Omega-3 levels are sub-optimal in 99 percent of Americans

Created August 2017

Discrepancy between Knowledge and Perceptions of Dietary Omega-3 Fatty Acid Intake Compared with the Omega-3 Index

Nutrients 2017, 9(9), 930; doi:10.3390/nu9090930

Sowmyanarayanan V. Thuppal 1, Clemens von Schacky 2, William S. Harris 3,4, Katherine D. Sherif 5, Nigel Denby 6, Suzanne R. Steinbaum 7, Bryan Haycock 8,† and Regan L. Bailey 9,*

Study uses "optimal" index as > 8 to prevent cardiovascular disease Germany has more people with indices > 8 - perhaps due to eating more fish 60% of Americans and Germans believe that they have an adequate diet, and do not need to supplement 1. See also VitaminDWiki * Overview: Omega-3 many benefits include helping vitamin D * For every Omega-3 dollar there is a 84 dollar savings in Cardiovascular costs - Foster and Sullivan April 2016 * High dose Omega-3 probably reduces heart problems – American Heart Association – March 2017 * Omega-3 is vital for health, mail-in test is low cost and accurate * Cardiovascular calcification prevented by Omega-3, Magnesium, Vitamin K, and Vitamin D – April 2015 * Atrial fibrillation sometimes treated by Omega-3 – meta-analysis Sept 2015 * 2.7 fewer days in hospital after surgery if had taken Omega-3 (19 RCT) – meta-analysis – June 2017 * Sepsis: 4 fewer days in ICU if add Omega-3 – meta-analysis of 12 RCT – June 2017 * Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease treated by Omega-3 – three meta-analysis 2016-2017 * Omega-3 in breast milk increases with increased Omega-3 intake (review of 22 studies) -Aug 2017 * Omega-3 supplementation during pregnancy reduce early preterm births (save 1500 USD per child) – Aug 2016 * Omega-3 helps pregnancy in many ways: preterm 26 percent less likely etc – review July 2012 * I use Vectomega brand of Omega-3 – Admin of VitaminDWiki, May 2014 * Omega-3 low in family physicians – half thought they had enough, but only 1 in 20 were OK – April 2017 * Increasing Omega-3 reduces heart problems, autism, depression, preterm birth, breast cancer, etc.

📄 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

Omega-3 index for Americans (pink is sub-optimal)

Little is known about the relationship between perceptions of nutrient adequacy and biomarkers of nutrition status. This cross-sectional study of U.S. and German adults (n = 200; 18–80 years) compared dietary practices, knowledge, and beliefs of omega-3 fatty acids (O3-FA) with the omega-3 index (O3-I), an erythrocyte-based biomarker associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. More than half of adults believed that O3-FAs are beneficial for heart and brain health and could correctly identify the food sources of O3-FA. However, the mean O3-I in the U.S. (4.3%) and Germany (5.5%) puts the majority of adults sampled (99%) in intermediate or high CVD-risk categories. More Americans were considered at high CVD-risk (40%) when compared with Germans (10%). In the U.S., but not Germany, women had a significantly higher O3-I than men (4.8% vs. 3.8%, p < 0.001). In the intermediate CVD-risk group, about one-third of adults in both countries (30% in the U.S. and 27% in Germany) believed their diet was adequate in O3-FA. Notably, mean O3-I concentrations did not significantly differ with dietary perceptions of adequacy. More adults in Germany (26%) than in the U.S. (10%) believed that dietary supplements are needed to achieve a balanced diet. In spite of adequate knowledge about food sources and a consistent belief that O3-FA are important for health, very few participants had O3-I concentrations in the range for CVD protection.

Their reference for > 8 is "Global survey of the omega-3 fatty acids . . . " 2016

Download the Global Survey PDF from VitaminDWiki

main page on VitaminDWiki =Omega-3 map (most of the world has low levels) – May 2016

Very few regions have "optimal levels" of Omega-3

Tags: Omega-3