Omega-3’s from fish oil are associated with a long list of health benefits, backed by approximately 18,000 studies. The explanation for this likely has its roots in our changing diet since the invention of intensive agriculture.
Humans have been in our modern anatomical form for between 160,000 and 200,000 years. Our ancestors were hunter gatherers, fishing, hunting and eating relatively few grains by today’s standards. It was only a few thousand years ago that we invented farming, and this is when our diet changed. We are no longer eating the foods that we evolved to eat, but instead we are eating foods that represent the cheapest way to feed the (more than) 7 billion people living in the world. To give you an idea of how our population has grown, in 10,000 BC there were just 1 million people in the world, 7,000 times less people than today. We didn’t hit the one billion mark until around 1805 AD, and baby number two billion did not arrive until 1927. It took us almost 200,000 years to grow to 2 billion people, and in the space of a single human lifespan we have gone from 2 to 7 billion people on planet Earth. This rapid population growth has had a major effect on our diets. Simply put, fish was a staple of our ancestors and now most people can’t afford it. At $35 per kg for fresh tuna, it is too expensive for many, and as such our diet has moved to the convenience of grains and the associated influx of Omega-6’s. But what happens when we radically change our diet? Look at the United States; rampant sugar and grain fed obesity. All the diseases of modern living proliferate, including diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
Recent research suggests even Alzheimer’s may well be ‘diabetes of the brain’. The same problems exist in New Zealand as well, but fortunately there are some very simple things we can do to make improvements in our health; eat oily fish, cut back on sugar, do some exercise and reduce bulk carbohydrate consumption.
I recently attended an Omega-3 symposium with Dr Laurence Eyres who opened the proceedings. The Massey University hosted event included international researchers who brought us up to speed with the latest findings on Omega-3’s. Interestingly, research by Massey University scientists demonstrated that supplementing with Omega-3’s provides the same health benefits as obtaining them from oily fish. For many people this is attractive because supplementing is both a convenient and inexpensive alternative. Most of us have heard about Omega-3 benefits for heart health and arthritis, but the full list of benefits covers many other areas of human health as well. The reason there are so many benefits is because we are addressing a great dietary imbalance, and when we do that, many of the aggravating or risk factors for these ‘lifestyle diseases’ are significantly reduced. Hippocrates is known as the father of modern medicine, he said ‘let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food’. He was pretty clever; fixing our diet is a big part of staying well. This imbalance I refer to can be thought of in terms of the ratio of Omega-6’s to Omega-3’s in our diet. Historically, it is thought our ancient ancestors had an Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio of around 1:1. Today it has blown out to somewhere between 10:1 and (as much as) 30:1. How does this ratio change our risk of getting major diseases? High levels of Omega-6 consumption and very high ratios of Omega-6’s to Omega-3’s (the Western diet) promote the pathogenesis of many diseases. High consumption of Omega-3’s has the opposite effect. Ratios of Omega-6’s to Omega-3’s of between 2.5:1 and 5:1 have been associated with reduced overall mortality from cardiovascular disease, less breast cancer, colorectal cancer, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. This is not an exhaustive list at all, they are just examples. Another major area of benefits that I haven’t yet mentioned is brain health. Marine Omega-3’s contain DHA - ‘Docosahexanoic Acid’ and it makes up approximately 11% of our brain mass. Low levels of this ‘essential fatty acid’ are linked to neurological decline, depression and other mental illnesses. Children given fish oil capsules have demonstrated improved behaviour in schools, and in the ultimate test, and a very well designed study (captive audience), prisoners given Omega-3’s demonstrated significantly improved behaviour in a double blind, randomised, placebo controlled trial. They are known as essential fatty acids, and as we cannot make them, we have to get them from our diet. I hope this article provides some explanation as to the reason Omega-3’s offer such a wide range of benefits. It is important to note that unlike taking an aspirin which has immediate effect, supplements can take a while to produce results, the flipside is that they are safe. In the case of supplementing with Omega-3’s from fish oil, it can take 3 months to start having a significant effect. High-strength Omega-3 formulas (like our Lester’s Oil®) will get you there faster. A Note on Lester’s Oil® – Omega-3 based antioxidant complex Lester’s Oil® is our new Omega-3 formula that contains Vitamin D (another ingredient associated with across the board benefits) Coenzyme Q10 (for heart and brain health, as well as energy), Lutein & Zeaxanthin for eye health and Astaxanthin, one of the most powerful antioxidants known. The oil we use is very pure; it has twice the normal concentration of Omega-3’s and in a lab test of the latest batch, no detectable mercury was found, which is a known problem with some fish oils. Light also destroys oil, and bright display lights in shops can have this effect. For this reason, Lester’s Oil® is stored in darkness before shipping. Dr Laurence Eyres This product was formulated with the expertise of Dr Laurence Eyres, president of the Oils and Fats Association and one of New Zealand’s leading experts on Omega-3’s. Laurence is a regular on TV3’s ‘Whats really in your food’ as the shows Omega-3 expert. He is also the scientist who carried out Consumer Magazine’s study into the quality of fish oils on the market. Laurence continues to work with About Health as scientific and technical advisor.
