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Fish Oil: The Secret to Long Life

articles, tc

TC_Luoma Co-founder and CRO

Oct '22

Omega-3s Might Turn Back the

Clock

“ New research pools together all the

relevant studies on how fish oil and omega-
3s affect your DNA. The findings will leave
you gobsmacked.

Fish Oil and Shoelaces

Remember the last pair of frayed shoelaces you

had? The little plastic thingies at the ends of the
laces – known as aglets – gradually flaked away,
leaving you with a clump of unruly fibers that
made it hard to thread the laces through the
eyelets of your Chucks. If you have ever had that
experience, you’re on the cusp of gaining an
understanding of how chromosomes age and
deteriorate.

Here’s why: At the end of each chromosomal

arm or “lace” is a specialized structure known as
a telomere that’s composed of a specific
sequence of nucleotides and associated
proteins. In effect, it’s one of the chromosome’s
“aglets,” and every time a cell divides, this mock
aglet gets shorter.

If they get too short, they can start to unfold. It’s

the biological equivalent of that frayed end of a
shoelace, only instead of causing you to trip and
fall into a canal, they wreak havoc on your
health.

On average, each cell is gifted with about 15,000

base pairs (the pairs of nucleotides connecting
complementary strands of DNA or RNA), and
each time a cell divides, we lose about 250 of
them. This phenomenon is called the “end-
replication problem.”

In effect, the chromosomes are being worn down

to the nub. The short telomeres that caused the
chromosomal fraying lead to something called
“replicative senescence,” which means the cell’s
too damn old to divide. Genetic instability
ensues, possibly leading to cancer, cellular old
age, or programmed cell self-destruction
(apoptosis). Tissue growth or repair is
handicapped, if not completely knee-capped.

If enough of these cells reach replicative

senescence, the organ or system to which they
belong might fail, leading to disease or death.

Too bad you can’t just swap out frayed telomeres

with a fresh set of laces and brand-spanking new
aglets from The Shoe Barn and reset this
biological clock. But there’s hope. Scientists
don’t know if it’s possible to lengthen telomeres,
but they do know that we can at least prevent
them from shortening.

One thing that keeps coming up long-telomere-

stemmed roses in regard to attenuating
shortening is omega-3 fatty acids, of which fish
oil is a primary source.

A Real-Life Version of Blade Runner

“The degree of telomere shortening is

proportional to the risk of death…” So said the
authors of a new paper on the effects of omega-
3 fatty acids on telomeres. (Ogluszka, et al,
2022)

You need to understand that this wasn’t some

weak paper reporting the results of omega-3
fatty acids on a single group of three or four
down-on-their-luck mice who had volunteered to
be part of a scientific study. Nope, this was one
of those elegant studies that looks at all the
studies on a particular subject, including humans
and animals.

Before they presented the research, though, the

authors first had to tackle the question of exactly
how telomere length relates to senescence. The
news is humbling. They offered that all human
non-reproductive cells (everything except eggs
and sperm) are slaves to something called the
Hayflick limit.

Named for scientist Leonard Hayflick, the

Hayflick limit says that human cells can only
divide a certain number of times. In the case of
fibroblasts (cells that form connective tissue),
they can only divide about 50 times, plus or
minus 10 or so. Once the cells are shortened
beyond a critical length, the whole process of
division falls apart.

The idea that we’re all nothing but sophisticated

wind-up clocks is humbling. It’s like the movie
Blade Runner brought to life, and we’re all just
replicants with a pre-programmed lifespan.
However, rather than tacitly accept our fate and
say, “Time to die,” there appear to be some
things that at least slow down the clock and
possibly turn it back, omega-3s among them.

Old People, Chinese People, Fat Kids,

and Testicles Too

Ogluszka and her colleagues offered a sizeable

mound of evidence supporting the role of
omega-3s on telomere length, starting with a
study of more than 600 patients with coronary
artery disease (CAD). (Farzaneh-Far et al. 2010)
The scientists found strong evidence for an
association between omega-3 fatty acid
consumption and telomere length.

Likewise, a Chinese study compared 711

patients with CAD to 638 CAD-free controls and
found levels of omega-3 fatty acids, particularly
DHA and EPA, positively correlated with
telomere length. (Chang, et al. 2020)

“What about fat kids?” is probably what you’re

asking. Maybe not. Still, omega-3s seem to
affect their telomere length too. A study involving
forty-six obese 3 to 4-year-olds found that they
had shorter telomeres (in leukocytes, aka white
blood cells) and lower intakes of DHA than age
and sex-matched children of normal weight. (Liu,
2021)

Still another study showed that telomere

shortening in whole blood can be remedied by
the inclusion of omega-3 fatty acids in the diet.
(O’Callaghan, et al. 2014) Forty-four elderly
people were divvied up into three groups: a diet
rich in omega-6s, an EPA group (1.67 g of EPA
plus 0.40 grams of DHA daily), and a DHA group
(1.55 g of DHA plus 0.40 g of EPA daily).

Positive changes in telomere length were seen

in the group that had the greatest increases in
red blood cell DHA levels. And there are plenty
of other corroborating studies, too.

To be fair, several studies found no correlation

between telomere length and omega-3 fatty
acids, but Ogluszka’s group was unshaken in
their beliefs about the association, reasoning
that these outlier studies used different methods
to assess the effects of omega-3s (food-
frequency questionnaires, gas chromatography,
mass spectroscopy, etc.), any of which could
have resulted in discrepancies.

Several rodent studies have also been

conducted on the association. I won’t test your
tolerance for minutiae further, but I do want to
point out two interesting findings. One was from
a study on omega-3s and telomere attrition on
rat testicles that found a positive association
between the two.
I only include that because the idea that omega-
3s might extend the health of my testicles is
comforting to me and possibly you.

More importantly, though, that same rodent

study found that omega-3 supplementation not
only reduced the rate of telomere attrition, it also
elongated hepatic (liver) telomeres. Yeah, you
read that right – omega 3s might reverse the
aging process.

Do Certain Things Accelerate Telomere

Shortening?

Everybody with an IQ that has a fightin’ chance

of hitting three digits knows that smoking,
alcohol consumption, stress, and lack of
exercise are contrary to the goal of living above
ground for a long time.

One of the reasons all those aforementioned

abuses of your body are bad is because they all
cause inflammation and oxidative stress, each of
which contributes to telomere shortening. What
happens is that inflammation spurs the
production of “radical oxygen species” (ROS)
and they, in turn, shorten telomeres. One theory,
tossed out by Ogluszka and her team, is that this
oxidative stress puts the kibosh on cells, causing
the survivors to undergo more cell divisions,
thereby getting closer to their Hayflick limit.

Another theory is that ROS attack the telomere

directly, causing breaks in individual strands,
which messes up the whole replication process
and leads to additional telomere shortening.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), especially

omega-3s, however, are associated with lower
levels of pro-inflammatory markers (IL-6, IL-1ra,
TNF, and CRP), along with higher levels of
several anti-inflammatory markers, among them
soluble IL-6r, IL-10, and TGF-beta.

Lastly, omega-3s might just plain slow down the

rate of cell division, as several studies seem to
indicate.

Death From All Causes

Clearly – unless you’re a chronic skeptic or

naysayer – it’s a good idea to make sure you’re
getting adequate amounts of omega-3s in your
diet. Not only do they appear to preserve or even
lengthen telomeres, they also appear to extend
life in the following ways:

High levels of omega-3 fatty acids lower

blood pressure and triglycerides while
making platelets less “sticky” (thus making
strokes less likely).
 High levels of omega-3 fatty acids lower
chronically elevated levels of mTOR, thus
showing benefits against metabolic
syndrome and other conditions/diseases
(in addition to depression ).

Harris, et al. synopsized their effects this way

(2021):

“In summary, in a global pooled analysis of

prospective studies, LC (long chain) n-3 PUFA
(polyunsaturated fatty acids) levels were
inversely associated with risk for death from all
causes…”

What’s the Best Way to Get More

Omega 3s (Along with One Piece of
Important Advice)?

The predominant source of omega-3s is the oil

from cold-water fish. You could probably do
acceptably well just by eating a can of salmon or
tuna every day, assuming you could somehow
ensure you were, in the case of the latter, buying
a brand that had low levels of mercury (which
could, if it accumulates in your body, negatively
affect your health).

Supplementation, though, appears to be the

most efficient route, especially since current fish
oil technology is pretty advanced. Each serving
of Biotest’s Flameout contains an oceanic
amount of omega 3s – a combined 3,080 mg. of
EPA and DHA. (By way of comparison, a 6-
ounce can of tuna has between 300 and 500
mg., depending on whether it’s packed in water
or olive oil.)

Flameout®

5500 mg Omega-3 Molecularly Distilled

DHA & EPA per Serving, with CLA - No
"Fish Burps" - 90 Softgels

Add to that Flameout’s high processing

standards. It’s purified by molecular distillation
and stringently tested for PCBs, dioxins,
mercury, and other heavy metal contaminants. It
also incorporates a self-emulsifying delivery
system to make the product virtually odorless
and better absorbed so that it doesn’t result in a
fishy aftertaste or “fish burps.”

One serving of Flameout is theoretically more

than enough to quell inflammation and hopefully
extend the life of telomeres, along with doing all
the other things omega-3s are famous for.

But regardless of whether you decide to use

Flameout, specifically, I offer this one additional
piece of important advice regarding fish oil
supplements in general: Fish oil needs to be
ingested with some additional fat . Otherwise, it
doesn’t percolate down into its favorite tissue
and cell destinations.

A recent paper (Li, et al. 2021) offered plenty of

proof, but it’s largely unknown or ignored by
virtually all dietitians, nutritionists, and
supplement experts. I won’t drone on about the
specific findings, though, because the article
you’re reading is already long enough.

Suffice it to say that, in practical terms, it means

that popping a couple of fish oil capsules after
eating your low-fat breakfast of oatmeal, egg
whites, and blanched asparagus nibs isn’t going
to let fish oil do its job. Instead, take it with your
highest-fat meal of the day, which is usually
dinner. Alternately, take it with a morning, mid-
day, or evening protein shake that’s been laced
with a tablespoon or two of olive oil.

Slow Down Time, or Better Yet, Reverse

It

The results of increasing omega-3 consumption

appear to be extremely promising, so regardless
of whether you do it with supplements or by
eating large quantities of cold-water fish, do it.
Do it for your chromosomal aglets. Do it to
ameliorate the stress you put your body through.
And do it to increase not only your lifespan but
your health-span too.

► References

Guys, Stop Using Fish Oil Formulated fo…

alaskarunner2002 Oct '22

My hormone doc put me on fish oil in April when
my triglycerides were 330 I took it for a few
months and she retested and my triglycerides
were 107

poffner Oct '22

what do you think of the recents reports linking

fish oil supplements with atrial fibrillation?

TC_Luoma Oct '22

Co-founder and CRO

alaskarunner2002:

My hormone doc put me on fish oil in April

when my triglycerides were 330 I took it for a
few months and she retested and my
triglycerides were 107

Are you kidding? That’s great!

TC_Luoma Oct '22

Co-founder and CRO

You know, I don’t know what to make of yet.

There are other reports of it doing the exact
opposite, so I guess we need to wait until
something definitive (if that’s even possible)
comes out.

The benefits of marine omega-

3s for preventing arrhythmias
 Omega-3s have been theorised to increase
membrane fluidity by reducing
compression of the acyl chains of
membrane phospholipid fatty acids, which
can lead to a reduction in the ‘spring-like’
tension on membrane ion channels. This
spring-like tension...

tmhutch Oct '22

This is very interesting, new research. Thank

you for sharing. I’m particularly interested in
more information about Omega-3 needing
additional fat for proper assimilation. You
suggested omega-6 but previous studies have
shown omega-3’s and 6’s compete for the same
cellular receptor sites. Maybe another type of fat
would be better? I did not know about the cited
research but I usually consume with some form
of grass fed beef, poultry or dairy (saturated fat).
Good to learn that has been a net gain.

jasonestabrook44 Oct '22

Great article! Is there an optimal dose? Do the

beneficial effects top out after a certain level?

TC_Luoma Oct '22

Co-founder and CRO

tmhutch:

You suggested omega-6 but previous studies

have shown omega-3’s and 6’s compete for
the same cellular receptor sites
Yep, should have clarified that in this article.
Saturated fat or mono-saturated fat is the way to
go for enhanced fish oil absorption.

TC_Luoma Oct '22

Co-founder and CRO

jasonestabrook44:

Great article! Is there an optimal dose? Do

the beneficial effects top out after a certain
level?

Not sure there’s much benefit in going beyond a

combined 3 grams of EPA + DHA. (Thanks!)

Daddymo Oct '22

Great article, although my understanding is that

the process of ‘canning’ tuna destroys the EPA
and DHA?

_Wesley Oct '22

Soy lecithin would work very well. As an

emulsifier (and n3/n6 fat source) it is very good
at increasing transport of fats and fat soluble
nutrients. It’s also under-loved as an anabolic
supplement being the only good natural source
of phosphatidic acid.

TC_Luoma Oct '22

Co-founder and CRO

Daddymo:
 Great article, although my understanding is
that the process of ‘canning’ tuna destroys
the EPA and DHA?

Man, it’s a pisser, isn’t it? Some of the research

says it does and some says it doesn’t. Some
says that frying destroys them, too, which is also
disturbing to hear. We have a few choices: Eat
sushi. Continue to eat canned tuna and salmon
and hope for the best. Use supplements. Or
cook our fish minimally and again hope for the
best.

TC_Luoma Oct '22

Co-founder and CRO

_Wesley:

Soy lecithin would work very well.

That’s interesting. I’ll look into that. Thanks!

burt128 Oct '22

TC_Luoma:

Yep, should have clarified that in this article.

Saturated fat or mono-saturated fat is the
way to go for enhanced fish oil absorption.

I used this as an excuse to have some gelato

with my Flameout last night.

TC_Luoma Oct '22

Co-founder and CRO

burt128:
 I used this as an excuse to have some gelato
with my FlameOut last night.

You know, I actually had to look up how gelato

was made. That’s how naive I am when it comes
to fun foods.

Medicalmuscle Oct '22

It doesn’t specify if Flameout is in the triglyceride

form. If it is, what’s the percentage of the omega-
3 that is in triglyceride form?

meyman3 Oct '22

Is there an optimal amount of fat to have with

dinner to maximize the benefits of consuming
fish oil with it?

TC_Luoma Oct '22

Co-founder and CRO

Medicalmuscle:

It doesn’t specify if Flameout is in the

triglyceride form.

Yes, it’s extremely concentrated, re-esterified

triglycerides. You have to realize, we’re a small
company. No board of directors, no marketing
department. When we choose to make a
supplement, it’s first and foremost because WE
want to use it ourselves. What I’m trying to say is
that we don’t cut corners to make crappy and
ineffectual stuff,
 TC_Luoma Oct '22
Co-founder and CRO

meyman3:

Is there an optimal amount of fat to have with

dinner to maximize the benefits of consuming
fish oil with it?

I think the amount is unknown and probably

differs from person to person. I suggest taking
them with your fattiest meal of the day.

Jerome0013 Nov '22

I have had occasional bouts of tachycardia since

I’m 19 (and that’s a long while ago ha ha), and I
haven’t had any in at least 4 years… It might just
be the fish oil! I never made a link before. It
doesn’t mean it’s that of course, but hey, I’l take
it.