34 - Considerations for Buying an Omega-3 Test

Get insights into your health by testing your fatty acid levels: https://omegaquant.com/omega-3-index-...

What this episode is about:

• 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

Hosts: Drs. Bill Harris and Kristina Harris Jackson
Guest: Dr. Kevin Maki, author of a new paper evaluating all of the commercially available Omega-3 Tests via his new paper published in the  Journal of Nutrition: Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Status in Humans: A Narrative Review of Commercially Available Options
Recording date: April 8, 2024
Broadcast date: May 16, 2024
For more information on OmegaMatters, visit: https://omegaquant.com/omegamatters-b...
For more information on OmegaQuant’s Omega-3 Index tests, visit: https://omegaquant.com/omega-3-index-...

• #science_technology
• #omega_3_index