OK it’s time to come clean. And now that I’ve died and become a disembodied spirit because of my long term consumption of high dose fish oil. I thought I may as well confess another lie to you.
Ultra 85 is really not fish oil. Technically at least. You see “real fish oil” as it comes from the fish contains only about 30% EPA and DHA which are really the only known relevant Omega 3 fatty acids. The rest of fish oil is other fatty acids including in the case of Tilapia and most farm raised fish, a significant amount of Omega 6 inflammatory fatty acid and a lot of other non essential fats that are used for calories.
But because highly purified highly concentrated Omega 3’s are not exactly what is found in fish a better term for Ultra 85 would be “highly concentrated EPA and DHA”.
I think you’ll forgive me, “fish oil” just sounds better.
And yet there are some other differences that need to be clarified because there is so much bad information out there as witnessed by the whole “fish oil and prostate cancer” nonsense I wrote about recently.
But first the disclaimer: I make and take fish oil in what most people would consider large doses. I use the dose I need to keep my Omega 3 levels in the 60+ % range because this is the range that populations that age well and have the lowest incidence of heart disease and cancer have. I measure my levels every couple of months with the Ideal Omega test.
Much of what I am going to tell you is contrary to what you will read and even hear from so called experts. It especially contradicts the “just eat fish” and/or “natural triglyceride” stuff. As always I will give scientific reasons to prove my point.
1) The first thing you need to understand is something I have already told you: Fish are not magical. If there is any magic to be had it comes from EPA and DHA the actual essential fats that fish provide. Fish do have Vitamin D and protein all of which is good, but from the standpoint of fatty acid biology, EPA and DHA is where its at!
2) The ratio of anti-inflammatory Omega 3 fats to Inflammatory Omega 6 is the main source of inflammation in your body. While not the only source of free radicals and inflammation it should come as no surprise that these things which either part of your diet or not are the biggest things you can do to fix or increase damage. Because most people eat everyday several times a day this is the biggest most important way to control your “inflammation stat” which ultimately is the biggest thing that determines your long term health.
3) Omega 3 fats are oxidized in the body. This is a normal natural thing and your body is able to handle it provided: a) you have enough intact Omega 3’s in your diet to replace the oxidized ones and b) Your Omega 6 levels are not too high. Most people in this country are 3X higher than they should be with Omega 6.
4) Said another way #3 means the Omega 6 levels in your body reflect the degree of damage oxidized Omega 3 can do to you. The fault is not the Omega 3 it’s the Omega 6. Don’t blame fish oil, blamed the lousy diet we eat!
5) Natural triglyceride fish oil is not “better” for you than Ethyl Ester fish oil. Natural triglyceride fish oil is only 30% essential EPA and DHA and is often not in the proportions needed to give the main benefits of EPA and DHA. It is also unpurified and therefore contains whatever toxins are in the waters the fish is harvested from. Ethyl ester fish oil can be concentrated to contain the highest proportion of DHA and EPA and deliver it toxin free.
6) The ultimate absorption of natural triglycerides is not “better” than Ethyl Ester. It is simply faster. The natural triglyceride fans often cite numbers like 70% absorption for their fish oil and only 21% for Ethyl Ester. This is true if you measure at one hour. They leave out several facts. The sustained slow uptake of Ethyl Ester fish oil over 24 hours provides much better protection from cardiac events as does the superior tissue recovery of Ethyl Esters in the face of ischemic events (references below)
7) Two fish meals a week is not anywhere near enough to fix the Omega 3 Omega 6 imbalances that occur in this country and other Western nations. The various cardiology societies have defined 2 fish meals a week or at most 3 grams a day of fish oil as “enough”. They conveniently leave out any mention of optimal EPA/DHA levels because they never bother to measure them. If they did they would see that eating fish 2x a week in particular is under dosing the Omega 3’s in a big way. Even if you ate fish everyday once a day you would not get enough to fix the imbalances. Take a look at the mg in the chart below and keep in mind the average American needs at least 6000mg to fix the imbalance.
Even if you were eating a very high Omega 3 fish like salmon you would need to eat it at least 2x a day everyday and then you would be risking toxin exposure.
8) It is indeed possible to fix this imbalance with diet alone and I am currently working on 2 separate books which will provide information on how to do that. But you are NOT going to like the food choices you have to make and you have to diligently avoid omega6’s. Sadly and simply put in this case it is just easier to take fish oil supplements! But you do have the option of drastically lowering your Omega 6’s ( hint give up all processed foods most nuts and avocados and eat lots of fish every day and hope it comes from a clean ocean!
9) When a fish oil trial has shown benefits like cardiac protection it has used Ethyl Ester fish oil not triglyceride. As a matter of fact when the krill marketers want to try to prove superiority to fish oil they ALWAYS use a triglyceride and NEVER use Ethyl Ester fish oil. I will let you guess why.
10) They say Ethyl Esters are not natural. This is true if you are talking about fish. But human beings normally use the Ethyl Ester form of Omega 3’s for both storage and biochemical reactions. They may not be natural to fish but they are to people!
Ultra 85 is 85 to 92% pure EPA and DHA. It is as clean and toxin free as it can be. I take at least 6 a day and have a very good Omega 3 level as a result. It tastes great, does not cause burping or reflux and if you don’t like capsules or want to give it to kids who don’t want to swallow capsules just bite in and swallow the pleasant tasting orange flavored (natural citrus rind derived!) oil and spit the cap out!
I have covered a lot today but believe it or not there is a ton more.
Here are the take home points:
Most people in this country will be unwilling to make the dietary changes needed to reduce Omega 6’s and increase Omega 3’s which is why I make a pure highly concentrated fish oil.
Fish and natural triglyceride oils cannot compare in clinical end points to ethyl esters, in purity to ethyl esters or in concentration. You would have to take 3X the amount of “natural triglyceride” fish oils or 18 caps a day to reach the levels you need to mimic those populations that have healthy Omega 3 levels.
Only ethyl esters can be concentrated and purified. Only ethyl esters offer sustained long slow absorption. The major cardiac trials all used ethyl esters: not krill not triglyceride.
Most of what people tell you about fish oil is a lie! Again last week’s prostate cancer debacle was a classic example
Then again I did lie to you too because ultra 85 is technically not fish oil. Its super pure highly concentrated perfectly proportioned essential omega 3’s.
I told ya fish oil just sounds better!
Doc