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Comment by helph67 | Hacker News Reader

This may explain why people who use the Mediterranean diet tend to live long, healthy lives.

Or it might be pension fraud https://theconversation.com/the-data-on-extreme-human-ageing...

I've been following nutrition "science" for the past 10 years, and to say it's cluster fudge is an understatement.

I recommend checking out Gill Carvalho (https://www.youtube.com/@NutritionMadeSimple). He helped me realize that nutrition science isn’t a controversial as it would seem from reading the popular press or the occasional study showing that bacon and Oreo cookies are good for your heart. It took five or ten videos to get a feel for how real scientists interpret new information. He explains the relative power of different types of scientific evidence, etc. Good stuff. He covers the Omega-3 AFib connection. If I remember correctly, Omegas-3s improve several cardiovascular risk factors, but also increase the risk of AFib. So, depending on your current situation, you may want to increase or decrease your intake. Deficiency is definitely bad, but you can also overdo it. I decided that sardines a few times a week is probably safer for me than the fish oil capsules I was taking daily.

Thanks for the recommendation. Will check it out!

He's on my list of "science advisors" as well (Dr. Patrick being the OG in this regard).

Another that bridges the gap is https://www.youtube.com/physionic

A book I read a couple years ago (I think Peter Attia's) said one of the clearest nutritional studies just sent a weekly bottle of olive oil to half the participants, who had better health results than the control group. They didn't track exactly what people ate, but figured they probably used recipes with olive oil and ended up closer to a Mediterranean diet.

Of course that doesn't necessarily mean it translates to extreme longevity.

If I had attention of food scientists and motivation, I'll eat better. Is this experiment controlled for that?

I haven't read the study itself, but normal practice is to give the control group some kind of attention that doesn't include the intervention you're testing.

There are different variations of Omega 3 fatty acids. For instance, Avocados is rich in Omega 3 ALA which is considered not as effective as EPA and DHA.

Fish is the only source of EPA and DHA.

From "An Omega-3 that’s poison for cancer tumors" (2021) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27499427 :

> Fish don't synthesize Omega PUFAs, they eat algae which synthesize fat-soluble DHA and EPA.

> From "Warning: Combination of Omega-3s in Popular Supplements May Blunt Heart Benefits" (2018) https://scitechdaily.com/warning-combination-of-omega-3s-in-... :

>> Now, new research from the Intermountain Healthcare Heart Institute in Salt Lake City finds that higher EPA blood levels alone lowered the risk of major cardiac events and death in patients, while DHA blunted the cardiovascular benefits of EPA. Higher DHA levels at any level of EPA, worsened health outcomes.

>> [...] Based on these and other findings, we can still tell our patients to eat Omega-3 rich foods, but we should not be recommending them in pill form as supplements or even as combined (EPA + DHA) prescription products,” he said. “Our data adds further strength to the findings of the recent REDUCE-IT (2018) study that EPA-only prescription products reduce heart disease events.”

And algal oil supplements

> Fish is the only source of EPA and DHA.

Algae oil [0] which is plant based is also a source of EPA and DHA.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaweed_oil

Technically, it is the source of those nutrients.

If you respond better to EPA (many do), you need fish (ideally Krill) oil.

Yeah, that's also where the fish get it from!

EPA and DHA actually originate in algae and seaweed which is where the fish get it from, so those are good sources too.

I'm only going to bring up the life expectancy part, but latino people also live longer despite their cuisine not being the healthiest. I'm not saying that all latinos eat a terrible diet, but the cuisine we all know and love is high-carb and high in saturated fats compared to the olive oils, fishies, and veggies we see in the mediterranean diet.

Metabolic diseases are a different story. But I guess love and family cancel that out.

Life expectancy in Latin America ranges from 65 in Bolivia to 80 in Chile and the cuisines, genetics, cultures, and socioeconomic circumstances vary greatly from region to region so it's not very useful to generalize latino people into one cohesive group with regards to diet and life expectancy.

Bro don't watch TikTok, they eat way more vegetables and fruit on the daily than you can imagine.

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