Kind: captions
Language: en
to have you here. I am Karina Blizzy, an
omega-3 expert and head of sales and
marketing for Orllo Nutrition. Orllo
Nutrition is a leader in the algae
space, harnessing its full nutrition and
power through technology and optimized
growing conditions at our carbon
negative plant in Iceland. We offer
vegan solutions to replace the nutrient
power of animal sourced products with
better performance through better
absorption. So, you get all of the
health benefits without the worry. We'll
get into how our algae sourced omega-3s
are different in today's discussion as
we dive into healthpromoting fats. Today
I am joined by Dr. William Lee who is a
world-renowned doctor, scientist,
founder and president of the Angioenesis
Foundation and now two-time New York
Times best-selling author of Eat to Eat
Disease and Eat to Eat Your Diet. I've
had the privilege of getting to know Dr.
Lee as he has been a guest on our
podcast Nutrition Without Compromise
multiple times. Hello, Dr. Lee. It is so
great to see you again.
Hey, Karina. It's great to see you. I am
so happy to be joining uh you today and
and talking as usual about one of our uh
mutual favorite topics, which is
omega-3s.
Yeah. Well, I think we should jump right
in with something that is important for
most people to just get to the root of
and understand. And one of the very
reasons that oru nutrition and omega-3s
can be so powerful and that's simply
that Americans are so very deficient in
omega-3s on average we consume 15 times
more omega6 than omega-3s which sets us
up for major inflammation issues. So
before we go any further, can you help
us break this down and understand better
why it's important to focus on reducing
that inflammation and overall why we
look to omega-3s to help support this
process?
Yeah. Well, um, so omega3s,
omega sixs are really just words, names
that describe polyunsaturated fatty
acids. These are healthier forms of fat
um that um are important for our body
and the uh fact is that we need both
omega-3s and omega sixs. The problem, as
you just mentioned, is that we in uh
sort of modern societies tend to eat way
too many omega sixes. And just like
everything else in health, when you're
out of balance and when you have too
much of one and not enough of another,
uh that extreme, especially with omega6,
sets us up for um inflammation. But
let's go ahead and take a look at
omega-3s, which are the beneficial
healthy fats of PUFAs, polyunsaturated
fatty acids that we tend not to get
enough of. So, you know, omega-3s uh are
a family of fatty acids. They're sort of
EPA or icosa pentinoic acid, EPA or DHA,
which is dosaexoninoic acid. And these
actually originally come from algae and
plankton and sort of plants of the sea
as I like to call them.
And you know, little critters, little
fish, little shellfish uh eat the the um
the algae and the plankton. They they
they build up the omega-3s in their
bodies which then are eaten by larger
fish. And then you go up the food chain,
the smaller fish are eaten by the next
larger fish, and so on and so forth. And
and of course then the fish that we tend
to eat, especially the ones that are
well known to be filled with healthy
fats, as they say, you know, the salmon,
the tuna, or the mackerels, these are
predatory fish, um the so-called oily
fish, wind up actually accumulating
these omega-3s in their flesh. And
that's what makes seafood um actually
healthy. But you can also get omega-3s
from dietary supplements. And I think
that's very important because not
everybody is used to eating uh or or
sometimes people just can't eat or can't
get the types of seafoods that actually
contain them. I also want to say that
you can get omega-3s from eating
plant-based foods because some
plant-based foods uh uh like chia seeds
and flax seeds and walnuts and Brussels
sprouts, they actually have the
precursor to omega-3s that when you eat
them, your body can make some omega-3s
as well, although not very much. And so,
there's different ways of getting
omega-3s. And the reason I, as a
scientist and a doctor, tell people,
including my patients, that omega-3s are
important to know about and important to
consume is because we know they help
cardiovascular health. They're they're
associated with a lower risk of heart
disease. They improve your circulation,
which is important whether you're young
person who's physically active, you need
more blood flow to your muscles on one
hand, but on the other hand, there are
people that are older that need better
blood flow to their brain and other
organs as well. But when you think about
good cognition, we want to be able to
actually be vital and functional for as
long as we uh as long as we're able to
with our lifespan. Omega-3s play a role
there as well. Now, the one thing about
omega-3s that is helpful no matter what
is they lower inflammation. Lowering
inflammation protects us essentially
from many of the chronic diseases that
are fueled or sparked uh triggered by
inflammation. So, it's a countermeasure
against chronic disease. And on top of
that, uh uh the recent research has
shown that omega-3s can protect our stem
cells.
These are the cells inside our body that
allow us to regenerate and heal and
repair our organs from the inside out.
And when it comes to metabolism, it
turns out omega-3s play a role there,
too. Omega-3s activate a special kind of
body fat called brown fat in all of our
bodies. This is a good fat. So, if
omega-3s are a kind of good um fat we
eat, they act it activates a kind of
good fat that we have inside our body.
It's plastered around our neck, under uh
under our breast bone, underneath our
arms. And this good fat burns down uh
improves our metabolism, burns down
harmful visceral fat, which also lowers
inflammation. So, here's what we're
talking about. These are healthy fats um
that you can get from various types of
food sources or dietary supplements that
are so important in our modern knowledge
of health.
Well, you mentioned seafood here because
seafood is a direct source of EPA and
DHA, but one of the things I've often
heard from people is, well, you know, I
had my fish and chips. They're not
eating necessarily the right kind of
fish. they're eating a fish that perhaps
is one that's prepared and not something
that's as high in the omega-3s EPA and
DHA. I even joked with Dr. Bill Harris,
who's an omega-3 researcher about it.
It's like we almost want a litmus test,
so we can touch a piece of paper to the
salmon or to the fish before we eat it.
That tells us it's EPA and DHA levels so
we know how much we're getting. So, I've
heard it referred to as smash fish,
meaning sardines, mackerel, anchovies,
um, salmon. and sardines, melanches,
salmon, and herring. But so few
Americans really eat enough of these. So
this means that we need to kind of open
the doors to what other sources we might
want to go to. I I'm curious to know how
you guide people on that journey in
particular and what health benefits
people can expect if they're able to
actually do that.
Yeah. Well, you know, the latest
research actually shows that while the
oil oiliest of oily fish like the smash
fish you just described, uh the the the
salmon, mackerel, anchovies,
and herring, it's true that the oilier
it is, the more omega-3s it is. But
actually, more recent research shows
that you don't, you know, in in nature
and in physiology for health. More isn't
always more. And it turns out that more
recent research has shown even a piece
of cod, which is considered a not very
oily fish, has enough omega-3s to
actually do you some good. So if you um
want to actually enjoy seafood because
of the omega-3, don't shy away from
having cod, um halibit, muscles, even
clams, even shrimp actually have
omega-3s. And that's one of the things
that I wrote about in my book, Eat to
Beat Your Diet, are the doses of the
foods that may not come across as very
oily, but actually have enough to
actually improve your metabolism. How
does that what does that mean? Well, it
turns out when you actually activate
your metabolism, you burn down harmful
body fat. You shrink can shrink your
waistline. Your body tube actually gets
a little bit tighter. Uh and um it
lowers inflammation. The key though, I
think what you're talking about is like
not everybody
enjoys fish. Not everybody's used to
eating fish. And part of the reason that
we're so deficient in omega-3s, for
example, in places like the United
States of America, is that people are
not just not eating uh enough seafood,
they're not eating enough seafood
regularly. So, if you compare uh certain
countries like the Mediterranean where
they eat a lot of fish, all right, um it
it adds up the amount of of omega-3s
that you eat over time. And this is why,
you know, some studies, like there's one
study of 7,100 individuals living across
Italy. It's a country that eats a lot of
fresh fish and even tin fish. The
omega-3s build up and they wind up
having lower incidences of inflammatory
diseases, including cancer. In fact, it
was one study that showed a 34% lower
risk of developing colon cancer with um
avid uh fish eaters, including tinned
fish. However, let's say that that's,
you know, and about three times a week
is kind of what you need, but not
everybody does it. And so, what I try to
guide people to do is to say you can get
your omega-3s from eating seafood. Got
to choose your seafood wisely and
hopefully get it sustainably fished. um
uh prepare them in ways that are
healthy.
Not just, you know, you don't want to
take a healthy piece of fish and deep
fry it. Now you've turned something
healthy into something less healthy. Um
cook it in a healthy prepare in a
healthy way. Um but also, you know, if
you wanted to uh if you're a vegan or a
vegetarian and you want to get it from
plants, there's a plant choice. But if
you want to make it as easy as possible,
and and this is something that I
actually do myself, I'll take omega-3
supplements because I know that's a way
for me to regularly get a dose that will
actually help build up those levels in
my body. It's that important to me to be
able to keep up my omega-3 levels.
That's really amazing. Now, I
[clears throat] personally, you know,
I've consumed a lot of fish over the
years, but over the po course of the
past about six months have started to
consume less of it just because I
personally am a little concerned about
toxin levels that might exist in some of
the fish that I enjoy. And also because
I'm concerned about over fishing in some
species and sometimes commercial fishing
can be a real issue if you're not
getting local, if you're not getting
fresh. And some people live in
landlocked areas where they just don't
have faith that it's going to be as
fresh. So, I've taken this path of going
more to supplements and to taking an
algae omega-3 on a almost daily basis
and two sometimes three soft pills,
moving up my dosage a little bit because
I'm concerned about getting enough and
concerned about ensuring that I can even
reach this ideal 8% where you actually
have a saturated level in your tissues
that is associated with a fall in all
cause mortality, which I'm interested in
and also to ensure that my bio
availability is really strong. So, one
of the things that's unique about Oralo
Nutrition's omega-3s is that we're
actually providing the omega-3s in that
polar lipid form, which is better
absorbed by the tissues, which means
that people don't necessarily have some
of the negative aspects like let's say a
fishy burp or digestive issues. They can
also take it anytime day or night with
or without food. And normally, if you're
just taking a supplement, I would advise
people to say, "Look, you're taking your
omega-3 fish oil, eat it with food, just
like I would with a vitamin D or vitamin
A or vitamin K because these fats
soluble nutrients are better absorbed
when you consume them with food because
you just slow down your digestion. You
get more out of them, right? But being
that it's in this polar lipid form, it
can get into your tissues more quickly.
I can even take them with like a hot cup
of coffee and I don't have a negative
response, which is something that didn't
exist for me when I just took fish oils.
So, I'm curious to know if you were to
look at this style of a product, what
you would say to your audience about
that and specifically like taking a a
polar lipid from an algae source.
You know, one of the things that I think
is very clever about the polar lipid uh
version of omega-3s is to improve your
body's ability to absorb it. It's like a
sponge that will actually clean a
surface even better. uh you know, we've
all worked with different types of cloth
and we're trying to absorb things off of
a kitchen counter or something. Um and
here's a case where you're able to take
advantage of these polar lipids to get
it more avidly better absorbed into our
body. So, who wouldn't want that?
Because, you know, we all lose some of
what we of the good stuff we eat just by
trickling it down. So, the more we can
absorb, whether it's from our gut into
our bloodstream, from our bloodstream,
into our tissues, uh I think when it
comes to omega-3s, they're they're it's
precious enough from a health value
perspective. Uh I wouldn't want to waste
any. So, I I really like
[snorts]
uh that idea. And I think it also speaks
to the fact that not all omega-3s are
all the same. So, read the label and try
to understand what are the advantages um
that any particular version is offering
to you. you know, we're all pretty smart
people. We're be we're savvy consumers.
You know, if you're taking a look at
the, you know, opening a a um a box of
something or a jar of something that
supposedly is really good for you, um
you'd want to take a look at the
ingredients and describe what it is that
is actually special about that
particular one when you've got choices.
And I think this is an example of where
the polar lipids make sense.
Yeah. And one of the things I'm excited
about, an offer that's really unique to
Orland Nutrition, is that we're telling
people you can test, don't guess. And so
we're launching this campaign called the
Tested by You campaign where we're
providing an omega-3 index test so
people can test their baseline and then
test again after four months of
supplementation. And typically
researchers like yourself would say, you
know, make a change, go about that for
three or four months, and then check
again and see how you're doing. And this
is actually a way for consumers, whether
you be vegan, whether you be consuming
fish, to check where you are today and
see how you are a few months down the
road and then make any adjustments from
there. These tests go for about $50 a
piece. If you try to get them covered
through medical insurance, sometimes
they double that price. So, you know,
it's a it's a big investment on our
part, but we're doing it because we
personally we have that much faith in
the product. So, we're putting our money
where our mouth is to show people that
they can they can see a difference with
time. And not only will they see a
difference in how they feel, they'll see
it in the numbers. So, test don't guess.
Right. Well, I you know, I I think that
anything that allows to measure our
baseline and progress is an important
way of monitoring our health. And, you
know, as a medical doctor, there's a lot
of things that we do as baselines. This
is why people do colonoscopies. That's
why we do a blood test and a checkup.
And here's an example of measuring
something that your doctor might not
automatically measure that you can
actually get yourself to be able to see
how well you're doing. And certainly,
it's a bigger incentive, a motive to try
to get your levels up. So, you won't
know if your level's up. You won't know
if you're scoring high, you're well on
your way there, or if you're low and you
need you have a ways to go and need to
try a little bit harder. That's where um
you know a a a spot test for omega-3s
can be really useful.
Yeah. And these are easy to take, too.
So, I don't want people to get overly um
you know, concerned about what it might
involve. It's just a simple finger
prick. You put your little blood spot on
a card, you register it online, and then
you send it in. So, there's no
additional cost that needs to be
exchanged, and ultimately, you get your
results back in your inbox 5 days after
Omega Quant receives it. It's third
party, so it's not like it's something
that Orllo specifically is offering.
We're just partnered with them because
again, we we believe we can show you a
difference. And this is something that
I've never seen anybody as a company
really do before. So, it's an exciting
time.
Yeah. Know, I think it's it's a great um
value ad um to help people benefit from
omega-3s. We need to get this message
out uh as much, you know, more and more
omega-3s are important. other
supplements can be really important as
well. Uh this is, you know, not from my
perspective, it's really emphasizing
just how important it is to be able to
uh up our game. And when it comes to
omega-3, our body doesn't naturally make
it. So, something that we know for a
fact, the evidence is there that it can
help our health, we can get, we should
get it however we can. If you're a
seafood lover, go for it. If you want to
explore it, go for it. If you're uh
vegan or vegetarian and you want to get
it from plants, look, that's a good way
to do it. Choose it. Look up the plants
that actually do it. But you but because
your body doesn't make very much of it
from plants, you're probably going to
want to supplement it. And if you want
to just kind of go for the supplements,
this is, you know, one of those
exceptions. I'm somebody that rarely
puts supplements before food. But in
this particular case, if you want to
make it a no-brainer to be able to get
those healthy omega-3s, get it. Um, uh,
the polar lipid is excellent and get a
blood test because then you can actually
the prick test and now you can actually,
uh, figure out where you stand,
right? Well, I personally took my test
after 4 months of not consuming fish and
I wasn't in the perfect spot. I came in
at 6.37%.
The ideal is 8 to 12%. So now I
personally know what I need to work
towards. I've made the choice to instead
of just taking two soft pills a day,
most days I'm taking three. And I did
something else. I took walnuts and I
added them to my smoothies every
morning. Walnuts is one of the most
powerful omega-3 sources from
terrestrial sources. So, I'm doing two
things at the same time. I'm going to
retest myself after 4 months of doing
this almost every day, right? And
because I don't have a smoothie every
day, but close to every day I have one.
It's a treat. It's a way to get extra
protein. And then I'm also infusing
myself with some more walnuts, right?
and then I can see if I've got to that
ideal of 8% or if I need to make another
adjustment. And so I think that is just
critical for people to understand. It
doesn't have to break the bank. You can
buy this test for $50 directly from
Omega Quant even if your insurance
doesn't cover it and then just add it to
the repertoire. You can bring it to your
doctor and talk about it to them in the
next time you have a session. So, this
is something that's a tool for you and I
really feel like putting people's health
in their own hands is everything that
your work is about. So, I just want to
thank you so much, Dr. Lee, for for
everything that you offer your community
and that you've offered ours. Um, and
just to point people to your website,
too, for anybody who wants to learn
more, that's dubdubdub.dwilliamlee.com.
And of course, you can come to
ornoutian.com
as well and our tested by you page for
all the information you could need about
subscribing to this particular program
and again getting two free tests over
the course of your first six months of
subscription. Um you'll essentially be
getting all the benefit of the omegas
and the assurance that you're making a
difference through thirdparty analysis.
Thank you so much for this time today.
Thank you so much Karina and thanks for
everyone for joining us today.