In this short talk Dr. David Perlmutter explains why omega‑3 fatty acids are essential for counteracting the high omega‑6 intake common in the American diet. He reviews the main supplemental sources—krill oil, algae‑derived oil, and fish oil—highlighting sustainability issues with krill harvesting, the typical lack of EPA in algae‑derived DHA, and the importance of choosing a clean, low‑oxidation fish oil that provides both EPA and DHA. He recommends a daily DHA intake of about 1,000–1,200 mg, advises checking capsule labels for DHA content, storing supplements in the refrigerator to limit oxidation, and obtaining DHA naturally from wild salmon or other wild fish.
Chapters
Everybody's heard that we have to have high levels of omega-3s in our diet, and I agree with that. By and large, omega-3 oils tend to be inflammation reducing, hopefully will offset the incredible amount of omega-6s that have found their way into the American diet in the form of various vegetable oils that seem to be so commonly used in our society. But the question is, how do we make sense of all the omega-3s that are out there? Krill oil, algae-derived oil, fish-derived oil, and it really can be a bit compelling. I know that there's a big push for krill oil. I'm concerned about krill oil from at least the perspective of sustainability. We now know that there are factory ships that have gone into Antarctica and are really harvesting excessive amounts of krill. Krill is the beginning of a food chain that makes its way all the way up to cetaceans, which are whales and porpoises and other mammals. So we don't want to threaten our mammal friends. So I think that we need to look at more sustainable choices. Algae-derived DHA is certainly very sustainable, does provide DHA, a very important omega-3, but typically does not include the EPA component. So I tend to recommend I think that there are some very good sources of clean fish oil with low levels of oxidation that do contain DHA along with the EPA. I like a dosage of the DHA of around 1,000 to 1,200 milligrams per day. And it's important to look at the capsule or at least the label, and that'll tell you how much DHA is in each capsule. Then of course you've got to do the math. I think it's reasonable to keep your omega-3 supplement in the refrigerator. To help reduce its oxidation, oxidation, and recognize that you can get a lot of DHA just by eating some wild salmon or other, other wild fish.
