Do you know your omega-3 status?

Many Americans don’t.

Currently, 95.7% of Americans are not consuming enough omega-3 EPA + DHA to reach cardioprotective levels. 1. 

A large and growing body of evidence shows that insufficient levels of omega-3 EPA + DHA may be associated with serious health complications for many Americans. 2.

Low levels of omega-3 are related to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death among both men and women in the United States. 3.

Harvard researchers evaluated the mortality effects of several dietary, lifestyle and metabolic risk factors in the United States. They found that insufficient levels of omega-3 were associated with serious health complications and nearly 100,000 premature deaths each year. 4.

Don't be a statistic when Omega-3s offer such a wealth of health benefits. Get 500 mg of EPA DHA Omega-3 daily. You can do that by having two fish meals each week that feature salmon, tuna, sardines or other high omega-3 fish.  

If you have heart disease or risk factors that lead to higher risk of heart disease you need 1000 mg of EPA DHA daily. 

Finally if you have elevated triglycerides you should aim for 4000 mg of EPA DHA daily.

Ask your doctor to run a simple blood test, the Omega-3 Index at your next visit. The goal for optimal health is 8%.

1. Murphy RA, Yu EA, Ciappio ED, Mehta S, McBurney MI.Suboptimal Plasma Long Chain n-3 Concentrations are Common among Adults in theUnited States, NHANES 2003–2004.

2.  Kris-Etherton PM, Harris WS, Appel LJ. Fishconsumption, fish oil, omega-3 fatty acids, and cardiovascular disease. Circulation.2002;106:2747-57.

3. Mozaffarian D, Benjamin EJ, Go AS et al. Heart Diseaseand Stroke Statistics-2016 Update: A Report From the American HeartAssociation. Circulation. 2016;133:e38-e360

4. Danaei G, Ding E, Ezzati M et al. The preventable causes of death in the United States: Comparative risk assessment of dietary, lifestyle, and metabolic risk factors. PLoS Med. 2009;6:e1000058

 

A growing understanding of the connection between our gut and our brain.

Although the interaction between our brain and gut has been studied for years, its complexities run deeper than initially thought. It seems that our minds are, in some part, controlled by the bacteria in our bowels.

The gut has defenses against pathogens, but, at the same time, it encourages the survival and growth of "healthy" gut bacteria.

Of course, these bacteria do benefit from the warmth and nutrition in our bowels, but it is not a one-way relationship - they also give back.

Some species benefit us by breaking dietary fiber down into short-chain fatty acids that we can then absorb and use. They metabolize a number of compounds on our behalf and play a role in the synthesis of  vitamins B and K.

On the other hand, recent research infers that imbalance of gut bacteria might be an important factor in inflammatory and autoimmune conditions.

The microbiome's role in health and disease is only slowly giving up its secrets. The latest and perhaps most remarkable finding is the ability that gut bacteria have to moderate our brain and behavior.

The links between our gut and brain are hormonal, immunological, and neural, via the central nervous system and the enteric nervous system, which governs the function of the gut. Collectively, they are termed the gut-brain axis.

These gut-brain conversations have been studied for some time. However, a new level to this partnership has recently been glimpsed; researchers are now considering the influence of our microbiome on the gut-brain axis. In other words, researchers are asking: do the bacteria in our gut affect our psychology and behavior?

The question is whether adding beneficial gut bacteria to an animal can make a difference. Research seems to say yes.

A study published in the Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility, collated the results of studies looking at the effects of probiotics on central nervous system function in both humans and animals.

They examined 25 animal and 15 human studies, most of which used Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus over a 2-4-week period. Although, as the authors mention, translating animal studies like this into human terms is a dodgy game. They concluded: "These probiotics showed efficacy in improving psychiatric disorder-related behaviors including anxiety, depression, autism spectrum disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and memory abilities, including spatial and non-spatial memory."

What if everything you believe about mammograms has been wrong?

Ladies? Mammograms are the best way you can stay safe from breast cancer right?

 

Last year, results from a 25-year follow-up of two landmark studies tracking about 90,000 women concluded that mammography did not reduce breast cancer deaths at all.

In fact a mammogram means you are at least three times more likely to be diagnosed and treated for a cancer that never would have harmed you rather than saving your life. But perhaps the most infuriating thing is that scientific evidence for the harms of mammography has been available—published in medicine's most highly regarded journals—for decades.

Before you rush to that annual screening please read this very informative article on the reality of mammograms and the very real possibility of false positives and overdiagnosis.

Planning a pregnancy? Be sure you start the prenatal before trying to conceive.

Taking a prenatal multivitamin during pregnancy may reduce the risk of losing the baby by 55%, compared to not taking a multivitamin, says a new study. 

When a woman is on the prenatal before she conceives, that is every single day of the pregnancy, the risk reduction climbs to 79%.

This is just too important a benefit to ignore. It is simple and very inexpensive to take a high quality multi-vitamin or prenatal multi-vitamin. Women of childbearing age who would welcome a pregnancy would be well advised to select a multi that provides not just the typical nutrients including folic acid, but that includes the omega-3 DHA as well. Here are two of my favorites.

One more thing the study found, limit coffee. The risk of miscarriage increases when a woman drinks more than two cups of coffee per day.

Source: Fertility and Sterility
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2016.03.009
“Lifestyle and pregnancy loss in a contemporary cohort of women recruited before conception: The LIFE Study”
Authors: G.M. Buck Louis, et al.