Omega-3 supplements apparently took a hit recently in the media and from media “specialists”. But what is the real story? Below is a post by Dr. James Chestnut, (a chiropractor who has developed his own line of supplements, but which I do not use) who I respect for his scientific credentials and insights into essential nutrients for all humans. Dr. William Harris link is: http://medcitynews.com/2013/07/the-omega-3prostate-cancer-media-fiesta-mistaking-correlation-for-causation-puts-patients-at-risk/
The questions we ask are important. I expect you to challenge me – as I will challenge you!
Be Healthy!
- Dr Tom M
Always remember, valid scientific decisions are made on bodies of valid evidence from controlled trials showing cause and effect not on single correlational studies showing possible associations. This is why Innate Choice only has a few products and why we never have and never will be effected by trends or fads or alarmists.
Essential nutrients cannot possibly do harm to the organism for which they are essential. It makes no biological sense.
The human populations (Inuit, Aboriginals, other hunter-gatherers) with the highest omega 3 consumption rates consistently have the lowest rates of cancer and every other chronic illness and the highest levels of health.
Stay the course, be the thought leader and act with integrity in relation to the valid scientific evidence that is available. You will never regret this logical and scientific approach and neither will your patients.
I’m sure many of you have heard about the recent report that claimed an association between higher omega-3 levels and increased risk of prostate cancer. Well the first thing you should know is that not a single subject in the study had anything close to high levels of omega-3. In fact, every subject was deficient in omega-3 fatty acids and had an unhealthy omega-6: omega-3 ratio. Further the absolute differences of omega-3 levels between those with and without cancer was about 0.25% which represents a negligible difference at best. They report a relative difference in order to achieve statistical significance but in actuality all subjects with and without prostate cancer had very similar biological levels and were all deficient.
I won’t get into the fact that the study was retrospective and very poorly designed, I will cover that in my full review which will be sent to you later this week.
In the meantime I thought this was a very good short summary written by a world-renowned expert in omega-3 science.(click HERE for link) Dr. William Harris is an internationally recognized expert on omega-3 fatty acids and how they can benefit patients with heart disease. He has been the recipient of five NIH grants for studies on the effects of omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) on human health. He has over 150 publications relating to omega-3 fatty acids in medical literature (click HERE for full bio).
Dr. James Chestnut
President and Chief Research Reviewer – Innate Choice