Are You Getting Enough?

Are You Getting Enough Omega 3?

A recent study on the omega 3 levels of non-supplementing adults showed that, despite all the dietary recommendations and nutritional education out there, roughly 98 percent of people are not getting enough omega 3 to make a meaningful difference to their health.

The simple, accurate way to find out where you stand is the fingerstick omega 3 ratio test. I used to sell that test years ago and had done literally hundreds of them. It was rare indeed that anyone testing had a healthy omega 3/6 ratio (the Lands ratio, sometimes called the omega 3 index) unless they followed my guideline of 4 to 6 capsules of purified fish oil per day, which is well above the standard “one a day” recommendation.

The recent meta-analysis that everyone keeps citing shows a few typical behaviors I want to flag.

1. The willingness of “experts” to weigh in on large meta-analyses that pool the same input studies that have shown null fish oil results before, without acknowledging the recycled nature of the data, and then touting it as “new and definitive.”
2. The willingness of those same experts to ignore the tiny dose of fish oil used in most of the included studies, and their unfamiliarity with the Lands ratio (the omega 3 index).
3. The unending “just eat fish” argument, without being able to cite what magical fish component, other than the EPA and DHA in fish oil, is responsible for the modest cardiovascular benefit observed in fish-eating populations. Maybe it is the lead, mercury, cadmium, or plastic-derived contaminants. The Helsinki Heart Study years ago pointed out that large amounts of fish consumption yield large amounts of methyl mercury, which is cardiotoxic. One wild-caught cod fish per week is enough to push mercury levels into toxic range.

So eat your fish if you like, but be aware: a recent well-done study shows that 98 percent of non-supplementing people do not get enough omega 3. A whole ton of people are not getting enough.

The encouraging part comes when you read the commentary on the meta-analysis. A number of experts state the included studies underdosed everyone, so the negative results are not surprising. A few mention the omega 3 index by name. One physician quoted in the responses says he gives his patients 20 capsules a day. That tells me he is using a low-potency triglyceride product and trying to make up the dose with volume, but it is a start.

I could not resist this quote from a Canadian cardiologist tapped by one of the major health-news outlets. He said: “The good news is that taking a regular fish oil pill as a supplement doesn’t seem to do any harm. Except all those extra fatty acids, not to mention all the money spent, may end up, quite literally, down the drain. You’re making expensive urine.”

Almost 100 percent of the fats processed and excreted by your body leave through the stool, not the urine, unless you have a shunt between your bowel and your bladder. The correct interpretation by our dear doctor would be that fish oil pills give you expensive stool. Stick with your statins, doc.

This reminds me of the nationally famous urologist who got on TV in response to the Theodore Brasky “fish oil increases prostate cancer” study, telling everyone to stop taking fish oil immediately. That study was refuted soon after, but it continues to get cited in the media. As someone who has been saying this stuff for more than a decade, I had almost given up on reaching anyone. Some “experts” are finally learning the simple truth about how the body uses omega 3 fish oil.

If you have not had your omega 3 index measured in the last 12 months, that is the place to start. If you are taking fish oil, take enough. 4 to 6 grams a day of EPA-plus-DHA is the dose I have used clinically for many years, taken with food because it is a fat-based supplement.

Doc