The Weight of the World

I am laughing, at once angry and simultaneous shaking my head in somewhat near resignation! Just a few days after the “fish oil may prevent schizophrenia” another article came out saying “fish oil no good for memory”.

A couple of things to note. What is good for one aspect of the brain is not necessarily good for another. That said with the absolutely essential nature of Omega 3 makes it unlikely to be likely!

The first thing I noticed

Is that the major articles were automatically picked up by all the major news outlets, Time Chicago Tribune etc. etc and the words “may not help memory” to “no good for”.  If you read the study and the authors’ comments what you find is that the initial study was designed to evaluate macular degeneration as in the last email I sent you.  I could not find one word on the outcomes of that part of the study but I am guessing the data is not fully collated yet.

So why double dip?  A chance to make headlines or a chance to actually add to our knowledge?

I will let you be the judge but ever since the ridiculous Brasky publication linking prostate cancer to “higher doses” of Omega 3 in 2012 it is apparent to authors if you say something bad about fish oil you get headline coverage.  YAY!  More eyeballs, more “impact” and more grant money.

You think I am kidding!?!!! That is exactly how scientific publishing works.  That is why I read all the stuff that is indecipherable to most people without a medical and biochemical background. At least I know the authors are not grandstanding for more eyeballs!

So what is wrong with this study?

Enter the usual suspects.

  • Dose: 1 gram a day. If I have said it once I have said it a thousand times- this kind of dose is not going to do a whole lot for someone whose Omega 6/3 ratios are far out of range, or just about everyone in the modern world.
  • Next, what about that ratio?  No mention, no measurement.
  • What about follow up serum values? None
  • What about testing for any interaction with the other supplements given. OK that is highly unlikely but no scientist worth their salt would ignore this.
  • And of course they don’t tell you after their shocking headline that the real end point of the study was after the headlines get a hold of it.

Was it memory? Was it cognitive function?

All we know and see is the prestigious and very anti-supplement journal called JAMA says “No Good!”

I guess it must be so right? The weight of the medical world is voting against Omega 3 supplementation. Of course no one puts the good stuff on massive media outlets.

What to do?

Ultra Potent Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil

Get it, take it and be smart enough to do some research on your own.

Some of my friends would say it’s in the government’s best interests for us to be stupid, gullible and easily led.

I’ll let you be the judge.

Dr Dave

PS

If you want more on this kind of “scientific” writing see my blog “As I lay dying” or “Flaws Failures and Successes for Fish Oil“. What you will see is how to poke holes in some of the nonsense that has got to be in my opinion designed to grab eyeballs with negative sound bite headlines.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top