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This is a special one—our first episode with friends! In this conversation, we're diving deep into one of the most underrated nutrients in the world: omega-3s.
Featuring Kimmi and Kelly talking all things Nordic Naturals, we're breaking down the science of fish oil, EPA vs DHA, why your body can't make this stuff on its own, and why it might be the single most important supplement you're not taking.
You'll learn:
Whether you're an athlete looking for recovery, a parent supporting your kids' brain development, pregnant or planning to be, or just someone who wants to support long-term health—omega-3s belong in your stack.
Transcript here:
Hi guys, this is a very special podcast. It is the first one where I've got some friends
with me. So I'd like to introduce Kimmy. She's jumping off for the first time.
Hi everybody. And we also have Callie who's going to talk to us all about Nordic naturals.
Hi Jay, thank him. Awesome. So, officials is I'm very excited to talk about this subject today because
I think it is very underrated and people don't really kind of value it as much as they should.
So I wanted to dive into the science first. So let's talk about what official actually does in the
body and how does it actually work in there? Yeah, so great question. I get asked this a lot.
So basically, officials are part of a category of nutrients that we call essential fatty acids.
So the essential in the name means that the body requires them for optimal functioning.
Basically if you sort of don't have them in your body, you know, you'll see various health
conditions or little issues or symptoms or complaints that might pop up and, you know, no one
really relates that back to official, but it is supporting overall health. In essence,
every cell in the body requires omega-3s and officials are in omega-3. They are present in
every cell in the cellular membrane and they help the cell to be nice and floppy so that nutrients
are really easy to absorb into the cell and waste products are detoxed out.
Cool, I think we definitely all want to dive, yeah? We do. And so when someone talks about EPA and DHA,
what is the difference and what sort of amounts are we actually looking at that we might want to take?
Yeah, so omega-3 has various different long-chain fatty acids as part of its makeup. EPA and DHA
are the most important of those long-chain fatty acids and they have quite different roles within
the body. So DHA is part of the structure of the brain, the eyes and the nervous system and so by
taking an omega-3 we're really building up that fatty structure that is really essential for the
functioning of those systems. EPA is much more supportive in terms of inflammation in the body
and mood regulation. Cool, cool, cool. And yeah, I think I really want to emphasize the essential,
you know, it's like your body can't make this stuff. Absolutely. So really to like get this into your
body you need to be ingesting it on the regular, you know? 100%. So yeah, as you said, the body doesn't
make it. So you have two options, you either getting it through your diet or you're taking it in
supplement form. The issue is with diet, there's several things. You have to really be eating the
cold water oily fish and those are predominantly sedans, anchovy, hearings, macro and salmon.
The other component with diet does become obviously how often are you getting those? Because if
you're only eating that once or twice a week, it's probably not going to be enough. And in addition to
that, as we all know, our oceans are kind of full of a lot of undesirable contaminants that we
don't want to be ingesting on a regular basis. So that will come down to heavy metals, plastic
residues, PCBs, dioxins, you know, just it's not as clean as a purified fish oil. So you're either
getting it through your diet if you can, not necessarily sure in terms of contaminant levels.
Or you can take a really clean purified, high grade supplement.
Absolutely. And so if someone was, because we get this question a lot, is like,
I eat fish, you know, one or two times a week, would those people get anywhere close to the dietary
requirement to really hit their levels? Would they be reaching it?
Yeah, so most likely not. In reality, most of us aren't eating those cold water oily fish.
Definitely, I think salmon's a little bit more prevalent here. Farms salmon, not a fan of it.
For many reasons. Again, you've got like growth hormones, antibiotic residues. It's not really a natural
state that the fish are living in, in which case the fats they're going to provide you with aren't
going to be as high quality anyway. In addition to that, you're probably not really finding many people
even if they're eating fish, eating sightings and chovis hearings or macro, which are where they're
going to be getting those omega-3 levels from that they need. You know, you usually, and don't get
me wrong, I love fish, absolutely a fan of fish, but your typical snapper, gurnard, terechaic,
that we eat here definitely isn't giving us those omega-3 levels that we need.
You know, you might, even if you're eating a good quality salmon, if you know, once or twice a week,
you might be getting anywhere from one to three grams at each serving, which is great.
It really depends how much you're eating, to be honest, and it's expensive. Let's be real.
Very expensive. So, ideally for, you know, just general health maintenance, we're looking at a
minimum combined value of 500 milligrams of the EPA plus DHE amount together. So if you took a
supplement and it said it had 250 milligrams of DHE and 250 of EPA, that would be a 500 milligram
total. That would hit your minimum maintenance levels per day, and that's what the global, forget what
they called, there are omega-3 organisations who, who has set those as levels that everybody needs
worldwide. Okay, so that's an omega-3 authority, and they're stating 500 milligrams minimum amount
of EPA plus DHE. If we're then looking at trying to support various health conditions in the body,
that's where we need those much higher levels. So if we have inflammation, if we have heart conditions,
if we need cognitive or brain support, if we need mood support, etc, that's where we really need
to be going up to much, much higher levels. There's no maximum omega-3 intake that, you know,
an upper limit of what you can take per day. It's not like some minerals where there's sort of a
maximum out, and if you go to high, you're chipping the balance with your other nutrients. With omega-3,
you can really just go up and up and up to get those results. So, for example, if someone had a
particular heart condition that they were trying to work towards, we could be looking at five grams daily.
Well, yeah, I don't think anyone is going to be eating that amount of fish. No, definitely not.
Not 99% of people are not even getting close. Yeah, absolutely.
And so you talked about like the contaminants that could be in fish, you know, heavy metals,
things like that. So what sort of testing does Nordic go through when they're bringing, you know,
from manufacturer to test to see what's in there. What's the process? Yeah, so Nordic is, I can't,
I don't know for sure if it's the only company, but I would potentially say the only company in the
world that really controls that entire process from catch of the fish right through to finished
bottled product. So they're pharmaceutical grade processing. So once they bring the fish in,
and we're talking to catch the fish. They have contracts to catch the fish, but obviously they oversee
that. So the fish comes from the boats straight into their manufacturing facility. So there's nothing
hidden, there's nothing they're not aware of. And that fish is coming in basically within hours,
or definitely within the day, because the fish is caught in two sort of oceans of the world.
So it's very, very fresh fish, which is hugely important because, you know, oxidized
for soil is being a big topic of debate. And a lot of the studies that have been done to say that
Fischoyl is oxidized and bad for you and all these sorts of things, you know, that definitely is true
for some Fischoyl brands, definitely not Nordic. So the, the fresh are the fish, the better.
The, as soon as Fisch is exposed to oxygen, it's going to be starting to oxidize and go rancid. So
that's where we get the yucky Fischi burps in there. It actually becomes pro-inflammatory in the body.
So that's one of the reasons why it's really important to make sure you've got a non-oxidized
Fischoyl. So Nordic Fisch are coming in within hours or within 24 hours, straight to their
manufacturing facility, which sits on the harbicide in Norway. So no minimal transportation delays
is basically what we're talking about. Once it goes in there, so it's actually also, they use nitrogen
technology to keep there the oxygen away from the Fisch while it's being transported. So that's a
really important point of difference. Once it goes into the manufacturing facility and it starts
being processed, that whole processing is actually done in a nitrogen environment as well. So you're
like oxygen, it's not exposed to oxygen right through them, manufacturing and even into the botlang.
So that's the, the freshness, the oxidation values, you know, high-fresh low-oxidations. That's
really important. That is obviously tested for it at the end and every batch is tested. In addition
to that, as it's going through its manufacturing, it's pulling out all of the impurities, also
tested every batch. In addition to that, it's in a triglyceride form. Now that's super important.
So our body knows how to absorb that in that natural triglyceride form. When we talk about
triglycerides, it's essentially the structure of the fatty acids. Cheaper fish oils tend to use
an ethyl ester form, which is not what the body recognises, so you're getting low absorption levels.
So it's, it's tested, yes, this is a triglyceride, 100%. So we're testing for freshness or oxidation
values. We're testing, testing for purity values and we're testing for triglycerides.
So when we're batch testing, that's really important because it's saying this will only go to
market when we know that batch passes everything. Now around the world, there's different testing,
how do we say different testing? Protocols or laboratories? Yeah, in terms of how stringent are they?
Heavy metals is obviously one of the things that falls into the purification category.
But so in New Zealand, for example, fish oils that are produced here, our heavy metal testing is
like, yeah, that passed, but it's like, how actually stringent? What levels are we saying?
What parts per million? Yeah, yeah. So what are we saying is okay for the general public to be
absorbing how many heavy metals on a daily basis? So New Zealand's pretty low. America's like really good.
Europe is super good. So Nordic Naturals is manufactured in Norway, so it's signed off by European
Union standards for that, for all of that testing. So you can get a certificate of analysis for every
batch that you purchase simply to see what those results of your batch that you're taking actually are.
So just kind of like the high view of that one, so the testing for the heavy metals,
it's in the triglycerate like formula, which is kind of like the same
form of the body that has been used. Yeah, it's how the fat exists in nature, basically. So the fish are
in a triglycerate form in the ocean, but when they actually get processed, they can actually be removed
out of that triglycerate form to really purify that oil. And so Nordic go that step further by
putting it back into its triglycerate form. Yeah, whereas like, a lot of the cheaper fish oil brands,
just it's cheaper to not do that extra step, therefore they don't. The issue with that, that
synthetic fat form, if we want to call it that, which is called an ethylester, it's not absorbed as
well by the body. So it's like an expensive process as well, like keeping it nitrogen, you know, in the
manufacturing process the whole time. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And so essentially what you end up with
is a pharmaceutical grade for sure. No, that's cool. And I think it goes back to, you know, you do get
what you pay for. And Nordic is one of the only fish oils like our daughter, she's 10, and she actually
puts them in her mouth and she chooses them and she thinks they're yummy. Yeah, yeah, I love fish oils.
Yeah, absolutely on that page. Absolutely on that page. With any other... Yeah, sure.
Yeah. The thought is terrible, but Nordic, it's like, and you open the bottle and it smells
fresh, it smells like lemony kind of. Yeah, absolutely. And so when you look at a Nordic product,
and it says it's lemon or strawberry, it's a Nordic, not a fake flavour, and it's not really
strong tasting, it's super light. And that flavouring is actually come from the rind of the lemon,
and that's all it is. So it's basically a little bit of like a lemon extract, I guess if you could
call it that. And it's really just to give it just a little bit of a fresh flavour. And, you know,
so the liquids, I'm, you know, some people would say, "I'll never take a liquid fish oil."
Absolutely, like it tastes really clean, really pure, really fresh, a little bit like an olive oil,
with a slightly, slight, slight, slight fish scent. It's not bad at all, really easy to take. So yeah,
sharing the capsules, definitely for people who don't like to swallow big capsules.
The capsules are great because, you know, you don't have to keep it in the fridge with the liquid
once it's open, you have to keep it in the fridge. But with the capsules, you don't, so that's the
benefit of the caps over the liquid, but definitely chew them, so, speaking of our daughter Summer,
let's talk about kids, so what age would you start kids on taking a fish oil?
As soon as possible. Yeah, she's had it since she was born. Well, before she was born actually,
which we get to later. Yeah, so obviously super important in pregnancy, that's one, one,
category of people that I think, you know, and it is proven, like you absolutely have to get DHA.
So obviously as I mentioned earlier, that you've got the DHA and the EPA and the DHA builds
the fats in the brain, the eyes, the nervous system. So during pregnancy, it's really important for
mum to have really optimal stores of DHA. And babies developing in the womb and the babies brain
needs the fats. So where does it get them from? From mummies brain. So it's basically drawing down
that stalks and saying, well, breastfeeding the DHA is coming through the breast milk. That's why the
body actually produces DHA through the breast milk is because, you know, babies need it. So I would say,
you know, if a baby's breastfeeding, I personally don't think you need to supplement them with
a fish oil, but definitely be supplementing mum right through pregnancy even if you can prior to
getting prior to conception, just to make sure that the fat stores in the brain are really, really,
you know, good and built up. So right through pregnancy, definitely breastfeeding. You can, you know,
some people do choose to supplement their babies even if mum is breastfeeding and taking a fish oil.
But definitely once breastfeeding is finished, I think that children they need to be getting, it's
absolutely essential. So yeah, as soon as possible is the answer to that.
It sounds so important during pregnancy as well, like mum's, you know, body is giving all of it to
the baby. That doesn't suddenly, there's a lot for mum left as well, you know? Absolutely. So when
we talk about mummy brain, I mean, obviously there's other factors there, the brain's changing a lot
with hormones, etc throughout that time frame. But when we do talk about mummy brain, it's actually
is, you know, can be really due to depleted levels of DHA in the brain. So it's one of the best
things you can do if you're not going to take a single other supplement in pregnancy,
fish oil is the key, you know, it will support you in just so many ways. Moose,
hormonal balance, inflammation because as we know, pregnancy, you know, there's aches and pains and
you know, there's a lot going on there. So yeah. And so another question is what happens then if
you're a vegetarian or a vegan, then what do we do? Yeah. So I mean, yeah, some, some vegetarians
and vegans will still take a fish oil, personal choice completely. If you're strict and you don't
want to take a fish oil, so your options are either plant based oils, flexi, chia, etc. The issue
with plant based oils is they don't actually give you EPA and DHA, which most people aren't aware of.
So they give you ALA and LA, which are the plant based equivalents of EPA and DHA, but the body when
it takes those fatty acids in it has to actually convert them to EPA and DHA for the body to use them.
The conversion process can typically be anywhere under 10%, so whatever you're taking in,
you might actually convert 10% of that into your EPA and DHA. It's very low. So your other option is
if you want to take an omega-3 because you direct EPA and DHA, you go to algae, not fish,
still from marine environment, giving you direct EPA and DHA. So it's the most efficient way to do it.
Well, they're going to be getting no fish from their diet, so that's probably a good move to be doing.
And speaking as a vegetarian, it's like I've made an exception to add fish oil to my diet because of
the benefit that it provides. And because it is so hard to hit those levels from other sources.
Yeah, definitely. And now we even have another group of our friends that needs fish oil.
Oh, that's a new line that there's fish oil for pets. For pets, for all your animals, dogs.
Yeah, for sure. And the reason why that's really important for pets is exactly the same reason
it's important for us. It supports all the same systems in the body and pets as it does in humans.
And as we know, pets, well, one thing, I guess, how good is their diet, how good is their pet food
they're eating. Some of them are fortified with omega-3s and while they appreciate that,
are they at the levels required? And they're at therapeutic levels. And are they from a clean
fresh source? So there's lots to think about there. But we all treat our pets, well, most of us treat
our pets like their family members. And so you'll get the same benefits in terms of skin health,
hair health or coat health. Joint, brain, heart, inflammation, nervous system. So really great for
pets who suffer from anxiety issues, allergies. I mean, I could talk about the benefits for a short
or a long day long, but yeah, exactly the same reason you'd supplement a human is why you give them
to your pets. It makes sense for our very friends, I pretty like us a lot, you know? Absolutely.
And so we're speaking about all the positive things about fish oil, but are there any negative things
or a reason why people shouldn't be taking it for sure? Absolutely not, although medication would be
the only one. It's the only contraindications or questions that we're worried about is if someone's
on blood thinnets. So wafer and aspirin, fish oil has a very light or mild anti-coagulant
property or benefit to it. So it thins the blood a little bit now on most of us, that's actually
beneficial. So it stops the blood sort of thickening up and keeps it really free flowing, which is
why it's also great for circulation in the body. But in terms of people on blood thinners, we just
cautious that it could accelerate the medication effects. So we don't usually say no for someone
on blood thinners, but if they choose to take it for sure, because as we know, it's essential for the
body, it's just they really want to run that by their doctor and make sure that they are keeping on top
of, you know, monitoring this and monitoring, you know, it may be possible that if they were to
add a fish oil and they could potentially lower the meats just a little bit, but that's completely
between them and their doctor to discuss. Right on, right on. And if we are taking fish oil in the day,
is there a best time of day? Does it matter? Is it with your breakfast, your dinner? When you
remember? Absolutely. I agree with the when you remember. No, so you can take it whenever you like,
absolutely with or without food. Some people find that, you know, it could come down to a
digestion concern, like they don't feel like they might they may feel a little bit funny when they
take fish oil or if they lie down at night time just before bed and they've just taken it, they
may, you know, but that's usually when you're taking a high quality fish oil, you don't really get
the sort of the, the repeating the fishy burps, the taste, the whatever. But for those people who do
just take it with a meal, but aside from that, anytime in the day, you don't have to split the dose.
Yeah, easy. Cool. And I should have touched on this as well when we were talking about fishing,
because, you know, sustainability is a big word at the moment. Like, what's Nordic starts on
sustainability when it comes to getting all this fish from the ocean? Yeah, really great, great question,
because I think that that's probably what their whole ethos is actually built on is, you know,
making sure that they don't live really any footprint in terms of what they do. So they
partnered with Friends of the Sea, which is an organisation that obviously monitors
the catching of the fish. Obviously, they're only using those smaller fish, so they spawn a lot quicker,
so they're reproducing and they're making sure that there's no changes in the population numbers,
like that's definitely regulated, their catches are regulated, etc. So that's really important. They
also, they're fishing methods that they use. There's no buy catch, so they're using line and very small
nets, which are only catching the intended species that they're going for, so they're not catching
anything else. And they actually, as well as in terms of the ocean, they actually have a gold
lead certified headquarters, which is to do with environmentalism, and so they actually, I love this,
they any leftover fatty acids from the fish oil production, they actually take that and they convert
that into biofuel, which runs their whole factory. That's amazing. That's amazing. And anything left
over any surplus biofuel that gets shared out amongst the village, where they're manufacturing
planters, and any water that's used in their production within their facility is all cleaned
completely before it's put back into the ocean. Yeah, so they're, it's very big for them.
So Nordic, they do a couple other things besides just the fish oil, so there's things,
maybe you could talk through some of the other products they do, they do, there's borer joil,
I know cod liver oil, all the different. Yeah, so cod liver oil is still an omega-3,
oil. It's obviously just using the livers from the cod, the bodies of the cod themselves aren't
actually rich in omega-3s, so that's used for other, other. That's the biofuel. Yeah, well, no, I think
that's just sold, eat as fish. But yeah, so cod liver is also, it's really naturally high in vitamin
A and D, which interestingly, you know, some people think, well, you won't need that at certain times
of the year. Well, it's not quite correct, you actually use those vitamins all of the time in the
body. You know, for skeletal health, moose, immunity, mucus membrane health, etc. So cod liver oil
is actually, it's a very traditional product, and it's actually a great all-rounder. So you're
getting a little bit more than just your omega-3s from cod liver oil. So definitely it's still a fish oil.
Borer joil and evening primrose oil, which both of those are present in the omega-women product,
which I really like. Borerogen evening primrose both provide GLA. Now GLA is an omega-6,
not an omega-3. Typically, omega-6s is not what we're trying to put more of into our body,
so we're all getting tons of omega-6s already. We're getting them in all our baked goods,
fried goods, crackers, like just all over the place, and that's kind of the issue is the amount
of omega-6s. We're always eating in a modern diet, and because omega-3 and 6 have to be in a
particular ratio for optimal health in the body, what's happening is most of us are getting far
too many omega-6s, and not enough omega-3s. And omega-6s typically are inflammatory causing in the
body, so we're pushing up inflammation. GLA from the borerogen evening primrose, although it's an
omega-6, it acts like an omega-3. And what the reason why it's in a couple of their products,
which is the complete omega range and then the omega-women, and then there's a straight borer joil
liquid on its own, is the GLA is really great for hormone balance, and he is going to nail health.
It's really hydrating. So, while it's in omega-6, it's more like an anti-inflammatory, like the omega-3s.
Cool. I know I tried the borer joil, just because I was finding those having quite dry hair,
and Kelly suggested I try it out for... Did you do the drug?
Oh, I did, because I'm doing hot yoga and I'm doing swimming, and you know, it's just female hormones,
and so we tried it out, and it... Yeah, it's great. Yeah, your hair looks pretty good to me.
Perfect. All right, well, shall we land this plane before we wrap up? Is there anything that we
haven't touched on, Kelly, that you'd like to add about Nordic Naturals? Mental health.
I think that something that we probably haven't really covered, and I think it's quite prominent at the
moment. I mean, I think it's probably always been prominent, but maybe not talked about as much.
So, in addition to, I guess, just quickly go back to the start. So, DHA EPA, I'm the different in the
body. Yeah, and do different jobs. So, where your DHA is building the facts in the brain,
in the retina, and in the nervous system, and EPA is more for basically, I'd say, everything else,
right? Heart, joint, skin, immunity, and supporting those inflammation levels.
Moved mental health, anxiety, anything like that, depression, etc. EPA is the fact that we really want
a lot of. So, I think what's really important as an overview to take away from this, because when
you look at the Nordic range, you're probably thinking, "Oh my gosh, so many products. I don't know
what to take, which one do I take, which one's the right one for me?" This is kind of the simplest
way to look at this. Every Nordic product will contain EPA and DHA, and it will tell you how much of
each on the back of the box. Obviously, if you want brain, eye and nervous system support, you're
going to take a DHA rich supplement. And definitely, when we're talking about brain, we're talking about
right through from pregnancy, children, studying, cognitive decline, or memory loss and things like that.
So, it's going to be supporting memory, learning, behaviour, focus, etc. That's what DHA is doing.
EPA, while it's doing all of the other things, is very, very supportive for
mood and mental health. So, you want to be looking for a formula that's got a much higher level of EPA
compared to DHA. So, if you flick over to the back of the pack, you just have to have a look at those
sort of ratios. Nordic does it. She have two products in a little, what we call the EPA range. One is
called, the name is just straight EPA, the other one, EPA extra. So, if you're looking at mood, mental
health anxiety, depression, I would be wanting to go more for the EPA extra formula, just to make
sure that you're getting those really high doses of EPA. Every, every Nordic product is going to
support everybody system. So, you don't need to be too, you know, you don't need to be too critical
about which one you choose. They were all going to support that, but it's just more looking at, do we
want more DHA or do we want more EPA? And then sort of finding a formula that suits everybody's
requirements. Oh, there's so interesting, there's the first time someone's really kind of explained
the difference to me, you know, like, especially when it comes to mood, mental health and, yeah, that's
awesome. Cool. All right, Kevin, is there anything else you want to wrap up with before we finish?
I think we kind of covered everything. All right, well, I hope everybody kind of learned something
from today's talk about essential facts. I definitely encourage you. I want to check this out.
Hopefully we picked your interests and you can come see us in store and check out some of the
Nordic range over the month. Absolutely. And so that's it for me, that's a wrap. Good luck out there.
Thanks guys, bye. Bye.