Your cart is empty now.
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential fats, but most of us don’t get enough. We eat on the go. We eat packaged foods. And guess what – those fast and easy options don’t have any of the bioactive omega-3s we need to support our hormonal health. So how can we change that reality to set ourselves up for success?
In this article you will learn:
There's a reason they’re called essential!
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential fats, which means that we cannot produce them in our bodies - and they must therefore be consumed through our diets. Think of them as the “vitamins” of the fat world. These fats are essential for brain health, creating hormones, regulating inflammation, promoting heart health, supporting a healthy mood, and reducing the risk of chronic diseases. They are the “jack of all trades” fats that most of us don’t get enough of in our daily diets.
How these omega-vitamins promote women’s health
Women face unique hormone-related health challenges throughout our lives, from puberty through our childbearing years, and into menopause. Because omega-3s are involved in the production and regulation of hormones throughout our lives, it’s imperative, or rather essential that we consume them every day.
Omega-3 supports all of your hormone cycles
The omega-3s EPA and DHA support hormonal balance through your most difficult transition periods, whether that be your monthly cycles, ramping hormones during pregnancy (and even during delivery), breastfeeding, and throughout perimenopause. This is because they are directly involved in hormone production and regulation in the body.
For more on Hormone Health, check out our podcast interview with Dr. Shawn Tassone, MD, PhD, author of The Hormone Bible and host of Confessions of a Male Gynecologist.
How much of the omega-3s EPA + DHA should you consume each day?
Doctors recommend we get a minimum of 250 - 500 milligrams of EPA and DHA each day. This doesn’t just mean 250 - 500 mg of omega-3 – but of EPA and DHA specifically. While you’ll likely consume more total omega-3 if you consume plant foods like walnuts, chia seeds, and flax seeds, none of these provides a direct source of EPA and DHA. Since only a very small portion of the omega-3 alpha linolenic acid (ALA) they provide ever becomes EPA or DHA, focusing on EPA and DHA is best.
Given all the available omega-3 options, what’s best?
Unfortunately, getting your omega-3s from plant sources like walnuts, chia seeds, and flax seeds, just isn’t going to do it. The conversation rate of their omega-3 ALA into the EPA and DHA your body needs is roughly 16:1. This means you’d have to consume piles of walnuts, chia seeds and flax seeds to get the 250mg - 500 mg of EPA and DHA you need each day.
There are 2 primary omega-3 fish and algae oil sources available today: ethyl esters (a modified fat), and triglycerides. Both of these fat types can cause GI distress and a fishy burp, be they from fish – or from algae. A third, and better option has revealed itself - active omega-3s in the polar lipid form.
Polar lipids are up to 3X better absorbed than other oils because they’re constructed how your cells use them. This means they get absorbed more quickly into your tissues, and, as a direct result, they won’t cause that fishy reflux or burp that you get from other oils.
We’re so confident that Orlo’s active omega-3s perform better that we’re even offering 2 Omega-3 Index Tests to new subscribers. The first test establishes your baseline or “pre-Orlo” supplementation. The second test will show how much your scores have improved over the prior 4 month period
Why Orlo?
With Orlo Nutrition, you’re going straight to the original source of the omega-3s EPA and DHA – microalgae. We grow our algae in a bio-secured and fully controlled environment in Iceland, using only pristine water, nutrients that algae need to thrive, and today’s energy (light).
Because we go straight to the source, there’s no worry of bioaccumulation of toxins that you see with fish oil. Because we grow in a controlled environment, there’s no worry of pollutants or pests or pesticides. Given our AI optimized growing conditions, our algae thrive. Their levels of omega-3s and phytonutrients are higher, so we can minimally process them without the use of harsh industrial solvents like hexane. This means we preserve the delicate polar omega-3 structure that our algae start with. The end result is an omega-3 that’s up to 3X better absorbed than fish or krill oil. Örlö's BioActive Omega-3s are health-promoting, environmentally responsible, and they won’t give you that nasty fishy burp.