OmegaMatters
OmegaMatters is an educational podcast hosted by Drs. Bill Harris and Kristina Harris that focuses on all things omegas. With the help of their guests, they will try and put some of the most important research studies into context. They will focus mainly on omega-3 fatty acids, but from time to time will explore other corners of the fatty acid world.
Want to know your omega-3 levels? Try a test! Use code OMEGAMATTERS10 to get 10% off your order @ OmegaQuant.com (code cannot be combined with other offers and is good for one-time use.)
OmegaMatters
34 Considerations for Buying an Omega-3 Test
EPISODE #34 - Considerations for Buying an Omega-3 Test
Recording date: April 8, 2024
Broadcast date: May 16, 2024
Hosts: Drs. Harris and Jackson
Guest: Dr. Kevin Maki
Background and key takeaways:
Dr. Kevin Maki is the founder and chief scientist of Midwest Biomedical Research where they specialize in designing and conducting clinical trials related to cardiometabolic health, clinical nutrition, and cognitive function. And he's also an adjunct professor and dean's eminent scholar at Indiana University in the School of Public Health in Bloomington, and the co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Lipidology.
· What’s the difference between all of the omega-3 tests out there; a new research paper published in the Journal of Nutrition wanted to answer that very question — Journal of Nutrition: Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Status in Humans: A Narrative Review of Commercially Available Options
· Why clinical trials need to assess omega-3 status to reach better conclusions about the effectiveness of omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) for certain health benefits
· Why in the near future clinicians will be routinely assessing omega-3 status; and why for people with low status, doctors can recommend an intervention to raise the status
· Why choosing the Omega-3 Index to test omega-3 status makes the most sense, but if the ultimate goal is to get people testing their omega-3 status in the first place, then testing is better than not testing at all
· What are some important considerations for buying an omega-3 test? The availability, the convenience, the cost, insurance coverage, the simplicity of the results…
· Why the arachidonic acid to EPA ratio is a useful test
· Why it is virtually impossible to compile and compare studies if researchers are not using the same metrics to do baseline and ending omega-3 status
· Why you cannot tell what your omega-3 level is just by the omega-3 products you are taking (i.e. omega-3 supplements and/or fish) — i.e., why you can’t guess what you should test
· Why we need more clinical trials that recruit people with low status and then have an intervention to increase the status up to optimal levels
· What is the difference between measuring omega-3s in plasma vs. red blood cells
· Which tests are covered by insurance
· Why getting the Omega-3 Index into more mainstream channels will help the people who need it most — i.e., the ones with the lowest omega-3 levels
To watch this episode, visit our YouTube channel.
To read the full transcript from this OmegaMatters episode, visit https://omegaquant.com/omegamatters-broadcasts/.
To learn more about omega-3 testing, visit: https://omegaquant.com/omega-3-index-complete/