Omega 3 Status - Testing & Fixing
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Omega 3 Status
What is your Omega 3 status? 🤔
If the number does not jump to front of mind, take a look at the beautiful map? If your diet is typical for your country, it might give you a clue. It may well be low. Too low.
This is the 2024 update of the Omega 3 Index (O3I) map, based on 328 studies encompassing 324K adults across 48 countries.
It looks at blood levels of Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids, EPA & DHA.
Health Implications of Omega 3 Status
Omega-3 status is highly meaningful, being linked, or having causal relationships, with:
🫀 Cardiovascular health and risk
🧠 Brain health and function
🦠 Immune function and status
🔥 Chronic inflammation & inflamm-aging
Omega-3 status is a standout target for testing & modification, fulfilling these criteria:
1. Highly meaningful to multiple health outcomes
2. Cheaply and reliably measurable (in the UK, tests cost around £45)
3. Highly modifiable, through diet and targeted supplementation
4. Good understanding exists of a desirable status of 8%
5. Few people are close to 8%, making use of testing & diet or supplementation intervention high value, high positive impact
How do you increase Omega 3 Status?
The interventions are delicious. On the diet side, the best sources of omega-3 are the fatty fish known by the acronym T-SMASH.
Well, okay, it is usually just SMASH, but I am adding T for Trout.
So the whole thing is Trout, Sardines, Mackerel. Anchovies. Salmon. Herring.
🎣 With extra Anchovies, of course 🍕
In the UK, our local 'Sprats' are just as good as Sardines.
Yet if you do not eat fish, not even Anchovies, supplementing is easy, with an algae or krill based omega-3 fatty acid supplement.
Omega 3 from Supplements and Plants
It is important to ensure the omega 3 oil you are buying is well produced, and prepared in a way that prevents the oil becoming rancid before you consume it. Consuming rancid oil is health harmful. Look for products that specifically explain how they are ensuring the oil remains fresh. A few tips are:
Look for oil that is kept chilled, and after you buy it, keep it that way
Avoid oils that are sitting in clear containers at room temperature (both light and heat accelerate rancidification)
Look for oils combined with ingredients like Vitamin C and Astaxanthin, which help protect the oil against rancidification.
You can also get smaller amounts of omega-3 from a few plant foods, including Brussel sprouts, chia seeds, flax seeds, walnuts & soybeans, albeit this is of a different kind to the EPA & DHA measured within the Omega-3 index & can typically only make a very modest contribution.
❓Have you measured your Omega 3 index?
❓Will you do so?
❓Do you want to improve your status?
Get in touch with me if you'd welcome help to get this done right first time, with confidence?
References
Omega-3 world map: 2024 update
My clients enjoy clear, specific, actionable guidance on how to use diet, supplementation, lifestyle and functional testing to reach their personal health goals and resolve their health issues.
Why not book a free health kickstart call to find out how we would enable better health for you? 📲
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