Fatty acids

• A fatty acid is a molecule that consists of a chain of carbon atoms with hydrogen atoms attached to it and with an oxygen atom and a hydroxyl group attached to the carbon atom at the end of the carbon atom chain.
• The carbon atom with an oxygen atom and a hydroxyl group attached to it is called Omega, Ω the last letter of the Greek alphabet.
• Fatty acids can be saturated or unsaturated.
• In fatty acids that are saturated, all carbon atoms except Omega are bound to two hydrogen atoms, so each atom has a maximum number of other atoms attached to it.
• Unsaturated fatty acids have one or more of the carbon atoms a double bond to the next carbon atom in the chain. This means that they have fewer hydrogen atoms bound to them and are therefore called unsaturated, as the carbon atom has not filled all the bonding sites with other atoms.
• If the molecule has one double bond it is called monounsaturated, if it has two or more it is called double or polyunsaturated.
• An Omega fatty acid is a monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acid.
• The Omega number describes how many carbon atoms from the Omega atom the first double bond is. Omega 3 fatty acids thus have the first double bond three atoms from the Omega atom.

The HS-Omega-3 Index indicates the amount of EPA+DHA with the laboratory's correction model. The method is strictly standardized and patent pending.

The laboratory is the only one in Europe to work according to DIN ISO 15189.
Three times a year, the laboratory carries out cross-analysis with two sister laboratories in the USA and South Korea to check that the instruments provide reliable and consistent values.

The HS-Omega-3 Index is influenced by several factors:

Omega-3 consumption, age, gender, diabetes, genes, Body Mass Index, etc.

Because of these factors, it is not as simple as just looking at diet or fish consumption.

Usually, the Omega-3 Index increases in parallel with increased intake of EPA and DHA.

In Germany, the average value of the HS-Omega-3 index is 6.14%.

Studies show that at 8% you achieve great health benefits, above all in terms of cardiovascular health.

In a study with 1000 tested healthy people who did not take Omega-3 supplements, less than 20% had HS-Omega-3 Index values above 8%.

Reduced mortality in sudden cardiac death with higher HS-Omega-3 Index
Reduced mortality in sudden cardiac death with high Omega-3 Index.

The health effect for the heart and blood vessels starts at a value below 5

Optimal health effect at value between 1 and 2.5

High values = large imbalance between Omega-6 and Omega-3

High values favor pro-inflammatory processes throughout the body, so-called hidden inflammation

Balance between Omega-6 and Omega-3 = balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory processes

The relationship between Omega-6 and Omega-3 is believed to have been 1:1 through thousands of generations.

In just 100 years, this balance between Omega-6 and Omega-3 has been greatly shifted by the change brought about by modern food production. The consumption of Omega-6-rich foods has increased greatly, especially in the last 50-60 years, which today is reflected in our cells.

Today, the ratio is often 15:1 due to our modern diet. Today, the brain is the only organ in the body that still manages to maintain an Omega-6 / Omega-3 ratio of 1:1.

Study by one of the leading researchers in research on the relationship between Omega-6 and Omega-3, Dr. Artemis Simopoulos: The Importance of the Omega-6/Omega-3 Fatty Acid Ratio in Cardiovascular Disease and Other Chronic Diseases.

From 1:1 to 15:1 in 100 years with modern diet 🙁

From 15:1 to 3:1 in 100 days with ArcticMed 🙂

Please note that we do not make a diagnosis, but only show your fatty acid values which are compared to a model person.

Saturated fatty acids

Saturated fats have traditionally had a very bad reputation, still in 2002 a number of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed that there was convincing evidence that the consumption of palmitic acid increases the risk of cardiovascular disease as much as trans fats.[1]

However, the scientific world's view of saturated fats has changed in recent years, and recent research says that saturated fatty acids in the diet are not necessarily harmful, even if some raise LDL cholesterol levels[2], [3].