Nutarniq Essentials and Cardiovascular Disease - Your Questions Answered

After last week's post, I had some great questions about Nutarniq Essentials and overall cardiovascular health and disease risk. 

You can watch Dr. Evan's video response below, or continue scrolling to read more.

What is the risk of taking omega-3s and haemorrhage?
In terms of hemmorage (bleeding or a cut/wound not clotting) - omega-3s make the cells in our body more flexible or slippery. With that in mind, there is a thought that the flexibility of platelets and other blood cells can reduce the ability of the blood to clot in response to an injury. The latest research that I have seen, using doses of > 6 g/d, showed no increased risk of haemorrhage. However, if you are taking any blood thinning medication, this could potentially be a concern and is something you should discuss with your healthcare provider.

Can Nutarniq Essentials increase my risk of cardiovascular disease or stroke?
The interaction between omega-3s and cardiovascular disease and stroke is interesting. Early research (1970s-2000s) showed omega-3s as beneficial for overall health and reduced cardiovascular disease risk. This was a result of lowering triglycerides, increasing HDL and improving the flexibility of the cells in the heart. Now over the last 10 years, the clinical trials have started to show no effect - that is omega-3s are no different than the placebo condition for reducing the risk of heart attack or stroke. There is a good deal of debate in the medical community about why this might be. Omega-3s are still effective at reducing triglycerides and increasing HDL - but why are they not as protective for the cardiovascular system? The consensus of the groups that I work with is that the drugs that patients are on, have become more effective at managing background cardiovascular health and as a result, omega-3s are not providing further benefits beyond the drugs.

The bottom line here is that omega-3s are not harmful to cardiovascular health and still play a role in lowering overall cardiovascular disease risk by lowering triglycerides and increasing HDL. However, in my mind, we should shift our focus away from omega-3s and cardiovascular health and towards nerve/brain health seeing as these fats are the limiting components for the development and maintenance of nerves/brain.

Is our recommended upper dose (10 mL/D) safe?
Our upper recommended dose is 10 mL/D, which is 2g/D of omega-3s. Health Canada has set the upper limit of intake at 3 g/D. Our high dose is within the recommended limits and should not increase the risk of susceptibility to any problems, cardiovascular or otherwise.

If you do have any concerns about health risk, we encourage you to consult with your healthcare provider.

--

If you liked this article, please share it with your friends and family. For more articles please click HERE.

Learn about heart healthy and diabetes friendly nutrition tips HERE.