OUR HEALTH PHILOSOPHY
"Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food!"
-Hippocrates of Kos, ca. 400 B.C.
Like Hippocrates of Kos, we share the view that nutrition plays a decisive role in our health. Therefore, the principles of our health philosophy are as follows:
- Make sure your diet is as natural as possible.
- Apart from industrial trans fatty acids, there are no good or bad fats, only unfavorable ratios.
- Sugar, white flour and excess omega-6 fatty acids are the main cause of many health problems.
- The daily intake of a natural fish oil or vegetable algae oil with a high content of omega-3 fatty acids is good for our health.
Our goal of an adequate omega-3 supply also means that a person who already has an sufficiently high omega-3 index in the body and therefore has no need for an additional intake of omega-3 fatty acids, we do not recommend the use of our NORSAN oils and capsules. Enough is enough and more is no longer beneficial.
What does NORSAN stand for?
NORSAN's mission is twofold:
- Explaining how fats work, especially the role of omega-3 fatty acids for our health
- The best omega-3 products develop and deliver. More on this in our Product philosophy.
Both parts of the mission are equally important. Education creates the necessary basis for understanding that an adequate supply of omega-3 fatty acids is particularly important. NORSAN products provide targeted help here, but there are other good omega-3 oils on the market.
In general, however 9 out of 10 people have a clear and measurable deficiency of omega-3, this means that our oils would be a suitable addition to the existing diet for the majority of the population.
The effect of omega-3 fatty acids
There is much debate about the actual effects of omega-3 fatty acids. In expert circles, certain groups believe that the regular intake of omega-3 has no effect and therefore is not necessary for health. On the other hand, there are some experts who the positive health effects of omega-3 for a wide variety of diseases and health problems.
Omega-3 fatty acids are Essential for our health and bodybut if there is a shortage, just a certain dosage, so that the intake also helps. One conventional omega-3 capsule a day is as useless as doing a push-up every day. It helps a little, but not really. If you are deficient in omega-3, you generally need the following At least 2,000 mg of omega-3 fatty acids dailywhich often amounts to 10 to 15 conventional capsules (the contents of omega-3 capsules vary widely).
Does omega-3 help or not?
The answer is simple: omega-3 fatty acids help only if they are used correctly. Compare it to exercise, which most people see as a positive factor for their health. But if someone jogs for 3 minutes every day or does a push-up every day, it is very likely that these measures will not provide significant health improvements. The situation is similar with omega-3.
As with all foods, you need to pay attention to quality. What raw materials were used and how were these raw materials processed? In extreme cases, if you take 10 capsules while the fish oil is already spoiled, you cannot expect a good effect. The body tries to get rid of this oil (thankfully) and you will get an unpleasant burping sensation. A good quality omega-3 oil does not cause this. This is why, for the first few years, NORSAN offered our oils only in liquid form. Not because we think capsules are not useful and good in certain cases - rather, we wanted to emphasize that you don't have to "hide" it in a capsule. For other foods, we would never come up with such an idea.
There are many omega-3 concentrates on the market. The advantage of concentrates is that you need to take fewer capsules. However, the disadvantage is that it is no longer a natural product. NORSAN believes in keeping nutrition as natural as possible. Therefore, you will not find omega-3 concentrates in any of our products, only high-dose natural oils.
How high should the dose of omega-3 be?
The answer to this question varies from person to person and is the result of the diagnostic method described above. Therefore, the dosage depends on the individual fatty acid ratio in the body and should be high enough to compensate for a possible deficiency. There is broad scientific consensus on the optimal omega-3 level in the body that it should be above 8%.
In cooperation with Europe's leading laboratory for fatty acid measurements, Omegametrix® GmbH in Munich, NORSAN has now performed more than 30,000 individual fatty acid analyses. The result is a very clear picture: for adults deficient in omega-3, the effective dosage starts at 2,000 mg of omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) per day.
What is the effect of taking 1-2 conventional omega-3 capsules each with an omega-3 content of about 150 mg? The obvious answer is: none!
This also accounts for the fact that studies have repeatedly emerged in which omega-3 intake had no effect - the dosage chosen was too low.
Therefore, NORSAN believes that a sufficiently high dosage is necessary to achieve the desired health effect.
DIAGNOSTIC METHOD - THE MEASUREMENT OF SUCCESS RATHER THAN MERE HOPE
What is omega-3 fatty acids all about? From our point of view, the most important thing is not which capsules or which oil to take, but that there are enough omega-3 fatty acids in the body. Therefore, the first diagnostic step is to measure the fatty acids in the body. Their ratio can be determined as part of a fatty acid analysis.
In the German population, fatty acid analysis shows omega-3 deficiency in 9 out of 10 people. The following values are measured mean values (recommended ranges):
- Omega-6/3 ratio between 1:1 and 2.5:1
- Omega-3 index more than 8
- Industrial trans fat content below 0.5%
Bringing the values to a positive range requires a change in diet, usually combined with the use of an omega-3 oil as an additional dietary supplement.
Fatty acid measurement can also be used to evaluate the success of a dietary change. This step is useful to NORSAN because it allows the effectiveness of an omega-3 preparation to be monitored so accurately from laboratory blood values.
Incidentally, NORSAN was the first company in Germany to introduce this diagnostic method.
REGULATE
The structure of fatty acids in the body is a reflection of our diet. Depending on individual measurement results, the following may suggest regulation:
- Too much omega-6 arachidonic acid -> Less consumption of meat products
- Omega-3 fatty acids too low -> Higher consumption of seafood
- Too many trans fatty acids -> Reduced consumption of industrially processed foods containing trans fatty acids ("hydrogenated vegetable oils")
When it comes to regulation, we believe the best way to do this is the regular diet. If you use a dietary supplement, make sure it is as natural as possible.