STORIES - Omega Fatty Acids
F22 – Invasion of the Omega Fatty Acids 2018 archival inkjet ink on cotton rag
Omega Fatty acids
Considering the ubiquity of Omega Fatty Acids in health and nutritional advice published and the multibillion dollar natural health products industry is hard to believe, that while it is only just shy of 90 years since Omega Fatty acids were found to be essential for our health, it is not much more than 20 years ago that the World Health Organisation decreed that “infant formula should have a fatty acid distribution more like human milk, which contained other long-chain, polyunsaturated fatty acids as well.” and only on September 8, 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave "qualified health claim" status to EPA and DHA omega−3 fatty acids.
At some time between the announcements by WHO and the FDA the invasion started, a salvo of salmon followed by a barrage of nuts, tried to wipe out the hamburger and pie. The way has been greased with fish oil and now Krill (which really should be left for the whales) and support from food manufacturers adding omega 3 to their products. There has been minor sniping from Hemp seed and foraged purslane. Omega levels in people have risen world wide.
But there is some resistance, as reported by the Independant in July 2018 : “A review by the internationally recognised Cochrane Library evaluating 79 of the best conducted experiments on omega-3 supplements’ health benefits found they make “little or no difference” to premature deaths.
Professor Tim Chico, an expert in cardiovascular medicine at the University of Sheffield said similar issues had been seen with vitamins where excessive supplement use to replicate the benefits of a healthy diet was actually harmful.”
However even as I write this, today 13 November 2108, there is a counter attack and Reuters report that: “A large U.S. study designed to gauge the health benefits of vitamin D and fish oil supplements concludes that the omega-3 oil can dramatically reduce the odds of a heart attack while vitamin D’s benefits seem to come from lowering the risk of death from cancer”.
Omega Fatty acids
Considering the ubiquity of Omega Fatty Acids in health and nutritional advice published and the multibillion dollar natural health products industry is hard to believe, that while it is only just shy of 90 years since Omega Fatty acids were found to be essential for our health, it is not much more than 20 years ago that the World Health Organisation decreed that “infant formula should have a fatty acid distribution more like human milk, which contained other long-chain, polyunsaturated fatty acids as well.” and only on September 8, 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave "qualified health claim" status to EPA and DHA omega−3 fatty acids.
At some time between the announcements by WHO and the FDA the invasion started, a salvo of salmon followed by a barrage of nuts, tried to wipe out the hamburger and pie. The way has been greased with fish oil and now Krill (which really should be left for the whales) and support from food manufacturers adding omega 3 to their products. There has been minor sniping from Hemp seed and foraged purslane. Omega levels in people have risen world wide.
But there is some resistance, as reported by the Independant in July 2018 : “A review by the internationally recognised Cochrane Library evaluating 79 of the best conducted experiments on omega-3 supplements’ health benefits found they make “little or no difference” to premature deaths.
Professor Tim Chico, an expert in cardiovascular medicine at the University of Sheffield said similar issues had been seen with vitamins where excessive supplement use to replicate the benefits of a healthy diet was actually harmful.”
However even as I write this, today 13 November 2108, there is a counter attack and Reuters report that: “A large U.S. study designed to gauge the health benefits of vitamin D and fish oil supplements concludes that the omega-3 oil can dramatically reduce the odds of a heart attack while vitamin D’s benefits seem to come from lowering the risk of death from cancer”.
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