BK 4: (Oct 2, 2018) The Omega Principle: Seafood and the Quest for a Long Life and a Healthier Planet

Hi Everyone...

Our Oct 2nd meeting will be a discussion of The Omega Principle: Seafood and the Quest for a Long Life and a Healthier Planet by Paul Greenberg (July 10, 2018).

With 234 reading pages it is approximately 8 pages a day.

Check out the Bio & Video below:

"By the bestselling author of Four Fish and American Catch, an eye-opening investigation of the history, science, and business behind omega-3 fatty acids, the "miracle compound" whose story is intertwined with human health and the future of our planet

Omega-3 fatty acids have long been celebrated by doctors and dieticians as key to a healthy heart and a sharper brain. In the last few decades, that promise has been encapsulated in one of America's most popular dietary supplements. Omega-3s are today a multi-billion dollar business, and sales are still growing apace--even as recent medical studies caution that the promise of omega-3s may not be what it first appeared. 

But a closer look at the omega-3 sensation reveals something much deeper and more troubling. The miracle pill is only the latest product of the reduction industry, a vast, global endeavor that over the last century has boiled down trillions of pounds of marine life into animal feed, fertilizer, margarine, and dietary supplements. The creatures that are the victims of that industry seem insignificant to the untrained eye, but turn out to be essential to the survival of whales, penguins, and fish of all kinds, including many that we love to eat.

Behind these tiny molecules is a big story: of the push-and-pull of science and business; of the fate of our oceans in a human-dominated age; of the explosion of land food at the expense of healthier and more sustainable seafood; of the human quest for health and long life at all costs. James Beard Award-winning author Paul Greenberg probes the rich and surprising history of omega-3s--from the dawn of complex life, when these compounds were first formed; to human prehistory, when the discovery of seafood may have produced major cognitive leaps for our species; and on to the modern era, when omega-3s may point the way to a bold new direction for our food system. With wit and boundless curiosity, Greenberg brings us along on his travels--from Peru to Antarctica, from the Canary Islands to the Amalfi Coast--to reveal firsthand the practice and repercussions of our unbalanced way of eating.

Rigorously reported and winningly told, The Omega Principle is a powerful argument for a more deliberate and forward-thinking relationship to the food we eat and the oceans that sustain us."

Harvard Presentation: 

"The Omega Principle: Seafood and the Quest for a Long Life and a Healthier Planet" with Paul Greenberg from HUCEnvironment on Vimeo.
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This is what we discussed at our meeting...

* DHA makes up 5-10% of the brain

* 30K medical studies some concluded Omega 3 can reduce 9-30% risk of cardiovascular disease

* 2012 long term studies including a meta-analysis JAMA (2 dozen) Omega 3 not associated with lower risk of mortality, cardiac death, sudden death, myocardial infarction or stroke.

* Phytoplankton create 1/2 the world's breathable oxygen, one Prochlorococcus, the most abundant living thing on hearth contains 4x the DNA as humans and likely be reduced by 25% in next half a century due to increases in water temperature.

* Omega 3's (phospholipid) role in nerve cell membranes

* Ratio Omega 6 to 3 in American diet & Omega 6's role in inflammation

*  Importance of Double (and even Triple) blind studies

* Finding that not Fish/Omega 3 but reducing red meat

* 1992 study FDA only consumption of fish and not Omega 3 fatty acids

* 30% of thousands of proteins inflame

* 1970s Mega Vitamin C FDA limiting and supplement industry fight

* 1994 Utah Senator Orrin Hatch Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act - Free to do without science or evidence of any kind

* Public does not understand scientific method and thus do not understand why Scientists/Researchers may disagree &/or why it would seem studies contradict themselves

* Phony Journals one pays to get published or underpublish or advertise pharmaceuticals

* What Meta-analysis is

* Difference between correlation and experiment

* Statins

* VITAL Study due 2019

* Peru  2-12M metric tons of Anchoveta  yr

* Guano

* Menhaden

* Hydrogenation - more stable

*  Whales

* Off-Shore fishing to avoid rules

* Overfishing

* CAFOs

* Pastured vs Feedlot and Omega 3

* Pet food $24B and what is put in Food

* China fish...vegetarian and fed high fish oil...more than in wild

* Farmed salmon - less omega 3 and more omega 6 soy

* Peru law

* 2 Anchovies per day

*  JAMA study commodity crops linked to  high body mass index, glucose- related abnormalities such as diabetes and cholesterol imbalances.

* More Omega 3 less inflammation

* Omega 3 and Type 2 Diabetes & Obesity

* Gulf "Dead Zone"

* 30% of Farmers annual budget is spent on fertilizers

* Run off from farms  - Des Moines since 2012 spend millions to remove nitrate fertilizer from drinking water (blue babies).

* Farmers in China beginning to import American corn and soy to feed their growing herds

* Vet bills drop for farmers when they switch to grass fed

* Fertilizer CAFOs linger and pollutes air (hydrogen sulfide & ammonia)

* 40% of corn produced used for auto fuel

* Poor ration ethanol

* Algae 40% protein

* Seal colonies

* If no ice forms less and less algae to start a new culture and to feed juvenile krill

* Mediterranean & Pescatarian diets 15-20% increase in longevity

* Kernza

* TX wind turbines compensate $13K a year

* 60% of fish is fillet...rest was being dumped in ocean rather than used for supplements...Martha Stewart visiting plant etc.

* Less red-meat lower Blood Pressure

* Phytoplankton infused fish feed for rainbow trout in aquaculture

* Cattle fed on kelp have less methane emissions

* Mussels filter 5M liters of water per hour

* Mercury consequences

* Eating for the future section:

   ~ If Omega 3 not fish caught for reduction

   ~ Check Omega 3 & 6 levels

   ~ If eating Aquaculture fish...look what they are fed

* Recipes