What Happens When You Take FISH OIL Everyday For 30 Days?

Hello Health Champions. Today we’re going to  talk about what happens if you eat fish oil  

everyday and the four big questions we’re going  to answer along the way one is do you need fish  

oil? two what does it do? three what kind do you  take? and number four who really needs fish oil?  

so here's the problem if you do search if you look  around whether it is a blog, a video, or a top ten  

list they are going to tell you pretty much the  same thing. And here's a typical list that it  

prevents heart disease which will boost brain  function, it's a great source of vitamin A & D,  

slows the aging process, helps joint health  boosts immune system, decreases eye pressure,  

increases stamina, speeds muscle recovery and  increases serotonin. But actually fish oil does  

none of this at all and with thinking about it  the wrong way when we say things like this and yet  

I'm a huge fan of fish oil I think that almost  everyone should take fish oil and we are going  

to talk about the real reasons not to treat  some symptoms or some condition. Because what  

we want to understand is that fish oil doesn’t  do anything. It is not supposed to do anything.  

It is not supposed to cure a condition or a  symptom that is not what it does. So over all,  

what I am trying to get to, hopefully you will  get by the end of this is, don’t take supplements  

for the wrong reasons. I do a lot of supplements  in my clinic basically no one leaves the clinic  

without supplements but I explained why and the  person really needs them when they get them.  

I believe 90% of supplements sold and taken are  for the wrong reasons and people are getting more  

and more desperate because you understand that  meditation will cover up symptom but it's not the  

way too long term health. Medication can't get  healthy because it doesn't do anything for the  

body. It interferes with the body and suppresses  the symptoms. And overall the supplement industry  

is a fifty billion dollar industry just in the  US so basically 45 billion dollars are probably  

wasted for all wrong reasons. So most people go  about selecting supplements based on a condition.  

And they do a search or they go to a health  food store and they ask what is good for that  

and they get the answer from someone who's not a  clinician that well this supplement is really good  

for that condition or that symptom so people are  desperate to grab for a needle in a haystack and  

they up with dozens or hundreds of supplements  most of which are not the right ones for them.  

So here’s how you want to think about it instead.  Here’s how it really works. If you need something,  

if your body has a need for something that's  called essential that means it's necessary for  

life it's something that your body cannot  manufacture on its own or manufacture from  

something else have to provide that to the  body or you die. Or if you don't have enough  

of something then you can have optimal health  or function, something is going to suffer.  

So if you don't have enough now it's called  deficient and you are not going to have optimal  

health. You start developing some conditions  or symptoms or you don't feel great and then  

if you provide enough now that's called  sufficient now your body has enough of  

the essential thing of the necessary for life  thing that you can function optionally. That's  

what sufficient means and then the body starts  moving toward health. It's that simple and yet,  

I know you think it looks like child's play and  it’s like why is he telling us this because I  

already knew that is so evident and yet 90%  of supplements are taken for the wrong reason  

because people really don't get it it's too  simple but this is how we want to understand  

it and the first big question then when it  comes to fish oil is are you deficient are  

you missing some of that essential thing so  most people are deficient and it's typically

because of low consumption there are three reasons  they don't eat fish they don't hardly ever get any  

fish oil or they have a condition or they have a  lot of stress so they have a higher need than what  

is provided or they have poor conversion. I'm  going to talk about all of these. You probably  

heard about Omega 3 fatty acids but what are  they and what do we need to understand about  

them. There's three different kinds that we  typically want to know about. It is called ala,  

epa and dha. So what are  they? Well ala has 18 carbons  

EPA has 20 and DHA has 22.  

And then they are called unsaturated evenly  polyunsaturated so something that has one  

time unsaturated is monounsaturated. It has one  double bond. ALA has three so we would write  

that in as one two and three and don't worry  these I'm not putting these in a specific place  

in reality they do have a specific location  but we're not going to get that technical.  

So this one is 18 carbons and three times  unsaturated. EPA has five double bonds  

and it is 20 carbons long and five double bonds.  DHA has 22 carbons and six double bonds and we’re  

going talk in a little bit about why this matters  and why we would even talk about this. So one  

two three four five six twenty two and six so a  saturated fatty acid has no double bonds. It tends  

to be in a straight line because these single  bonds they can swivel freely and this molecule  

likes to not be crowded they tend to stretch out  for everything kind of goes away from each other  

but once they have a double bond that tends to  put a kink in it and it doesn't rotate so this  

is not how they actually look but they tend to  be more squiggly and more curve the more double  

bonds that have so it's something is saturated  they tend to pack really really close and that's  

why saturated fats are very stable there packed  together so this solid at room temperature and  

when you get to ALA like a flax oil then it  is totally liquid in the fridge and oftentimes  

mostly liquid in the freezer even. So the more  irregular they are the lower the melting point  

EPA has five times on saturated and DHA is six  times so these are going to be more and more  

squiggly more and more curved and irregular  and this is super important because the body  

uses these very specifically in cell membranes  and if they pack tight then that cell membrane  

has no flexibility and it loses a lot of signaling  properties of the ability to let things through at  

will selectively let things through and this is  why DHA is mostly used in the brain and we need  

certain properties and if you think about it it  makes a whole lot of sense like cold water fish  

would have a lot of EPA and DHA because this  stays liquid even in the freezer so when these  

fish swing around in ice cold water then they  don't stiff enough all of a sudden it keeps all  

the membrane keeps their tissue very very flexible  and that's where we can get the EPA DHA from so  

that's what they are and some of their properties  but why is there so much confusion about this  

because the ALA also called alpha-linolenic acid  can be converted into the other so the body can  

use ALA which is a plant source. So in flax and in  nuts and chia seeds there's a lot of ALA and then  

theoretically we can turn that into EPA which is  Eiosa-Penta-Enoic Acid and Penta just means five.

So it has five double bonds and the ALA is  classified as essential because the body  

can't manufacture it. We need to get it from food  so therefore ALA is classified as essential but  

because we can turn ALA into EPA theoretically  then EPA is not essential we wouldn't absolutely  

have to eat the EPA but, we will talk more about  that why it gets so confusing why this is the  

stuff that we really need but this one is one  classified as essential or necessary for life  

and then the DHA stands for docosa-hexa-enoic acid  and the hexa just means six. So in order for us to  

convert the ALA into EPA we need an enzyme called  Delta-6-Desaturase don't worry about the name I'm  

just trying to give you the flow of things so you  understand why things are necessary and this D6 D  

is a rate limiting step meaning if we don't have  enough of this then this process stops completely  

so if we look at it this way ALA, if we have  a good amount of the d6d Delta-6-Desaturase  

we could turn about 5% of the ALA into EPA but  notice it says less than and we'll talk about  

that the DHA typically is less than 0.5% so very  very little we can eat tons of flax of flax oil  

and yet not a whole lot gets converted and what  if there are additional things this is under a  

good scenario what if there's more things that  inhibits that interfere with this enzyme then  

even less is going to be converted so what is  it that interferes well things like insulin  

resistance which over 80% of the population has  if you eat a diet high in Omega 6 acids which is  

grains and grain-fed meat and seed oil and  all those things so we are supposed to get  

about a one-to-one ratio between Omega 6  and Omega 3 or maybe as high as four parts  

omega-6 to one part Omega 3 but most diets  are about 20 to 1 so that's going to push us  

toward a pro-inflammatory state and it's going to  inhibit further this enzyme. If we eat a lot of  

sugar if we eat a lot of processed foods if we  have inflammation and if we have stress all of  

these things will interfere even further with this  conversion which means if you have one or several  

or all of these you're probably really close to  zero on that conversion. So if any of these items  

on the list apply to you or if you don't eat a  whole bunch of fish on a regular basis then you  

are probably deficient in fish oil. So that brings  us to the second big question which is what is  

it really that fish oil does for us and the first  thing is that it normalizes inflammatory responses  

and you probably have heard by now that  cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolic  

disease is most of the degenerative diseases  are caused by chronic low grade inflammation.  

So it means the body doesn't have the resources  or the circumstances to balance inflammation so  

fish oil helps us do that. So fish oil basically  helps prevent if we have enough we can prevent  

those conditions and next it is a precursor for  hormones and chemical messengers and finally  

and most important probably is it builds cell  membranes and you have 40 trillion cells in  

your body every tissue your brain your muscles  everything every cell has a membrane and that  

membrane is built up of a double layer of fatty  acids and we need a certain percentage of those  

fatty acids to be EPA and especially DHA for those  cell membranes function properly to maintain their  

signal properties their flexibility their ability  to decide what goes inside and what stays outside  

so the critical function of every cell in the body  depends on those cell membranes and it depends on  

the quality of the fatty acids that we can include  in those cell membranes. But now let's take  

another look at this list that we started with  where they said that fish oil does all of these  

things and now people get it wrong they think by  taking more fish oil than they would prevent all  

of this. We want to understand this in a different  context so rather we say fish oil deficiency would  

cause a heart disease. Fish oil deficiency causes  inflammation that causes heart disease Fish oil  

deficiency destroys brain function because we  don't have the proper building material to make  

these cell membranes that work. Fish oil is not a  source of vitamin A and D there's a specific type  

of oil called cod liver oil so it's not the fish  in general it's the liver that has these vitamin  

A and D so if you just take regular fish oil  then you're not getting any vitamin A and D so  

if you're looking for the A&D you want to take  cod liver oil and we'll come back to that also.  

It speeds up the aging process, the deficiency  of fish oil means the body isn't working so these  

aging processes will be accelerated it hurts  joint health if we can't regulate inflammation  

it destroys the immune system and it gives  the immune system an inability to function  

properly if we don't have these things and  here's an interesting thing when they say  

that something would decrease eye pressure is that  a good thing what if you already have perfect eye  

pressure and you take fish oil does mean it's  going to lower the eye pressure below what's  

normal and optimal see people think of these  things like medications if you take a blood  

pressure medication it will lower blood pressure  if you have normal blood pressure you have perfect  

blood pressure and you take a bunch of blood  pressure meds they will lower it below normal it  

would be abnormally low would be dangerously low  but fish oil doesn't do that it's not a medication  

it doesn't interfere it doesn't suppress anything  so we get confused when we think that fish oil  

and nutrients are supposed to do something they  don't they provide resources to normalize function  

next it decreases stamina if we have a deficiency  in fish oil it will slow muscle recovery if we  

don't have the proper building material so those  muscle cell membranes that we break with hard  

exercise they need additional components they  need these fatty acids for the cell membranes  

when they repair and then they say that fish oil  increases serotonin but is that a good thing what  

if you already have perfect levels of Serotonin  is it going to boost them is it going to give  

you too much again a medication can do that it can  push the body out of balance but a nutrient won't  

do that it will normalize serotonin whatever that  means for you. If you have the necessary resources  

your body will figure out where it's supposed to  be so again we got to stop thinking about them as  

medication we're not replacing a synthetic within  medication with a natural one we are supporting  

the body so if you missing fish oil if you're  deficient you can develop all these problems if  

you are providing it then you'll just be normal  which brings us to our third big question which  

is what kind of fish oil should I take? Well a  lot of people are tempted by the really cheap  

brands you can buy a huge tub it says take one  of these a day for fish oil the problem is they  

aren't concentrated they don't contain a whole  lot of the stuff that you want and as a result  

you might have to take four or more of these huge  horse pills 1400 mg capsules they're gigantic  

to get the amount that you need plus they don't  specify if you're getting EPA or DHA they just say  

omega-3s and so the active component the stuff  you really looking for which is the final product  

EPA & DHA is only about 22% of it and then  you have to chomp down a whole bunch of pills.  

And a good brand however they're going  to concentrate these fish oils so in two  

capsules which would be a lot smaller than those  four big ones you would only have to take two of  

those and you would get about the same amount  of fish oil because it's 55% of the capsule is  

what you are actually looking for and these are  just examples some are even better and some of  

the cheap ones that even worse and that may not  even be the most important question. The question  

is the quality what are you actually getting  are they guaranteeing what you're getting are  

they filling it with stuff but even if it's true  what's on the label then you have to ask how was  

this produced? Has it been exposed to light? Has  it been exposed to heat? Has the fish oil become  

rancid? Because if it's rancid if they oxidize it  now it doesn't provide things that you're actually  

looking for and another thing is the toxicity  because the fish today are full of heavy metals  

and PCBs because they swim around in oceans that  are polluted so the good brands they're going to  

use the process called molecular distillation and  extract these fish oils very very carefully and  

leave all the heavy metals and the PCVs behind.  So that might be the most important part. So don't  

try to save just a few dollars on the cheap brand  because you're probably not getting what you are  

looking for. And then there is a question of EPA  versus DHA does it matter what's the difference?  

Well everyone needs both but some people need more  than one than other. So depending on what you're  

looking for it can get really really complex but  in the simplest terms the EPA is for the heart  

of the cardiovascular system more for general  inflammation and the DHA is more about brain. It's  

a building blocks for brain tissue and if you just  get your regular average fish oil a good quality  

where they concentrated it down from sardines or  salmon or something is usually going to get these  

three to two ratio of EPA versus DHA. And quite  frankly, I don't know why it turns out a three to  

two because if you look at what's in the fish they  usually have more DHA so I'm not sure why they do  

that but that's how it is and this would be if you  just looking for general support and a little bit  

of everything that's talked about and especially  inflammation and cardiovascular support. However  

in my clinic we check these we test everybody  to see what they actually need and we find that  

a lot of people need different ratios of EPA  to DHA. Their body prefers different ratios,  

so if you take something I called liver oil it's  going to have the reverse ratio and again if you  

look at called liver oil it's not necessarily this  ratio but the brands that we use will typically  

have that so it's a two to three where DHA has  more DHA in it and this is the kind of fish oil,  

cod liver oil, where you're actually getting  a very good source of vitamin A and vitamin D  

other fish oil won't give you that but if that's  something you're looking for then you can do that  

and sometimes it might be a good idea to take the  cod liver oil in the winter when there is less  

sun and you're not converting as much sunlight  into Vitamin D but then there's a little more  

specialized oil called Tuna Omega and the brand  that we use is from Standard Process both the  

cod liver oil and the tuna omega we use from  standard process there are other good brands  

but we know that they work out put some links down  below if you want to check that out but the tuna  

omega has a five to one ratio of DHA to EPA and  I wrote that the wrong way but it has five times  

more DHA so this is when you're looking for more  brain support and these would be for people who  

have cognitive concerns, memory issues, focus,  anxiety or for kids with ADHD it can be miraculous  

in calming them down and helping them focus. And  then there are other products out there that would  

have even higher concentration like a 10 to one or  a 20 to 1 of DHA but I rarely find in my office we  

do have some of those on the shelf but I rarely  find that that's necessary because these are  

very affordable for what you're getting and one  example of how important the DHA is for the brain  

is that most people will eat a ratio of a close  mix like a two to three or three to two and yet  

in the brain there's 250 times more DHA than EPA  so the brain doesn't really care for EPA at all it  

wants the DHA because it's a building block a very  significant portion I forget the percentage it's  

like a quarter of all the fatty acid or something  that is DHA and if we don't have them then the  

brain can't build proper cells and proper cell  membrane and the fourth big question is who really  

needs to supplement fish oil? so the obvious one  actually is people women who are childbearing and  

think about this as the fetus forms when it's  just a few cells like just a few cell layers  

thick it's microscopic the brain develops first.  It's the very first structure because it's going  

to coordinate everything else and in the very  beginning there is very very little brain tissue  

so it's not going to require enormous quantities  but at some point in development 25% of the total  

mass of that fetus is brain tissue and then as the  rest of the body grows a bit and the brain grows  

at birth it's about 10% so it's hugely important  for that baby to have enough DHA enough of the  

longest chain fish oil for that brain to develop  and by comparison the brain in an adult is about  

2% when the rest of the body grows more but as a  newborn it is super important because 10% of that  

baby's weight is brain tissue and DHA is one  of the most important components if we don't  

provide enough then that brain will not develop  optimally but then after they're born obviously  

they keep growing and the brain keeps growing  as well even though the percentage is huge when  

we're newborn the brain is still going to keep  growing and another aspect of this is anytime  

you learning something the brain has to rewire  it has to prune brain cells and even make some  

new ones but in doing this it's always as it is  rewiring it is repairing cell membranes and we  

need DHA for that so this is why you can actually  improve learning you can improve brain function by  

having enough DHA but again don't think of it as a  meditation if you have enough then your normal if  

you don't have enough then your sub-normal and  also if you have any metabolic or inflammatory  

disease again insulin resistance, cardiovascular  disease, which most people have then it can help  

and if you have high stress then you will absorb  less you will need more people who don't eat fish  

are obviously not getting a whole lot of this and  we talked about why the conversion is so poor now  

even just a few years ago if you claim that the  conversion was poor than you were looking upon  

us some kind of lunatic and today it is very  very well recognized that in most people that  

alpha linolenic acid does not converted hardly at  all. So the more people that need it, the less it  

is being converted. And then if you just want to  make sure if you want it for prevention just as  

insurance than obviously can do that but if you  eat fatty fish 3 4 5 times a week and you need to  

substantial amount not just 4 oz but maybe six to  eight ounces then you're probably getting enough  

and there's really not a need but I probably say  that I don't think there's 1% of the population  

that eats that amount of fish. If you enjoyed this  video you're going to love that one and if you  

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