I Took Omega-3s for 2.5 Years — Here's My Bloodwork

[00:02] single day for the last 2 and 1/2 years. And unlike most people, I actually tested whether it was working or not. I track things like my omega-3 index, my apoB, my hemoglobin A1c, my HDL cholesterol, my triglycerides, and 100

[00:15] optimize my omega-3 index, which reflects the amount of omega-3 fats in your red blood cells. Low omega-3 index is considered a risk atherosclerosis and cardiovascular death. A sufficiently high omega-3

[00:29] lower risk of Alzheimer's, heart disease, and all-cause mortality. Even among smokers who have a higher risk of heart disease to begin with, a high omega-3 index is associated with a reduced risk. The goal is to have an

[00:42] optimal omega-3 index for the lowest risk of heart disease between 8 to 12%. However, in the research papers, an omega-3 index of over 6% already is seen to be better than 4%, but 8% is more optimal. So, in this video, I'm going to

[00:57] after taking omega-3s, and I'll talk about how you can also optimize your omega-3 index. If you want to discover your own health percentile to know what different types of biomarkers like a fitness markers, body composition, and

[01:10] and biggest weaknesses, then take the health assessment in our top 1% health right, let's talk about my omega-3 index results. In my last blood work in May

[01:22] 2026, I had an omega-3 index of 9.2% with an omega-6 to three ratio of 2.5 to one, which is great. As I said, optimally, you want to be over 8%, but based on research, 6% is already enough, although not the most optimal. My first

[01:37] ever omega-3 index test in November 2023 gave me 8% and a ratio of 3.2 to one. So, I have seen some good progress over the course of 2.5 years. The biggest thing I've noticed from taking these omega-3 index tests is that I do need a

[01:52] consistently high intake of omega-3s to keep my omega-3 index over 8%. Maybe it's something to do with genetics, or maybe it's because my body consumes more stopped taking omega-3s for a short period of time, I saw my omega-3 index

[02:06] also decrease. It's never dropped to below 6.5%, which would be the territory sometimes it would drop to somewhere like 7.2%, and it rose back to 8% when I increased my omega-3 intake. And at other times, it goes back to 9% when I'm

[02:21] more consistent with my dietary fish or omega-3 intake. This just highlights that most people are walking around with a sub-optimal omega-3 index. It means sticky, their blood vessels become more stiff, their brain doesn't have enough

[02:35] of the omega-3s, and their heart disease risk is also much higher. It also takes omega-3 index because of the long half-life of red blood cells. of consistent supplementation with omega-3s or a consistently high intake

[02:49] of fish to influence your omega-3 index in a positive way. Globally, 75% of people aren't even meeting the daily recommendation for omega-3s, less than 500 mg a day. Japanese people eat two to three times more omega-3s per day than

[03:02] the Americans or Europeans, and it reflects in their omega-3 index, 6 to reflects in their omega-3 index, 6 to 11% versus 4 to 6%. The omega-3 index longevity. You could have a high omega-3 index and be obese, but it is quite

[03:14] important and low-hanging fruit, in my opinion. A higher omega-3 index can also mean that you're consuming fewer omega-6 fats to a certain extent. Whole food omega-6s are also essential, but in today's world, people are eating too

[03:26] many omega-6s, especially from processed food and processed oils. So, if your omega-3 index is sufficiently high that it also reflects higher diet quality and lower inflammation. If you look at my other biomarkers between the time, then

[03:38] I've also seen an improvement. From my first omega-3 index test in November 2023 to May 2026, I've seen that my hemoglobin A1C dropped from 5.2% to 4.5%, homocysteine from 12 micromoles per liter to six, ApoB from 72 to 62 mg

[03:54] per deciliter. Insulin from 4.17 to three microunits per milliliter. ALT, a three microunits per milliliter. ALT, a liver enzyme, from 29 to 16.6. CRP 0.1 to 0.1. Triglycerides down to 40 mg per deciliter. LDL from 93 to 60 mg per

[04:09] deciliter. And HDL from 54 to 62 mg per deciliter. These are all improvements in the positive direction. Now, of course, omega-3s aren't the only reason why I saw these improvements. I also changed other aspects of my diet. I changed my

[04:22] I'm bringing this up is because some people claim that omega-3s are bad for cause inflammation. They say it's going to oxidize LDL or whatever the case is. Well, if you look at my blood work after supplementing omega-3s, especially at

[04:36] 2 and 1/2 years, my blood markers have gotten better. They haven't gotten worse. And the research also supports this. Omega-3s don't cause inflammation. improve metabolic health, insulin resistance, and lipids. A 2022 umbrella

[04:49] meta-analysis that looked at 32 meta-analyses, which included well over 100 studies, found that supplementation with omega-3s improves inflammatory biomarkers such as CRP, TNF alpha, and IL-6. If over 100 randomized controlled

[05:03] that omega-3s don't cause inflammation, they actually lower inflammation, then omega-3s cause inflammation. The proof is in the pudding. Or in the fish oil. So, what dosage did I use to get my omega-3 index over 8%? The average dose

[05:17] was around 2 g per day. On some days, it was around 1 g. On other days, it was 3 g. But, the most consistent dose was 2 g a day. I also want to add another thing that is very important. If I was eating fish on that day, let's say I had 100 or

[05:31] 200 g of salmon or something like that, then my omega-3 supplement dose was much lower. I might have taken 500 mg or 1 mg. If I wasn't eating fish on that day and I wasn't consuming any other omega-3 sources either, then my omega-3 dose was

[05:44] more like 2 to 3 g a day. Secondly, I found that adding nuts consistently increases my omega-3 status as well. I usually eat a handful of walnuts or chia seeds, which are high in ALA that gets converted into DHA, and I mix it with my

[05:56] yogurt. And whenever I was doing that, my omega-3 status was higher. Some people can't make the conversion of ALA into DHA, so it's not going to work for in fact, what I noticed was that at times when I wasn't eating walnuts or

[06:09] wasn't eating chia seeds, for example, my omega-3 status was lower. So, that's same amount of omega-3s, but my omega-3 index was lower. So, my theory is that pathways into increasing the omega-3 status. So, just relying on the marine

[06:24] enough because you saturate one pathway. So, to really get the more benefits, pathway, which was the plant-based ALA. Or maybe the other solution is to spread out your omega-3 intake across the day. I usually have like two meals a day. So,

[06:39] first meal, the second meal, that's the only opportunity that I have for to spread out more often, or maybe, yeah, you need to mix it with plant-based and marine sources. I took marine omega-3s. However, research

[06:51] suggests that algae oil can be equally as effective at raising omega-3 index. you use. You can also take krill oil and cod liver oil, but they're a little bit lower in actual omega-3s. If you don't want to take a supplement, then you can

[07:04] get omega-3s from food as well. A 300-g salmon fillet is 8.3 g of omega-3s. One can of sardines is about 4.8 g of omega-3s, and grass-fed ground beef is about 100 mg per 100 g. So, you're not realistically going to get the optimal

[07:18] amount of omega-3s from just beef. And as I said, when I was eating more fish, taking the omega-3s, at least not that high dose. But most people aren't even better option is to consistently take the supplement, whatever the case is.

[07:32] that everyone's body is different. Your body doesn't care if you need to consume 1, 2, or even 8 g of omega-3s every day to increase your omega-3 index. As I've already said before, to maintain the optimal blood vessel flexibility,

[07:46] elasticity, better blood flow, less clotting, lower inflammation in the have an omega-3 index that is at least 6.5% and optimal over 8%. I don't think you need to test your omega-3 index that regularly because as I said, it takes

[07:59] quite a long time to improve the marker. It takes at least 6 months to see a index. So, what I recommend to do is first get a baseline test to see where adjustments to your supplementation and diet, and then retest 1 year later. All

[08:13] right, thanks for watching. If you want to discover your health percentage and get your road map to top 1% of health, then join the community using the link then join the community using the link in the description. I'll see you there.