Full Transcript Omega-3 Basics and Essential Fatty Acids 0:00 I hate this, but vegans get scared into thinking that animal products are better 0:04 and then find a substitute. >> It's crazy. 0:06 >> It causes cancer, causes heart attacks, it causes stroke, it increases diabetes 0:11 risk. Why are we still stuck on this outdated idea? You are saying that the 0:17 DHA industry is a scam and we do not need to take it. Is that correct? 0:25 Are you ready to blow the lid on the fishing industry as well as potentially 0:28 the algae oil supplement industry, too? Are they really a scam? Let's 0:32 scrutinize. First and foremost, which omegas are essential? So, there are only 0:37 two essential fatty acids. That is omega-3, ALA, which only is made in novo 0:45 by plants and some microorganisms, like fungi. But animals cannot make ALA, 0:51 period. That's why it's called essential. The term essential comes from 0:55 the fact that the human body cannot make it at all or in sufficient amounts, so 1:01 that we must get it from our diet. It's essential for us to get it from outside 1:06 of our body cuz our body can't make it. So, there are only two. It's ALA omega-3 1:11 and LA omega-6. And so, I guess within the plant-based community, there's this 1:16 conversation around ALA converting to DHA. Most people acknowledge and accept 1:22 that it does convert. Some people, however, say it doesn't convert enough 1:27 and so, we need to supplement. So, I guess the question is does ALA convert 1:31 to DHA efficiently and sufficiently? So, the conversion rate was based on the 1:36 assumption from the omega-3 blood test. So, they thought we measure only 1% of 1:43 ALA being converted in the blood. That much is true. Yeah, that's been done 1:47 over and over countless times. What do you mean? Let's just break that down. 1:50 What do you mean 1%? >> So, ALA is converted at a ratio of about 1:54 1%. So, about 1% of ALA is converted to DHA in the So, you need to flood the 2:00 system with ALA. Is this why people think like you need loads of flax seeds 2:05 and nuts because of that or is that just another form of misinformation cuz you 2:09 don't actually need that much, do you? You don't because one, the red blood 2:13 cell is not the proper place to measure DHA. Two, it's not the right form of DHA 2:20 that the brain actually uses and the brain actually incorporates into its 2:24 tissue. So, the form of DHA that you consume in fish oil or 2:31 algae oil is triglyceride form of DHA. This is what you get in supplements. 2:37 This is what you get in animal foods like fish, meat or dairy. It's a 2:41 triglyceride bound form. So, that actually has to be converted. Red blood 2:45 cells will soak that up cuz they can actually use that. The brain can't use 2:50 it at all. There's a great BDNF study that showed the brain didn't use DHA
ALA Conversion and DHA Misconceptions 2:55 almost at all. The graph is like this. This is tag DHA. This is LPC DHA. It was 3:02 completely vertical. So, the brain's using a different form of DHA and our 3:07 body doesn't convert ALA to DHA in the blood. Why does it not do that? Many 3:14 different great reasons. DHA is a long chain of carbons. When it has double 3:20 bonds, oxygen can bind to that. So, DHA oxidizes rapidly and strongly. That 3:27 means most of the DHA most people are taking in a supplement form is already 3:33 oxidized. It's rancid oil. Now, that would be bad enough, but that oxidation 3:39 DHA bumps up against LDL cholesterol in our blood and now the LDL cholesterol is 3:45 oxidized. We know DHA increases oxidized LDL cholesterol. LDL cholesterol does 3:53 not cause heart attacks. Does not cause placking. Oxidized LDL cholesterol does. 3:59 That's when it enters into our endothelial lining, forms plaques, and 4:04 causes heart attacks, strokes, and hypertension. So, taking this DHA can 4:10 increase LDL cholesterol in the blood. We know that. Even algae DHA increases 4:17 LDL cholesterol. Just 700 mg of DHA in its preformed state introduced into our 4:23 bloodstream increases LDL by 7%. I actually had a guy taking algae DHA that 4:29 was vegan, and he said, "I can't get my cholesterol down." I said, "Are you 4:32 taking algae DHA?" He said, "Yeah." I said, "Stop it, and let me know what 4:35 happens." And he goes, "My LDL dropped like a rock." And I said, "Yeah, that's 4:39 cuz you were forcing it to increase LDL cholesterol." So, algae is one form of 4:45 DHA. Are there any other forms? And just to be really, really clear, you are 4:50 saying that the DHA industry is a scam, and we do not need to take it. Is that 4:55 correct? 100%. What are the sources then of DHA? So, let's go through these 5:00 industries one by one. Algae, what else? Plants do not make DHA, period. There 5:06 are a few plants that can make EPA, but no DHA. Algae is not a plant. Most 5:11 people think it's a plant. It is not. It's more in the fungi and protista 5:15 kingdom. And then animals make DHA. So, it's interesting that two omegas, 5:22 omega-3 and omega-6, that our body controls tightly are DHA and arachidonic 5:28 acid. Plants do not make either one of those. They make precursors. They make 5:33 ALA and LA, which can convert down to arachidonic acid and DHA. But our body 5:40 regulates how much conversion happens, and it does so through a step-by-step 5:46 enzyme process. Most people do not understand that there are six major 5:52 forms of omega-3. There's actually more than that, but six major forms of 5:56 omega-3. ALA, which is made by plants, it's the only essential fatty acid at 6:00 the top. Then it converts down to SDA or stearidonic acid. That's made by some 6:06 plants like hemp or ahiflower. And then ETA, then EPA. Now, EPA is the first one 6:13 that most people will probably recognize. That's used by the heart, 6:16 great for improving cardiovascular health. And then DPA, which is highest 6:21 in mother's milk because it's the direct precursor to the following one down at 6:26 the bottom, DHA. Now, this pathway is unidirectional. It means it goes only 6:31 one way. So, ALA can make all five of the other forms, SDA, ETA, EPA, DPA, 6:38 DHA. If you take DHA, that's all you get. DHA can't make any of the other 6:43 forms. So, all you're getting is DHA. Why would you not take the first one, 6:48 which can give you all six forms, instead take the bottom one, which only 6:52 gives you DHA? And that's the reason it's at the bottom is because we need it 6:57 the least. If we needed it the most, it would be higher on the conversion rate. 7:01 >> Basically, the message is it's a scam. And so, what do you think then the the 7:05 people that are saying that ALA can't efficiently convert? Just in a nutshell, 7:10 why can ALA not convert efficiently enough to DHA? That's just patently 7:16 false. It does. It always has. They made that assumption because they looked at 7:21 only the blood. They have only used red blood cell data to say, "Oh, you're too
Why DHA Supplements Are Criticized 7:27 low in ALA conversion." Look, ALA goes to the liver. There it's converted to 7:33 LPC-DHA. This does not show up in the bloodstream. So, all of this conversion 7:38 of ALA, which is six to 10 times the amount that's converted in the blood 7:43 does not show up in blood tests, period. The amount that's in the brain is about 7:49 3%. The amount that's in fat is another 4 or 5%. All of this does not show up in 7:54 the blood. So, about 90% or more of the conversion of ALA is not present in a 8:01 blood cell blood cell test. That's why it's so terribly wrong. 8:06 >> Sorry, I feel going to have to repeat yourself, but I feel like if I'm 8:09 thinking this then other people will. So, I just think of the equation as ALA 8:13 from plants goes to DHA. What is EPA? Can you just describe that? Is that in 8:19 supplement form? Is that in food form? And is it dangerous to to consume either 8:24 whole food or refined processed supplement form? 8:27 >> Yes. So, again, there are six forms of omega-3, not just EPA and DHA. Those are 8:34 only two out of the six. Our body uses all six. It uses ALA. It uses SDA. It 8:41 uses ETA. Then it converts to EPA. So, it's a conversion. Between each one of 8:46 those conversion steps is an enzyme. The first one's called delta-6 desaturase. 8:51 It's an enzyme that converts ALA down to the next step, which is SDA. Then 8:56 another enzyme converts it down. And another enzyme converts down and down 9:01 and down and down the conversion goes to finally DHA. Our body, through 9:06 epigenetics, it turns on a gene and produces more of that enzyme. And then 9:10 you get more conversion of that. And if you introduce DHA in a preformed state, 9:17 our body says, "Oh, we've already made enough. Let's turn off those enzymes." 9:21 And it slows down or even stops the conversion rate. So, I'm seeing vegans 9:26 get scared that they're not getting enough DHA. With 98% 9:31 of their omega-3 is coming from ALA. I mean to say, that's what they're 9:35 consuming on a daily basis. Then they take DHA and the body is tricked into 9:40 thinking it made that DHA and since that's our physiology, it says, "Oh, 9:45 wait, that's too much. Stop converting." So, 99% of your omega-3 intake all of a 9:52 sudden stops converting or converts at a really low basis. Well, that's what we 9:56 see in those who eat fish or consume omega-3 supplements. Their conversion 10:01 rates are really, really low and the vast majority of people were standard 10:06 American diets. Everybody in the original fish oil studies were standard 10:10 American diets. They were consuming preformed DHA. This tricks the body into 10:15 thinking, "Oh, I've got too much. I've got too enough. Shut down the conversion 10:19 rate." So, they said, "Well, what about the opposite?" So, back in 2010, 10:24 the EPIC Norfolk study said, "Well, let's look at that. Is there a 10:28 difference in conversion rates between vegans and non-vegans and fish eaters, 10:32 right?" And they found that vegans have the highest conversion rates. So, they 10:37 said, "The best way to increase your conversion rate is to not consume DHA." 10:43 What do you think is worse? Is it DHA supplement algae or fish oil? Actually, 10:49 they're bioidentical. So, same negative effects for both. Algae increases AFib 10:53 just like fish oil does. Algae increases oxidation of the blood just like fish 10:59 oil does. Algae increases LDL cholesterol just like fish oil does. No 11:04 improvement. I hate this that vegans get scared into thinking that animal 11:08 products are better and then find a substitute. It's like putting heme iron 11:12 in the Impossible Burgers. I'm like, "Heme iron? No one should be taking heme 11:17 iron. It causes cancer. It causes heart attacks. It causes stroke. It increases 11:22 diabetes risk." And then we're copying the bad habits, the bad nutrition of 11:27 animal products. It's crazy. So, we You need to stay away from from both. 11:32 Obviously, from an ethical standpoint, ecologically, obviously, fish industry 11:35 is like the worst, right? But you're saying from a health standpoint, they're 11:39 pretty much identical. >> Identical. DHA is DHA is DHA. Now, the 11:42 forms of DHA are different. Once it's in the liver, it becomes LPC DHA, doesn't
Plant-Based Omega Pathways and Health Effects 11:48 cause the harm that we see does it. This is exactly why the plants have it right. 11:52 Do a precursor so that the body can convert it in the right place, in the 11:58 tissues, in the brain, in the fat, in the liver, where it can be safely 12:02 converted to a form that doesn't harm our health. You don't want it in its 12:07 free animal form or free algae form cuz that can harm our health. That our body 12:12 decide where to convert it, what tissues to convert it, how much to convert, and 12:18 keep those under tight regulation. It's a a really interesting study they did on 12:23 dolphins, and they found that dolphins consume 165 times more DHA than humans, 12:29 but their blood levels are not much different. Why? Because their body is 12:33 already adapted to shuttling that DHA out of the bloodstream as fast as it 12:39 possibly can so it doesn't even show up. Now, human beings are overriding that 12:43 thinking we know better. Oh, I got to take DHA, so let me dump a whole bunch 12:48 of DHA in my bloodstream. But we've never consumed that high amounts of DHA 12:53 except in a few populations like the Inuits that relied on fish, but look at 12:58 them. Their Inuit populations were dying at 35 years of age. I wouldn't say that 13:03 that's a healthy path to be going. Their bodies also shuttled that DHA to outside 13:09 the body fat, to subcutaneous fat to use it on a daily basis in a very small 13:13 amounts. Our bodies are not adapted to that in warmer climates. Doesn't the 13:17 fishing industry supplement fish with algae supplements? Yes. If you fish 13:23 farm, the DHA levels go way down. So if you've got farmed fish, fish grown in 13:28 farms rather than the open sea, the DHA levels drop significantly. So, they 13:33 actually have to feed the fish additional DHA. So, they're catching 13:37 sardines to feed the bigger fish that they're farming in order to feed humans. 13:42 That's like three levels of ridiculousness rather than just getting 13:46 it from the plants, the ALA, which is a renewable resource. Fish in the ocean 13:50 are not a renewable resource as much as they we like to think so. We've already 13:54 depleted over 50% of the entire species of all aquatic animals, 70% of fresh 14:00 water. And 90% of large fish is a statistic that I saw. The ones that 14:05 humans eat, it's 90 to completely gone in some species. Yeah, it's crazy. So, 14:10 okay, you're basically saying say no to DHA supplements, say no to fish oil, 14:17 algae, just stick with plants. Who has been responsible for putting out this 14:22 misinformation or propagating this silence? People who haven't read the 14:26 research that I have and it's amazing research that is coming out of the 14:31 University of Toronto. Two of the professors there, 14:34 Dr. Adam Metherel and Dr. Richard Bazinet, are leading the charge. They 14:38 have developed a whole new method of tracing what happens to the ALA when it 14:44 goes into our body, what tissues it goes into the body, where the conversion is 14:47 at. This method just totally blows away the omega-3 index blood test, making it 14:54 worthless for vegans and very inaccurate for everybody else. Dr. Ella Baker is 15:00 another researcher that is leading charge. I don't want to name names of 15:04 people who are propagating the myths. Many of you probably already know who 15:08 they are, but Dr. Milton Mills, Dr. Tim Radak, one of my favorite researchers on 15:13 omega nutrition, professor, university professor, teaches this omega-3 15:18 nutrition, watch his videos. They're incredible. He's not been getting much 15:23 press. He's not an influencer. He's a science guy. He's a true omega 15:26 researcher. But Dr. Ella Baker, Dr. Richard Bazinet, Dr. Adam Methrol, Dr. 15:31 Tim Radeck all understand this. On the vegan side, Dr. Frank Sabatino, Dr. 15:37 Milton Mills all aware of this research, all in firmly in this camp of this 15:42 understanding. Look, the plants have always had it right. It didn't make 15:45 sense to me 40 years ago when I went vegan to say, "Oh, everything is about a 15:50 plant-based diet is health promoting. All the fiber, all the phytonutrients, 15:53 all the, you know, everything is healthier for you except omega-3. All of 15:57 the essential amino acids are made by plants. All of the essential fatty acids 16:02 are made by plants. Animals don't make either of them. Why are we still stuck 16:06 on this outdated idea that somehow we've got to get these converted nutrients 16:11 that are converted by other animals when our body converts them just like those 16:16 animals? You can't [clears throat] preform EPA and DHA from a cow. Where 16:20 does a cow get EPA and DHA? By converting ALA in the grass that it eats 16:25 all day long. That's how the EPA and DHA show up in the milk, show up in the 16:29 meat. That's how it happens. >> Where do carnivores get their omegas 16:33 from? Yeah, so carnivores have lost the ability. Fish, which carnivore fish, 16:38 there's some plant eating fish, and carnivore animals, land animals, get 16:42 their omega-3s from other animals, which means EPA and DHA. So, their body 16:47 doesn't even use ALA SDA or ETA at all. They don't have the enzymes to convert 16:53 those. They can't use them. So, they just get burned up as fat calories. They 16:59 only use EPA, DPA, and DHA, the bottom three. So, scientists said, "Well, if 17:04 that's the case, are those first three forms of omega even important?" So, it 17:09 was a powerful study done to look at just that. It's called the Determinants 17:14 of Fluid Intelligence and Healthy Aging. So, this study showed that consuming the 17:19 highest amounts of ALA, SDA, and ETA had higher fluid intelligence, and catch 17:26 this, greater gray brain matter preservation. Gray brain matter, that's
B12, Soil, and Closing Remarks 17:31 the processing brain part of the brain. That's all where we do all our thinking. 17:35 So, better preservation of our brain. That's less brain shrinkage when we 17:40 consume the first three, ALA, SDA, and ETA. And guess what? EPA and DHA cannot 17:47 give you any of that. They even looked at that and found that people taking EPA 17:51 and DHA had zero SDA and ETA in their bloodstream. 17:56 It wasn't there. So, this can only be gotten by plants providing the precursor 18:02 ALA or SDA as in ahiflower. This is important. I personally want more more 18:08 of my brain when I'm older. I'm 63 now, and higher fluid intelligence. Yeah, I 18:13 think that's important. And this is done by ALA, not by EPA or DHA. 18:18 >> Is it true that high quantities of DHA in the blood correlate with and 18:22 correspond to high rates of cancer, specifically prostate cancer? That is 18:26 correct. Up to 71% increased risk for prostate cancer 18:32 death. Not just getting prostate cancer, dying from it. Why is that? Remember the 18:38 membrane fluidity? Prostate has membranes, too. And when you increase 18:44 the fluidity by having high amounts of DHA in the bloodstream, it negatively 18:49 impacts the prostate. The prostate then starts allowing in hormones that it 18:55 would normally be able to block, including DHT and estrogen, which both 19:01 are linked causally to prostate cancer. So, what you're doing is making the 19:06 prostate more susceptible to the things that causes cancer and kills people by 19:12 accelerating that path. It's throughout. ALA and EPA decrease LDL cholesterol. 19:18 They increase cardiovascular health. They decrease the risk for diabetes. DHA 19:23 does not decrease the risk for diabetes. Does not decrease the risk for dementia. 19:28 ALA increases your body's protective effects against early onset dementia 19:33 than DHA does. DHA is structural for the brain. Yes, it's important for our 19:38 structure, but once we have our brain built, we only need a tiny little bit to 19:42 repair the the damaged parts of the cells. That's all we need. It's like 19:46 bones. And it's interesting, we have about 4,000 mg of DHA in our brain, 19:52 right? 4 g of it. But we only need 4 mg a day just to repair and patch the 19:57 damaged stuff. Same with the bones. The bones have about 4,000 g of calcium 20:03 stored in our bones, but we only need about 1,000. So the same ratio, 1,000 to 20:09 1, basically, is what we have. So just because calcium is important for bones 20:14 doesn't mean we need 40 g of calcium a day. That would end up causing heart 20:19 attacks. Same with DHA. When we put too much DHA, we cause heart attacks, atrial 20:24 fibrillation, stroke, the disease states, higher risk for cancer, higher 20:29 risk for diabetes. DHA, it's a really important thing, but in the right 20:35 amounts. Let our body decide what the right amounts are, not just us 20:40 arbitrarily sticking in these huge amounts and saying, "Okay, body, deal 20:44 with it." That's not the way to work with our physiology. And that's not the 20:48 way it is in our diets. In our diets, it's almost all ALA. Then our body says, 20:54 "Okay, a precursor. I can store ALA in my fat and convert it to DHA only when I 21:00 need it, only in the amounts that I need it, only in the tissues that needs it, 21:04 only in the form of DHA that the brain needs. This is how our body regulates 21:09 the entire process and we're just dumping this whole bunch of DHA in the 21:13 wrong form, in the wrong amount, in the wrong place into the bloodstream where 21:18 it can hurt the heart, hurt the blood, do all kinds of damage. It's foolish. 21:22 Look, I've read all this research and there are other researchers out there 21:25 who have read this. I am just dumbfounded why doctors, practitioners 21:30 still continue to preach, "Oh, but you better take your DHA." It's just wrong. 21:35 Yeah, they're just not educated, are they? And I think maybe there's an issue 21:39 because there's so many more pressing issues at play with nutrition. You know, 21:43 the debate on saturated fat. For vegans, maybe you know, B12 is more of an issue. 21:47 So, it's kind of like a secondary topic and so people don't really scrutinize 21:50 it. >> B12 is is is similar. That's the other 21:53 major nutrient that everybody says it's it's not found in plants, which is also 21:57 false. B12 is found in plants. It's found in a lot of plants grown in 22:01 nature. We have studies that show that. Just Google it. B12 in wild plants and 22:06 you'll see. Yeah, they have plenty. Now, the problem with B12 is not that plants 22:11 can't provide B12. They can. It's the soil. B12 bacteria in the soil can get 22:16 absorbed and even live inside of plants called enteric B12 producers. There's 22:21 these pink forms of bacteria that actually get absorbed to the roots of 22:25 plants and can form B12 right inside the plant. So, they said, "All right, well, 22:29 let's study that. Let's just put some of these bacteria back into the soil where 22:33 they belong and grow some lettuce in there." So, they did that. The 22:36 scientists did this in a pilot study and sure enough, just a single serving of 22:41 lettuce, good old lettuce, a single serving, right? Less than a salad, gave 22:46 you 200% of your daily value of B12. If the soil had B12 in it. The problem is 22:52 our modern farming techniques have robbed everything from the soil. Now, 22:56 there's no B12 bacteria in it. So, the plants cannot absorb B12 cuz it ISN'T IN 23:01 THE SOIL. YOU CAN'T HAVE B12 in your plants if it's not in the soil. Hey, 23:05 same with the animals. We have to feed farm-raised, lot-raised cows B12 because 23:11 they're not grazing. They don't get it from nature. So, it's the same thing. 23:15 So, this B12 myth is just garbage, too, just like the DHA myth is garbage. 23:24 >> [music]
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