Why Omega-3s Matter So Much with Amber Vitale of Garden of Life
Omega-3s do so much good it’s one supplement we recommend EVERYONE take. The researched benefits speak for themselves, but not all fish oil’s and other omega-3 supplements are created equal. Heavy metal contamination, diluted products, and low dosing are all realities for many fish oil supplements, but this episode will help you pick the right omega-3 for your needs.
Meet Amber:
This week we’re excited to welcome back Amber Vitale. Amber is a certified nutritionist and Regional Educator for Garden of Life and we chat about why omega-3s are so vital for our well-being, what to look for in a quality supplement, and some new fish oil products being offered by Garden of Life.
Some Points We Discuss:
The importance of testing your omega-3 levels (3:31)
What should we look for when selecting an Omega-3 supplement? (10:07)
What types of fish produce the best quality fish oil? (21:40)
What is the best dosage of Omega-3 for adults? (23:32)
Garden of Life recently released some new Omega-3s. What makes those different? (31:34)
Some Key Takeaways From This Episode:
Don’t sacrifice quality for the sake of price when it comes to Omega-3. (6:00)
We are finding more and more about the benefits of Omega-3s far beyond cardiovascular health. (7:13)
Certifications and understanding what the labels reveal are critical when selecting a good quality Omega-3. (20:38)
We need a high level of Omega-3s to compensate for the poor quality oils and excessive omega-6 oils in our diets. (26:48)
Products + Resources:
Get Social with Amber:
Instagram @amberlynnvitale
Facebook @amberlynnvitale
Website: https://www.amberlynnvitale.com
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SHOW TRANSCRIPT
Brian Strickland: [00:00:00] Today's episode is brought to you by Garden of Life. Garden of Life is the number one brand in the natural products industry and they’re fanatical about food and whole food supplements. Regardless of the product, they always use organic, non-GMO food as a starting point. They are dedicated to not only providing the cleanest, whole food supplements out there but to complete traceability so that you know where each and every ingredient in their products comes from. They offer a wide variety of products from multi vitamins, protein powders, fish oil, probiotics, and even CBD. To learn more visit gardenoflife.com Hello friends and welcome back to The Holistic Navigator Podcast where we believe in the body's capacity for self healing if it's given the proper nutrients and care deserves. I'm Brian Strickland the producer of the show and here with me in the studio as always is our host Ed Jones on today's episode. We have the pleasure of speaking with Amber Vitale once again. [00:01:00] Amber is a certified nutritionist and currently a full-time Regional Educator for Garden of Life and she's going to walk us through why Omega-3s are so important to our health and tell us a little about their new line of fish oils. We've got a fair amount of ground to cover, so let's go ahead and jump right in. Here's the host of the show, Mr. Ed Jones.
Ed Jones: Thank you Brian very much. And today we have one of the topics that is near and dear to my heart because I understand the absolute importance of the the topic at hand, which is omega-3. And I am welcoming one of the experts that I really trust as far as information and research to guide us down this really jungle because there's a lot of confusion as to so many questions with Omega-3s. Can we get it from food alone? What kind of supplements should we use if we do? Blood testing? Quality? Dosage? What does [00:02:00] it do? How does it work? I mean there's you could easily talk for 2 to 3 hours for omega-3 information and I will say that again the most general practitioners and people in the medical field just simply aren't schooled on it. They don't mean not to know this but they didn't learn it in school. So you have to access things like, you know, The Holistic Navigator in order to find the nitty-gritty. But today we have Amber Vitale from Garden of Life. She's the educator for the North American part of Garden of Life and I've met her before and we've had her on the Holistic Navigator on two different episodes. That was fantastic. So welcome back to The Holistic Navigator, Amber.
Amber Vitale: Thank you so much Ed. Glad to be here.
Ed Jones: She is a walking encyclopedia. I will tell you so hang on and you know, I don't think you'll need to make notes you'll probably remember most of this but you know, Amber when I been doing this for 41 [00:03:00] years, and I've been very fortunate. In the past, I would say five years because of the freedom of blood testing that can be done now without having to go and beg for it at a doctor's office at excessive prices. Now that it's gone online and many places offer choices. I started looking at the omega-3 levels of many many clients about 3 to 4 years ago. And I know that you know, the more I learn about this omega-3 level in our body, the more I really value it as probably one of the most important tests that I think a person can have and in fact, I do respect Dr. Mercola for his information that he puts out in one of the articles which I really have relied on which is entitled omega-3 level is the best predictor of mortality. And it’s actually more important than cholesterol it’s more important than most tests. And I'll tell a little personal [00:04:00] story here before we get into the nitty-gritty of what people need to know. My daughter who is now 30 years old she wanted to get her pregnant with her first child start talking about it about two years ago. Well, I doubt many of you will ever meet anyone who will eat a more clean, holistic diet than Cady, my daughter. And you know me she wouldn't eat farm-raised salmon. She would only eat the wild caught she tucks supplements on a pretty generous amount. And so I was like convinced she would have plenty of Omega-3 but because of who I am I decided that we would do a blood test along with many things but omega-3 had to be included. We want to have an index of eight percent if you want the optimal levels of these fats floating through your bloodstream. Well, I figured Cady would be close to that. Oh, no, she was down to two percent because whatever reasons because [00:05:00] we don't always know the reasons. I know people who don't take any supplements and could be 6%. But she was low. What that would have done if we had not tested, and you know this I'm sure Amber, very well better than I, is it could have produced a baby with less optimal IQ, less optimal health and she did have a child is 10 months old and just the most amazing clear-eyed and intellectually sharp little ten-month-old I've ever seen. Was it omega-3? It's like an orchestra. We have to put all the pieces together and this is one of the bigger pieces. So let's just Amber. Let's consider that the people listening right now, they're probably already taking some omega-3, but they're kind of just taking one on the shelf and taking the label directions. Where do we start to truly fine-tune this conversation so that people can optimize their journey to health? Amber Vitale: Well number one and I don't say this because I'm in the industry, but it's better not [00:06:00] to take an omega-3 supplement and then to take one that's oxidized. And this is where you know for years I tried to help people find cheaper Omega-3 supplements. I kind of researched you know who are the big suppliers for the big bottles that you can get in Sam's Club or Costco or Walmart or CVS, you know where you can get it cheaper because people realize hey if I have inflammation, I need a lot of this it seems like you know, that's what everybody's recommending. And it gets expensive. But if you have one that smells fishy or rancid or goes through testing it is oxidized. It's more harmful than good. So this is really one of those areas where you want to have a good quality, very well tested fish oil supplement. If or algal omega-3 if that's the way you're going to go instead of just eating fish that are rich in Omega-3s and the fish skins and other parts of the fish. Obviously eating fish is freshest, but most of us don't have access in the way that we would like to and we're afraid. We've [00:07:00] been taught to be afraid of Mercury and pcbs and dioxins and all kinds of things that are in our ocean, you know, so supplements are really the best option for a lot of people. And I think what's fascinating to me is why we need them and what we're starting to understand about our microbiome, about our endocannabinoid system, about our brain function, about inflammation and our immune system and how all of this comes back to omega-3s. We've known they're useful but the studies did not always prove it, right? They weren't always as giving as much support as we wanted them to like do a heart disease study and in this one it worked and then that one it didn't and we're like what's the difference? And I think what we're starting to see is what types of Omega-3s what kind of oxidation or preservation from oxidation, you know, is that supplement guaranteed to have and what other cofactors are in there and we get into things like proresolving mediators and this [00:08:00] discussion that when you eat a fish you're getting a host of nutrients and when you take a supplement, it could be very refined and could be missing certain things that contribute overall to modulating the immune system, helping the nervous system, helping endocrine system, all of which are very important to be fertile to you know, continue to procreate as humans in the best and most optimized way possible, to not have dementia to not have inflammatory conditions, like heart disease and diabetes. Omega-3 is at the center of it. It’s at the apex of all of that.
Ed Jones: Wow, that really sums up the vital importance of this and that it cannot be ignored because you know, there's a hundred reasons, but we just can't seem to optimize our levels of nutrients through normal even healthy eating these days. And I remember this was probably 20 years ago. Dr. Mercola early in his putting out publications [00:09:00] on the internet. He wrote and said I recommend everyone take omega-3 because of all the reasons you said and I recommend going to Costco and buying the big bottle. Well, I was vocal back then and this was two decades ago. So I wrote him a letter and I said, Dr. Mercola I beg to differ with you. I don't think that you're looking into it to the level that you need to because I can assure you that is not quality omega-3 fatty acids. And and you know within three weeks he sent a letter back saying thank you for alarming me to this. I did not know that. But even today that same mentality of you know, the cheaper brands are going to be perfectly fine. And I tell people a lot of times who counseled with me, you know, there's some things that won't make a world of difference. You go to Sam's and Costco and get vitamin C. You know, it's going to be fine and you go there to get a zinc or you go there to get you know, some other few things, commodity items and nutrients are going to be fine. Multivitamins and [00:10:00] Omega-3s are not going to be fine. So what does a person look for if they are going to go into a store or they're going to shop online or something else? And I want to say it's about online before I forget it, you know, our sponsor, nutritionw.com is online for people who need to purchase things. The thing that bothers me about the online and Amazon's is we know heat is destructive to nutrients, especially to things that are oily. Well nutritionw.com their everything shipped with ice packs in the middle of summer so that it helps to preserve some of that don't think that your Omega-3s are going to be super fresh if it's been sitting in a warehouse for four days in the summer people. You gotta protect this stuff. So let's pretend like we're just talking to a kind of a newbie and they've been you know been involved in a few nutrients over the years, only taking a multiple and maybe a vitamin C, but they're wanting to get into omega-3. What would they need to look for?
Amber Vitale: Well, [00:11:00] I think we're looking for different things now than we used to. We used to look at you know, how many capsules are softgels do you want to take? If you want to keep it to a minimum you need a really highly concentrated one in what's called EPA and DHA and these are just the shapes of these omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids that stay very fluid even at cold temperatures. There really what make the fish able to swim in cold Waters and have movement in metabolic activity. If the fish were full of saturated fats like butter and coconut oil it would solidify at those cold temperatures. So this is why really cold water fish are very high in these omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids because they stay fluid at all temperatures. But yes as a result, then they're very susceptible to heat and so now we're really looking for products that have sufficient testing. That you see that they have this EPA and DHA in a pretty high proportion [00:12:00] relative to the amount of actual fat in the soft. Well, there's another omega-3 that we are now realizing DPA which is kind of a reservoir between EPA and DHA. And in fact when they sort out the testing on Omega-3s and your blood status, we find higher levels of DPA and the bloodstream really than anything else because it can go either way. Your body stores it as DPA in the serum and the plasma and it can go into being made into EPA safe for heart tissue or into DHA and cross the bread blood barrier and be active in the brain. If we just analyze the fat in the brain, we'd see lots of DHA. So now I mean, I'm really convinced that I want to see all three of those in measured standardized amounts in a fish oil supplement. And even an algal omega-3 supplement. You can see at least good DHA and EPA some companies will produce an EPA as well. It depends on how [00:13:00] they've selected their algae. And then you know, so now I think what one marker of knowing if your product is really been handled gently, low heat, zero exposure to air and light throughout the whole process respecting the cold chain, you know, not letting it get exposed and oxidized is when you know that there are measurable levels of what are called SPM: Special Pro resolving mediators of inflammation. We make them and Omega-3s will help you make them and that's great. But when you get them from the fish oil or the algal oil their pre made by that organism in its own response to stress and its own immune system’s activity. So you get ready made, ready to go resolvers of inflammation and they're really only present in a fish or an algal oil that has never been allowed to oxidize. Oxidation is like a chain reaction. It's like a neutron [00:14:00] bomb once it starts it reaches a point of acceleration and then it's just unstoppable. So if your fish and fish oil has been allowed to oxidize it they can then try to bleach and deodorize and do all this stuff put antioxidants in, bottle it, but if it then gets exposed to air and transport or heat or you know, you don't use it for a while, that oxidation can accelerate again and you'll have something that's more harmful than good. So I want to see testing. I want to see that I can find measurable amounts of these things on the label. I want to see that there's no genetically modified organism contamination, which is huge in fish oils, not the fish always unless it's tilapia, but the softgels, the tocopherols, the vitamin E antioxidants, the other antioxidants often have those kinds of supply chain contaminations. Brian Stickland: [00:15:01] We're going to pause for just a quick second to talk a little more about our sponsor for this episode, Garden of Life. They're one of the biggest names out there in the natural products industry. And for a good reason. For starters organic, Non-GMO food is the basic starting point for nearly all their supplements. And on top of that they've got the certifications, Beyond organic and non-GMO, there are a certified B-Corp working hard in the social and environmental realm, certified vegan, certified gluten-free, truly grass-fed, NSF, kosher. I mean you get the point. They work hard to provide the consumer with a quality and clean product you would expect and they've got products for everyone. Vitamins, herbals, CBD, specialty food products, greens, probiotics, great protein powders, and of course a new line of fish oil that we're talking about today. And we can't fail to mention that every product is fully tested by third-party independent agencies and other industry experts. So in short any Garden of Life product you buy you can do so with complete confidence [00:16:01]. To learn more visit GardenofLife.com.
Ed Jones: Well, it sounds like quite a confusing area for the novice consumer. However again, I will say that we have improved the ability to educate people to such a degree compared to even 10 years ago because we have enough companies like Garden of Life and a handful when I say handful not many actually percentage-wise. In fact like Nutrition World we vet everything and we have to have documentation of the quality or they won't be sold and Garden of Life I've relied on them for their trustworthiness for so many years. Now and not to get off the subject because I don't want to get into Pro resolving mediators. But I really love that ingredient if we can call it that that does have this total [00:17:01] connection to omega-3, fish, and all that. I know it's also sold separately in a concentrated version and I have seen results with people who were like the inflammation button was stuck on. That means that you know inflammation is a good thing initially because it's part of the healing process, but sometimes due to multiple reasons, the inflammation just doesn't reduce itself. So people go for months and years with this chronic pain, or discomfort, or damage to the body, and pro resolving mediators, which again is part of an omega-3 can actually turn the switch back off it is It is miraculous in some cases. And I do agree with you that you know, very few companies are producing the quality that would preserve that part of that. So again do people need to look for certifications on a bottle? or and again, how about the smell test and the perc test? Is that something that should be paid attention to? Amber Vitale: Well, okay. So [00:18:01] these pro resolving mediators of inflammation like you said when you get them in a fish oil that labels them or you get it in a separate product where they're concentrated their ready-made and so you're not making them very well or your inflammation wouldn't be rampant because out of Omega-3s your cells your immune cells can actually make resolvers of inflammation. Inflammation that was started by mostly your omega-6 fats. So you need both and we tend to have way too many omega-6 fats in our diet relative to 3 and therefore there's a lot of tinder for fires in your body as the way I look at it. It's like a dry forest and then one lightning strike and it just goes off like a matchbox and that's where most of us are at, especially people with inflammatory conditions. And if it was running rampant and you can't put that fire out that means you're deficient in being able to take. You’re either deficient in Omega-3s or deficient in your ability to [00:19:01] take omega-3s and then develop your own resolvers of inflammation out of that or both. So you might need some ready-made sources that you can get from fish oils that label it and from products that isolate those and put them in higher concentrations. But the idea behind sourcing omega-3 that is properly handled is that it will have special pro resolving mediators ready made and if you do that on a daily basis, you're constantly maintaining that balance. Wnd what you find when you've gone in and tested people's plasma levels serum levels I don't know which of omega-3s and they're deficient like that we just know that there's going to be an issue. You know, we've heard hey, you know traditional diet probably was 4 to 1 omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio, but we look at all the research into Japan and we look at cultures that are very dependent upon fish or seafood in their diet and there's is likely one to one if not higher in omega-3 [00:20:01] and omega-6. And they are the studies that really sparked this were Greenland Eskimos if you remember and they Up to their diet and how much fat they ate from whale blubber and seal blubber and they had no heart disease. As long as they didn't introduce conventional foods and food from the cities and the established villages there. If they just continue to be a traditional diet. It didn't matter how high fat intake was the fact was they just didn't have inflammation and that was an anomaly and that led to this investigation and the role that these Omega-3s play. Say so your average person out there looking for an omega-3 supplement, you know wants to see that these things are labeled. A certification can tell you whether or not there's genetically modified ingredients in there and that could be a non-GMO certification of some type and non-GMO project with the butterfly is the most exhaustive audit [00:21:01] on that. But other certifications you want to see sustainability certifications of fishing. So, Marine Stewardship Council MSC, Friends of the Sea, there's IFOS which is an international fishing sustainability organization. You want to see giving back to the ocean, you want to see these things about you know, sustainability and then they're likely to handle those materials more carefully. You know, if you don't see any of that and it just kind of says you know 1,000 milligrams of fish oil in this product and you turn it around and it's really low: 150 DHA 200 EPA in 1000 milligrams of fish oil. You don't know what you're getting. You're getting a lot of mishmash of fats and it could even be from fish that you know, don't really yield high Omega-3s, you know your sardines, or anchovies, your mackerels, your salmon, Cod Liver. [00:22:02] These are really rich. Certain parts of tuna like the head but you know, your tilapia isn't, your warm-water fish, you know, they're really not as high in Omega-3s because the fish are in warmer waters. They're just a different kind of a fish. Coldwater lakes, yes. Warmer lakes not so much.
Ed Jones: Interesting. I'd never really realized the connection between the temperature of the water and the level of their own Omega-3s. Makes total sense though, the perfection of nature.
Amber Vitale: Amazing.
Ed Jones: If you know again, I did a podcast some time ago, I think with Dr. Michael Smith from Life Extension and I believe what we talked about was the comparison between regular Omega-3s and krill oil. And it was a very interesting podcast. He really came up with a lot of literature. Of course. I did it because you know, I have my own opinions. I watch these people walk in and counsel with me and they're like, oh I already [00:23:02] take omega-3. Okay, which one are you taking? I'll take one krill oil capsule per day and I say that I print out the labels and I say you're probably getting maybe a hundred milligrams of the good stuff out of that and I really I don't really lean that direction. I think you need to 2,000 milligrams of EPA DHA and I want to ask you your opinion also of a quality brand. Because the krill oil thing just simply isn't making the numbers right? What is your opinion on krill and on what should an adult 175-pound adult maybe try to shoot for as far as dosages?
Amber Vitale: Yeah. I think krill became the sort of quick trend because we thought well, let's go lower on the food chain, and then maybe it'll be cleaner. But It's an interesting thing going low on the flute food chain even small tuna. It's a great idea because you know, they haven't been accumulating toxins as long so krill [00:24:02] are very tiny things that other bigger organisms in the ocean consumed. Krill and phytoplankton do their own conversions of pro vitamin D to D3, which is amazing. So, you know fish that eat phytoplankton are getting that they also do make these Omega-3s and then the fish that eat them have those omega-3s coming into their body already from their diet. So it's a very important part of the food chain. But if you're killing off all the Krill are killing off all of the small fish you wind up creating an imbalance in ocean species and in that food chain. And it turned out it was harder to extract stuff from the Krill. So you had more solvents being used often and it's just easy to get Omega-3s out of fish and parts of fish that are just really rich in those fats. You know, it turns out tuna heads accumulate no mercury but are really high in DHA. And so it's like well, why wouldn't you start with the most sensible [00:25:02] starting material if you're after high levels of DHA, which I'll talk about in a minute, why not start with something high in DHA and low in contaminants that's being tossed back in the ocean? Same with Cod Liver. You know, nobody wanted to do anything with it. They just eviscerate them and toss it back in as chum. Lo and behold the liver of a fish that is exposed to cold waters and harsh environments is actually full of what I call animal antioxidants. SPMS special probe resolving mediators are basically like an antioxidant in a plant. That's how I think of it now because that creature has made these resolution molecules and compounds in response to their own environment and you get to just benefit from them directly. So I think that we're finding that you know, the amount of Omega-3 we need is high because we have to make up for the amount of omega-6. And so you're in a great position [00:26:02] Ed because you're counseling people, you know, they're consulting with you, clients and they're giving you their whole food log and dietary history and health history. And you know, that's what I used to do a lot of as a certified nutritionist and you get to see oh, hey well, okay, it's great you're having nuts and seeds and this and that, but that's a lot of you know, you're getting a high level of Omega 6 and that's going to start inflammation when your body needs to heal or respond to a threat and that's great. But we need to put out those fires too so somehow we need to rebalance with these Omega-3s. But your typical person coming in is using Wesson and Missoula and corn oil and canola oil and cottonseed oil and potato chips are fried in cottonseed oil that nobody ever eats cotton seeds anyway, so why eat the oil and this is what we're up against. We need such a high level of these fish oils because we're trying to compensate for excessive use of substandard oils. And if we could just eliminate those from people's diets, we would need a lot [00:27:02] less supplements let alone Omega-3.
Ed Jones: Well that makes a great case for those naysayers who say you can get everything from your food. The problem is you just mentioned things we're getting from our foods and they are disturbing the equilibrium of the chemistry of the human body which then produces poor health and disease. Now when I do talk to people, they just want a general number, I say optimally 2000 milligrams of EPA DHA. Does that ring true to you?
Amber Vitale: I think that that's a very important starting place. That's where I would be, you know in this world where I'm trying to cover my bases absolutely. And that just seems high and expensive to a lot of people and if it's expensive to you and it's hard to accomplish with the proper quality oil, don't just go out and buy a cheap one. Buy the one that is really good for you. If you have to take less of it and then adjust the rest of your diet accordingly, you know this whole low fat, high fat thing for me. it's like you are what your food [00:28:02] eats. If you're an omnivore and your steak was once a cow that was eating corn from genetically modified fields that is going to affect the quality of fat and other nutrients that are in the steak that you're eating it and we have to realize that. If you're more plant-based if you're vegetarian vegan and your plant foods are genetically modified or sprayed in toxins that is a stress on your body that your body has to deal with before it can get the nutrients. So use the nutrients so we have to really really look at that and if we can mitigate that side of the equation, we don't have to budget as much for this kind of a supplement. For people coming in literally new to omega-3 and haven't really thought about what it's good for, it's not just about addressing your arthritis, you know, or your skin, or your brain. It's about readjusting the ratios in your whole diet. Of good fats too bad fats or [00:29:02] inflammatory fats to resolving fats, or endocannabinoid system enhancing fats as opposed to endocannabinoid system depleting fats because it turns out our endocannabinoid system doesn't just require cannabis. In fact, it's just named because that's how we found it, but it actually requires Omega-3s and omega-6s and the cleaner they are the better your endocannabinoid system can govern your nervous immune and endocrine systems.
Ed Jones: Well the great explanation and I probably every third podcast I've done and I think I've done 76 now I repeat the absolute Golden Rule is chronic inflammation is going to lead to probable chronic disease. And chronic inflammation doesn't always mean you're going to be able to touch a painful spot it you don't really feel the inside of your arteries or your brain being inflamed. And the number one key component to think about an address is omega-3. There's no doubt. I loved what you said. I actually wrote it down. I'm going to keep [00:30:02] this you are what your foods eat. That is absolutely stunning because it's such a connection that so many people seem to not be aware of and it you know, and it's not always everyone's fault. Some people just haven't been exposed. But the thing is food isn't completely there just to fill our bellies with fuel and it's also not there just for pleasure. It's there for the number one reason is what we're talking about. And I know I made fun of a lot by a few friends that I hang with because I say, my number one goal is not to choose foods based on taste. It's my third goal. And the number one of course is the quality of the food and what it will do to my chemistry. You know, once you start eating what I call a cleaner life and you arrange the macros correctly based on what you need which are protein fats and carbs when you go off of that can truly tell a significant difference [00:31:02] and the thing is most people never get to that point. So they could they assume that you know their aches and pains and their aging and their wrinkles and there are this and there that it's just a part of aging. Well, that's BS. It's not. I think we have increased the 50 year-old today in some ways like the 70 year old of the old old days that actually farmed, exercised, fresh air, sunshine. And I don't know it's just kind of a crazy crazy way. Now, I know Garden of Life, you know very well been dealing with the company for so many years and I just real quickly. I know they're coming out with some new labeled Omega-3s. What makes those different?
Amber Vitale: So starting from the very beginning choosing the right fish for the job. So you know, what, are you after? Are you after high DHA? After DPA? Are you know, what are you after? Like in a prenatal we want high DHA right? That was your whole thing with your daughter because [00:32:02] DHA first of all DHA and EPA will give you as much EPA as you need as well and DHA is crucial for brain development. So if you want a prenatal and you want high DHA choose a fish or a part of a fish that's high in DHA. You then require less processing that means you have less exposure to heat and oxidation. That means that you're able to maintain those special pro resolving mediators and other nutrients and produce a product that was clean all the way through not you know, I mean literally the research you can read research studies on Omega-3s and they will say we got our fish oil from so and so, they sent it in a whatever kind of a drum, and we bleached and deodorized it to start. Like if they had to bleach and deodorize it before they could even do the study, it's too late. It's oxidized. It's a mess. So things have to be handled properly all the way through cod liver oil is known to be rich in natural D and A but not a few over process if you overprocess [00:33:02] it. They're very delicate. They get destroyed but having natural pre-made forms there the vitamin or forms of vitamin D that are natural and vitamin A. It's not just a synthetic in a bottle. You're actually getting ones that you know are already in an animal and you're benefiting from exactly the way that they made it, preformed ready to go, you know for people who are not tropical babies and don't convert beta-carotene as well to vitamin A. So, you know, if you're born on the tropics and you're good with mangoes and brightly colored that are rich in beta-carotene and can do those conversions, great, but these cold water fish come from places where Northerners come from and they tend to be low in D and don't convert beta-carotene as well to a so, you have to look at your heritage and that person may do much better with a cod liver oil than with the traditional beta-carotene type supplement or beta-carotene rich foods. If you have eye problems, you have brain, skin problems, it's a great way to [00:34:02] go and cod liver oil has been used for nose wrinkler for so long, you know because it really has been oxidized and fishy. You shouldn't it shouldn't smell like rank fish, your fish oil supplement should not smell fishy. Maybe a slightly subtle seafood smell like you think of really good sushi, but it should not be stinky fishy. Otherwise, it's already too late. There's toxins that have developed as a result of oxidation.
Ed Jones: And I know I'm looking at a picture of the Alaskan cod liver oil from Garden of Life with their new product, new label and I'm going to be the first guinea pig to try that because you know, especially with all of my podcasts on the virus and the long issue involved in that and I know like I've interviewed three different physicians that had protocols for people who felt that they wanted to embrace nutritional supplementation for not dying from it. Vitamin A was part of every one of [00:35:02] the three physicians protocols and you know we tend to and you know, where do we get it? Well, we can get it there's a few places but we're not gonna get it from our food to this level and I've always loved cod liver oil but always modestly distrusted the sources up till a few years ago because we couldn't trace it and now with companies like Garden of Life and a few other, a handful only, we know we can finally figure this stuff out. Because it isn't worth taking a chance to save a few bucks because these aren't that expensive. And lastly I want to say just my personal note: don't always believe that you know, the directions on the bottle is exactly what you need that applies to drugs very well. It does not apply to nutritional supplementation because as you said the conversions of people can differ tenfold. You might be able to get by with one serving where I might need three or four and again blood testing is one of the few ways you can actually validate how much do you need [00:36:02] and I want to put a plug in on our site the Holistic Navigator under products. You can scroll down to the lab and order any blood work you want in any town that you live in and you can do it at discounted prices. So there's no excuse not to get the kind of blood work you need especially if you're 40 plus. And I did want to mention that you did the other two podcasts that you and I did Amber was on May 31st, 2019 and it was the importance of proper nutrition and product certifications and anyone who really wants to dig into more of these certifications go back to that date on The Holistic Navigator because you were so full of information. In fact, you are so full of it, you're the only person that had part 1 and part 2. So, all right. Well any closing thoughts that you would like to leave with listeners as far as tips or advice or maybe looking into further avenues of information?
Amber Vitale: I just want to reiterate what you said. [00:37:02] Multivitamins and Omega-3s are two supplements that it's not worth buying cheap. Buy the quality ones even if you have to take it less often and spread it out. If you do the bad one, you're doing yourself more harm than good. And so, you know, definitely use Ed, use Nutrition World as a resource for that. There's a lot of great information about Omega-3s. Dr. Charles Serhan is someone to look into on these special probe resolving mediators in the importance of all parts of the Omega-3s as we're moving forward. It's not just about EPA. It's not just about the clinical research because everything gets reductionist. It's really about looking at how do we get more of the whole fish into a properly preserved soft gel in into people's lifestyle and diet.
Ed Jones: I love it. I love it Amber. And I know that you know the products coming out of the Cod Liver oil, the prenatal DHA, the advanced [00:38:02] omegas, and DHA by itself. And I like I said.
Amber Vitale: And to the vegans out there you can get just all this DHA, DPA, and spms from algae to it's amazing.
Ed Jones: That is fantastic because I know in the past it's been a little difficult to get a really recognizable, massively, high level quality product of that even though I trusted the ones I was looking at they did not have the certifications that that Garden of life has. Amber Vitale: We just know more now. We know more which this is a very scientifically evolving category with both sustainability and processing.
Ed Jones: It's a very exciting time for myself to be in this industry because you know, I've said this actually just a week or two ago. It was hard for me to defend myself 25 years ago to health professionals because we didn't have anything to really stand the ground on. We had miniscule amounts of studies. We had lots of anecdotal notations and experience and observations. But today [00:39:02] like I did a TV show last week. I mean, there's 10,973 three studies on vitamin D and health right now. 25 years ago I don't know if there was 10, but now we have it. Well Amber, thank you again for joining myself on the Holistic Navigator. I know we will look forward to another exciting episode in a few months and all the best to you in your new location and I want to let everyone know again as I repeat many times. I do separate the world into two classes of people: those who are learners and those who are not and if you're listening to here, I am giving you claps because I know you are a learner or you would not have hung in to this point and that's what's going to make the difference in your long-term health. Because again, I value traditional medicine on many levels and I also I'm very aggravated and frustrated with them on super other levels, which is how do we maintain health? If I'm in a car wreck take me to the closest [00:40:02] hospital or maybe kidney stone or other maybe emergency situations, but they're not going to help you on these types of conversations. They still are not being trained in the medical schools due to multiple reasons. So I value the fact that people hang in here with us and we look forward to many more of these pieces in this encyclopedia. Yeah, and I love doing it and I love the fact that you are passionate also, Amber, about the same exact things as I am and all the best to you. All the best to the listeners till next time. This is Ed Jones with The Holistic Navigator.
Brian Strickland: The information on this podcast in the topics discussed have not been evaluated by the FDA or any one of the medical profession and is not aimed to replace any advice you may receive from your medical practitioner. The Holistic Navigator assumes no responsibility or liability whatsoever on behalf of any purchaser or listener of these materials. The Holistic Navigator is not a doctor or doesn't claim to be please consult your physician before beginning any health regimen.