March 3, 2010 News Release:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/03/BARO1C9RD3.DTL

An environmental group filed a lawsuit in San Francisco on Tuesday alleging that 10 types of fish oil or shark oil supplements contain a toxic industrial compound, and that manufacturers and sellers need to warn consumers...

The products named in the PCB lawsuit are:

-- GNC Liquid Norwegian Cod Liver Oil

-- Nature Made Cod Liver Oil

-- Nature Made Odorless Fish Oil

-- Now Foods Double Strength Cod Liver Oil

-- Now Foods Salmon Oil

-- Now Foods Shark Liver Oil

-- Solgar 100 percent pure Norwegian Shark Liver Oil Complex

-- Solgar Norwegian Cod Liver Oil

-- Twinlab Emulsified Norwegian Cod Liver Oil

-- Twinlab Norwegian Cod Liver Oil

WHAT SHOULD WE BE EATING FOR DISEASE CURE AND PREVENTION?

     My Gratitude to Dan Murphy, DC, DABCO, for his amazing work and insights reviewing hundreds of books and studies to bring us the latest insights on our diet, and how it can be adjusted to improve our lives.

     Over the last 10 years the field of Nutritional Neurology has compiled dozens of studies to determine the chemistry behind the traditional diet of homo sapiens and neanderthals.  It has been established that until the advent of widespread high-effiency agriculture homo sapiens ate a mostly marine based diet that had an Omega-3/6 Fatty Acid blood test ratio of approximately 1:1. 

     Why is this important?  The current western diet is almost deviod of Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids, and overly abundant in Omega-6 Fatty acids, leaving us with an Omega 3/6 blood test ratio of up to 1:25.  The research shows that this creates a situation where we are at significantly increased risk of major health problems, such as:

Accumulated Toxins
Heart Disease
Fibromyalgia
Cancer
Chronic Pain
Inflammation
ADD/ADHD
Allergies
Alzheimer's
Dementia
Arthritis
Poor Brain Function
Acne
Abdominal Obesity

OMEGA 3 POLYUNSATURATED ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS (PUFAs)

      "Essential" means that your body cannot produce its own, and that the "essential" nutrient must come from food. 
     Did you know that your brain cell membranes are composed of certain Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which cannot be synthesized and must be obtained from the diet?  Abnormalities of PUFA composition in cell membranes alter membrane structure, causing abnormal signal transduction and altered immunological function [from European Neuropsychopharmacology 13 (2003) 267-271].  Simply put, your brain slowly dies without enough of these Essential Fatty Acids. 

 So how do we eat different to help our health status?     

     It is a good idea to make a nutritional shake in the blender each day to get proper essential nutrients. 
     Dr. Dan Murphy has a very specific recommendation for what to put in your daily shake obtaining all nutritional products from Nutri-West.  For his exact recommendation go to this page:  Every Day For All People. 
     Nutri-West is a direct sales company that is well respected in the nutritional supplement industry, and used by physicians worldwide. 
     Note:  Step Forward of Oregon is not a member of the Nutri-West multi-level marketing system, and has no affiliation of any kind with Nutri-West. 

So can I buy this stuff at the local health food store?

     Here is my evolving list of alternative products that are similar, and available through traditional retail outlets or on the web.  This list is not as complete as Dr. Murphy's, but is provided for those who want to try to obtain something similar through traditional retail channels.  
     
     Important:  When you increase PUFAs, your body processes toxins and creates waste which also needs to be eliminated.  This means that you also must increase anti-oxidant consumption to process those wastes.  
     Important:  We need to obtain Omega 3 PUFAs from both plant and animal sources.

1.  FLAX OIL: 
Barlean's Organic Oils, Fresh Flax Oil, 1 Tbsp/day (available at many stores)
or FLAX SEED:
Whole flax seed, 2 Tbsp/day

2.  FISH OIL:  MUST BE FRESH CAUGHT, NOT FARMED!  3000 mg./day
Barlean's Organic Oils, Fish Oil (orange flavor).
Natural Factors Wild Pacific Salmon Oil, available from many sources online.

3.  BLUEBERRIES:
Willamette Valley Fruit, 1 cup/day (frozen) Best frozen blueberries ever!

4.  VITAMIN D:  800 IU vitamin D3/day

5.  FRESH CAUGHT SALMON:  3 servings/week
     Be aware that DNA testing has shown that in the USA about half of salmon sold as "fresh caught" is actually farmed. 

6.  Note!  FARMED SALMON/FARMED OTHER/FRESH OTHER: 
     DO NOT EAT ANY FARMED FISH!  Humans can excrete 38.5 micrograms of mercury per week; 6 ounces of swordfish can contain more that 200 micrograms of mercury!  More than 8 ounces of farmed salmon per month is an unacceptable cancer risk (Annals of Internal Medicine, December 21, 2004, Volume 141, Issue 12, pages 977-980). 
     Be aware that in the USA all sushi is farmed!