even improve health.

The reason is that omega-3 fatty acids decrease inflammation, while omega-6 fatty acids increase it. Many researchers believe that too much omega-6 in the typical American diet is a big factor in the growing number of inflammatory disorders. Too much inflammation leads to pain and many diseases.

Certainly, knowing what you should eat every day is sort of like rocket science for people that have nothing else to do. But you can conveniently do it right by using nutritional supplements because their labels explain it all.

The next question is, what's the best source of essential fatty acids in a supplement? Plant oil, fish oil or krill oil? We'll set plant oil aside because this article aims to explain the differences between two marine sources.

Krill oil has now emerged as the most important development in essential fatty acid and antioxidant supplements for the battle against heart disease, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, arthritis, osteoporosis and more.

How does krill oil differ from fish oil? krill oil has 48 times more antioxidant power and is much more absorbable.

Why is krill oil easier to absorb than fish oil? Well, Mother Nature gave the krill a phospholipid chain that binds its omega-3 fatty acids, and that's more beneficial to you than the triglyceride form in fish oil. It so happens that the fats in the cells of the human body are also in the form of phospholipids. Phospholipids are the building blocks of cell membranes and they protect your cells from free radical damage.

The unique bond between the krill's omega-3 EFAs and its phospholipids gets antioxidants through the wall of the intestines and all the way to the nucleus of your cells. And that's huge.

And so, it goes without saying that krill oil is a very exciting development in omega-3 nutritional supplements for the battle against heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, unhealthy cholesterol, asthma, PMS, macular degeneration, depression and more.

For correct krill oil dosage and any possible medication interactions (especially blood thinners), check with your healthcare provider and avoid marine sources of omega 3 if you're allergic to seafood.

Victoria Doval is freelance writer specializing in topics relating to health maintenance through natural and whole food dietary supplementation. She contributes to various health industry websites including Krill Supreme Neptune Krill Oil and recommends pure krill oil as a supplement with many times more antioxidant value than fish oil.