Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net and Ponsulak
The Ugly Truth About Fish Oil
I sat in on a radio show today between breast cancer coach/blogger Elyn Jacobs and Prof Brian Peskin, a scientist specializing in parent essential oils — termed PEOs — and their relationship to both cancer and cardiovascular disease. He’s just written a book, “PEO Solutions”, which will be available for purchase in November 2013.
It was an interesting discussion, Prof Peskin is an animated and passionate speaker who believes we are being misguided and conned by the health food industry (among others) into thinking that fish oils are good for our health. It sounds as though this couldn’t be farther from the truth, there are real problems with fish oil, not the least of which is the fact that so many of our fish are now polluted by the waters they swim in.
We Don’t Die From Breast Cancer, Typically, But From Cardiovascular Disease
Prof Peskin’s arguments against fish oil have a great deal of merit and I wanted to share them with you because I’ve been reading that people who have had breast cancer don’t generally die from that, but from cardiovascular disease. If you are taking fish oil to prevent cardiovascular disease, you’d better keep reading (and keep an open mind)!
According to his website, www.BrianPeskin.com, “First reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, a very large well-done study in Italy showed that fish oil was completely ineffective in preventing heart disease for a very large group of high risk patients. Soon after, Dr. Eric Topol, renowned cardiologist from Scripps Health (La Jolla, California) and editor-in-chief of Medscape, recommended discontinuing all fish oil supplementation for the prevention of heart disease. It doesn’t get any more main stream than Dr. Topol, so I gladly accept the designation of an advocate for a rational, now mainstream approach for combating heart disease.”
What Are Parent Essential Oils?
According to Prof Peskin, there are only two parent oils we should be consuming – LA (parent omega-6), also known as linoleic acid, and ALA (parent omega-3), also known as alpha-linolenic acid. These oils must come from food and to work properly in our bodies, they must not be heated, must be chemically unprocessed, organically raised and processed in such a way as to guarantee full physiologic functionality.
All other essential fatty acids, notes Prof Peskin, are termed “EFA derivatives” and these are made in the body already – AA, DHA, EPA. Derivatives are made in the body from the parent oils, LA and ALA. Thus, by taking these supplements we are actually overdosing on oils we already have in our bodies – and generally the oils we are supplementing with are rancid and actually promoting disease, not health!
Since our diets contain many oils that do not follow the above standards (think about that fried chicken or french fries you had last week), we are setting ourselves up for cancer and cardiovascular disease.
100 Trillion Cells Need Parent Oils
To properly understand how crucial parent oils are in our bodies, think about the fact that we have 100 trillion cells, and every single cell has a double layer of fats (known as a lipid bi-layer) comprising the membrane. Of these fats in each cell’s membrane, 25-33% are parent oils. If we don’t consume the healthy parent oils in our diet, our cells don’t have the building blocks they require for proper functioning and could very well lead us down the garden path to cancer, cardiovascular disease, and many other disease processes.
The Best Parent Oils Are…
Prof Peskin apparently is developing his own plant-based proprietary formulation of parent oils. Until that becomes available, the best ones come from organically grown sunflower, safflower, pumpkin, and evening primrose seed oils, as well as coconut oil.
I recommend you go to his website, www.BrianPeskin.com, and download some of the PDFs he has available on parent essential oils. My favorite is Cancer: A Complete Overview With PEOs to the Rescue.
I send my love to everyone taking this journey right now. If you would like my help with getting through breast cancer in an inspiring and ultra-healthy way, please sign up for my free e-newsletters on the right, or “like” me on Facebook (MarnieClark.com) and I’ll do my utmost to keep you informed and empowered on your healing journey… and beyond.
The oils are available now as Brian does not sell any himself, but he is a consultant to a company called http://www.yes-supplements.com. Also he is a consultant to http://www.healthyforlifeusa.com or if you prefer you can mix them yourself with a ratio of 2 to 1 in favor of the omega 6. I follow his recommendations to the letter as both myself and my wife had cancer 1 yr apart and that was 5 and 6 years. He is very passionate about his teaching. He really upsets some people because he is outside the medicine field and is not a doctor. He tells it like he sees it. He told me personally if you are in remission and follow what he you want ever have to worry about cancer coming . That was enough for me ….
Hi Sid,
Thanks for your comment and for the links to the oils, much appreciated. Glad to hear you and your wife are cancer-free, that’s excellent! And that thing about upsetting people? That’s what the renegades do, but are so very often proven to be absolutely right. It takes a brave person to go against the tide of thought – hooray for the renegades!
xox
Marnie
Coconut is my new favorite oil…glad to see that was on the “good” list! Also chia seeds for the Omegas and fiber. It’s always interesting to me how what was once advocated and becomes mainstream, soon becomes outdated or even cautioned against. No wonder people are confused! Thanks for the article, Marnie. As always- great quality information and resources.
Dear Eryn,
Thanks so much for your comment. I agree with you about coconut oil, it really is fantastic stuff (just make sure it’s organic!). And I definitely agree with what you said about what was once advocated for often becoming cautioned against. It really shows how important it is to stay up to date with research studies – and to make sure that the research is being done properly.
Cheers!
Marnie xox
Fantastic job with this Marnie…you really captured it all. And…I really love this “Prof Peskin’s arguments against fish oil have a great deal of merit and I wanted to share them with you because I’ve been reading that people who have had breast cancer don’t generally die from that, but from cardiovascular disease. If you are taking fish oil to prevent cardiovascular disease, you’d better keep reading (and keep an open mind)!”. Thanks Marnie!!
Elyn,
Thanks so much for your feedback, much appreciated. Keep up the good work that you are doing!
xox
Marnie
Marnie,
I appreciate your courage in bringing a potentially controversial topic to the forefront…I must say though, that I have some serious red flags with the following statement and the source that you cite as a reference:
“…we are being misguided and conned by the health food industry (among others) into thinking that fish oils are good for our health. It sounds as though this couldn’t be farther from the truth, there are real problems with fish oil, not the least of which is the fact that so many of our fish are now polluted by the waters they swim in.”
Though I do agree with the polluted-waters issue when it comes to fish oil, I don’t believe that means we throw the supplement out altogether and discount the supportive research concerning its health benefits. Not all supplements are created equal. Not all fish oil supplements are created equal. So I agree with the fact that we need to be really careful with what we take and making sure that it will address the proper area of our health.
If I could respectfully share here my initial thoughts on the source from which it comes, Brian Peskin…
Firstly, Brian Peskin is by no means the ultimate health and nutrition authority (as if the nutrition science field has to this point been blinded, prior to his research). This is what his own website seems to claim, as in the following statements taken from his website…
“Applying exacting science and experiment to further our health is the approach Brian uses in his search for the truth. There is no one else in the world who applies this approach to the nutritional field!….”
and
“What sets Brian vastly apart from popular health researchers is that he’s the FIRST to bring all of the vital information together, “connecting the dots,” and develop state-of-the-art practical application to maximizing your health and well-being.”
and of his Life Systems Engineering (a nice convenient way to rename nutrition science, integrative medicine, and nutritional healing)…
“L.S.E.: This new field, founded in 1995 by Professor Brian S. Peskin, is defined as: The new science of producing desired results by working cooperatively with the natural processes of living systems. This is in sharp contrast to a drug. Drugs typically artificially alter your biochemical reactions and always have negative (harmful) side effects.”
All of these statements are flat-out untrue. This type of nutrition science has in fact been studied and applied since the early 1900s…perhaps even before that. But I at least know of one biochemist who was creating nutritional products as early as 1915, in response to seeing that people were missing some essential nutrients in their diets. Brian Peskin’s website makes it sound as though that this was not happening prior at all prior to him and his company.
These types of absolute statements and high claims are huge red flags for me and would call his credibility into question. What is his motive in making these claims about himself? Well, as it turned out, he indeed had started his own company and was producing his own unique nutritional supplements. However, he was making disallowed health claims by the FDA concerning his products, and did not meet the proper standards for manufacturing in his state. (read more on that here: http://brianpeskin.com/StoryofRH.pdf).
Again, if he is claiming to be such a wonderful researcher, then missing key details like the ones just mentioned should be inexcusable. The FDA standards on this and the state regulations are not hidden away or hard to find. How many other details may he be missing along the way?
To be fair, I have not read his recent book on Cancer. I may find that I agree with many things that he says about how cancer originates and how different essential oils can help…not because he said them, but because other more reputable sites and authorities say the same thing.
Please know that I share this with great respect for what you are doing and your mission to help people through your site, Marnie! I just felt a moral obligation to share some red flags that jumped out to me that perhaps other readers are not taking the time to research for themselves.
Bonnie,
Thanks for your comments. I neither agree nor disagree with everything you said – you’ve made some valid points and it’s a subject that could be argued over ad infinitum. I believe all of us make disallowed health claims (according to the FDA’s rules) at one time or another, and the FDA certainly does not have my respect.
I do not rely solely upon Prof Peskin’s claims that fish oils are not good for us, there are many authoritative sources that agree on this point – but this particular article was mainly about his research and the interview with him, which I found to be pretty convincing, red flags or no. Hey – we all have opinions, I respect yours.
Regards,
Marnie
Good to know even though I do not use it. So many people take fish oil thinking it is good for the brain. I will let them know, better yet, send them to you post. Anita
Anita,
Thanks for your comment! I actually had been using fish oil – at least, until I heard Prof Peskin’s interview! Went downstairs, threw it all away!
Cheers,
Marnie