3 Useful Omega-3 Tips From a Fish Oil Expert
Valuable Lessons About Omega-3
Dr. Bill Lands is one of my science heroes.
Dr. Lands was Professor of Biochemistry at Univ. of Michigan and Univ of Illinois. He’s authored over 250 scientific papers and wrote the book Fish, Omega-3 and Human Health. He’s received several awards (too many to list here) and is one of the world’s 1000 most cited scientists.
Dr. Lands is one of the most down-to-earth and engaging scientists you’ll ever meet.
While he speaks on the subject regularly, a lot of his most important contributions are tucked away in scientific publications.
Here are a few nuggets of wisdom from his publications:
Lesson #1:
Omega-3′s Effect on Health Care Cost
[Detailed in this publication.]
He explains that the average annual healthcare cost per person in the US was: $7,681 as of 2008.
I’m sure it’s higher now.
To highlight how this affects profits of companies, and ultimately the employment rate, he worked with a very large company.
In this company, he found that:
- Average medical cost per employee: $5,184/year
- Average medical cost for employees taking Omega-3: $2,076
That’s a 60% reduction in total medical costs!
For a mid-size company with 500 employees, that’s over $1.5 million in savings every year!
For the country as a whole, that’s $2 trillion savings. Yes, that’s trillion, with a T.
Just from taking fish oil.
Lesson #2:
Cholesterol is a Poor Predictor of Heart Disease
You won’t hear this from your doctor.
And scientists don’t talk about this either. That’s because cholesterol is still widely believed to be the big, bad bogeyman of heart disease. And makers of cholesterol-lowering drugs are big sponsors of research in cash-strapped universities.
I supposed being retired affords Dr. Lands greater freedom of speech.
Dr. Lands mentioned that we’ve known that Total cholesterol is not a good predictor of heart disease for at least 15 years.
Lowering cholesterol is not going to dramatically decrease your risk of death from heart disease.
To explain this, he pointed out that in Japan, if you had high cholesterol, you were slightly less likely to die of heart disease. But in the US, high cholesterol usually meant higher risk of death from heart disease.
How is it that high cholesterol reduces death in Japan but increases it here in the US?
This is mostly because of lifestyle factors like diet. Japanese have several lifestyle and eating habits that differ from us:
- Japanese eat more fish than we do. Could it be that the high levels of Omega-3 in their diet makes the difference?
- Japanese also don’t have a sweet tooth.
- Japanese eat a lot of seaweed, which is rich in iodine.
- They drink a lot of green tea and the only grain they consume in quantity is rice.
- Finally, not much wheat consumption going on there.
Americans drink 10 times more soda and soft drinks than the Japanese – see this chart.
Diet and other blood markers (very low density lipoprotein VLDL, triglycerides, Apo B etc.) are much better predictors of heart health, not total cholesterol.
This was Dr. Lands’ point. Measuring and fussing over cholesterol is like checking your car’s health by looking at the oil dipstick. You might know that the oil needs changing. But you certainly won’t know if the transmission is about to blow.
Lesson #3
Reducing Fats in Blood – What Works?
Most doctors and scientists agree that too much fat in the blood is a red flag.
Your doctor or cardiologist may put you on a prescription lipid-lowering medication.
You might also be sent to a a dietitian. (This is the grown-up’s version of being sent to the Principal’s office.)
Does dieting work? How ’bout Lipitor? Niacin? Or lowly fish oil?
In a recent lecture, Dr. Lands walked us through a study that compared the results of all these blood fat-lowering techniques. It’s a combined evaluation of the results of 97 clinical studies with over 140,000 persons.
This study compared:
Statins – popular cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Lipitor, Mevacor, Crestor, Zocor and the like.
Niacin – this is a B-Vitamin, sold under prescription as Niaspan or over-the-counter as Sloniacin or Enduracin.
Resins – also known as bile-sequestrants. Drugs such as Questran and Colestid. Not used much anymore due to side effects.
Fibrates – another older class of drugs that include Tricor and Lopid.
Diet – getting a good ol’ talkin’ to from a nutritionist or dietitian on what to eat and avoid.
Omega-3 Fish Oil – the familiar Omega-3 fatty acid from fish or fish oil supplements.
The scale of effectiveness goes from 0 to 2.
What Works For Cardiac Mortality |
|
| Scale: 0 = works really well 1 = neutral (neither good nor bad; don’t bother) 2 = placebo is better (waste of money) So closer to zero the better. |
|
| Niacin (Niaspan, Sloniacin, Enduracin) | 0.95 |
| Fibrates (Tricor, Lopid) | 0.93 |
| Diet Consultation | 0.91 |
| Statins (Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor etc.) | 0.78 |
| Resins (Questran, Colestid) | 0.70 |
| Omega-3 Fish Oil | 0.68 |
What Works For Overall Mortality |
|
| Scale: 0 = works really well 1 = neutral (neither good nor bad; don’t bother) 2 = placebo is better (waste of money) So closer to zero the better. |
|
| Fibrates | 1.00 |
| Diet Consultation | 0.97 |
| Niacin | 0.96 |
| Statins | 0.87 |
| Resins (Questran, Colestid) | 0.84 |
| Omega-3 Fish Oil | 0.77 |
Reference: False profits and silent partners in health care’ Nutr Health. 2009;20(2): 79-89.
The study and Dr. Lands concluded that:
“Statins and Omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids are the most favorable lipid-lowering interventions with reduced risks of overall and cardiac mortality.”
Going to the dietitian, taking fibrates or niacin is almost worthless.
This leaves fish oil as your weapon of choice.
Stain drugs were somewhere in between in benefit.
[The following is my opinion on statins, not necessarily Dr. Lands': statin drugs carry the heavy burden of major side effects, ranging from muscle pain, 'brain fog,' and increased risk of diabetes. Their benefit comes from unintended anti-inflammatory effects rather than cholesterol reduction.]
I would also argue that diet ought to be left out of this comparison. There are too many variables with diet.
Besides, most dietitians will put you on a low-fat, high whole grain diet, which despite sounding super healthy, will only help you meet your maker sooner than you’d planned. But that’s another gripe (blog post?) for another day.
I’m sure if you followed a diet outlined by, say, someone like cardiologist Dr. William Davis, you’d notice a huge lowering in risk and blood lipids.
Bottom-line, Dr. Bill Lands has a lifetime of knowledge and wisdom to share. If you can hear him in person or track down his scientific publications, please do so.
Wish our health policy experts would!
Look out for another blog about Dr. Lands’ pet project, ‘Nix the 6, Eat the 3‘, where he attempts to get everyone in Morgan County, West Virginia to reduce their Omega-6 consumption and increase Omega-3.
| DISCLAIMER: This website is for your education and general health information only. The ideas and suggestions contained on this website are not to be used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment from your doctor for any health condition or problem. Users of this website should not rely on information provided on this website for their own health problems. Any questions regarding your own health should be addressed to your own physician. |
About the Author: Vin Kutty is OmegaVia’s Scientific Advisor and Chief Blogger. He is a nutritionist, author, and Omega-3 expert with over 20 years of experience. Email him.
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