Omega-3 From Algae-A Better Option?

Interviewer: Can you talk a little bit about the bioavailability. That's something that people are concerned about and the difference between algae and a fish oil.

 
Dr. Berzin: Yeah, it's a very important point. I think a good example for this is the work that was done by krill  oil people. If you look at the market today, krill oil is a premium product.

Interviewer: Sure.

Dr. Berzin: And the reason for that is they were able to show that because of the polar [??] structure of the molecule the Omega-3 molecules in krill oil, unlike the non-polar ones in fish oil, the bioavailability is much higher.

So you can swallow the smaller dosage to get the same health benefit. When you look at the pololipid composition in krill oil, it's mostly phospholipid, so the polar group is a phospho group.

OK, when you look at algae oil you can find two groups. One is a phospholipid and one is a glycolipid, sugar molecule, polosugar [sp], which you can only find in plants, not in animals. So the legitimate question came, yeah it's a pololipid and a pololipid but in case of algae the pololipid construction is a little bit different. Its plant like, rather than animal like. It doesn't have the same influence, the same bioavailability in a human body.

So we performed a clinical trial in Germany, comparing krill oil to Omega PL [??] our algae-based oil. You can clearly see, so healthy volunteers took 1.5 gram of Omega-3 dosage and their blood levels were tested for a total of 10 hours after they took that. And you can see from the curve and from the area under the curve, it's published in peer-reviewed article, that Omega PL has even higher bioavailability than krill. Which was surprising for us. We were expecting for the same and it turned out better. OK.
The other distinguishing factor which is important. If you look at krill oil, it's a mix of EP and DJ as we said before. The krill is not particular, which algae he wants to eat. In our case it's a pure EPA play. Now is it important, OK?

I think if you look at the latest body of scientific research you can find that actually EPA is what adults need for their health. This is supported by work of company like Ameren comparing pure EPA versus EPA DJ [??] mix for natural glyceride control. OK? It's a prescription drug today because they showed the higher efficacy of the pure EPA play.

A Columbia University professor, John Mann, looked at a meta analysis of all the work that was done in terms of depression and Omega-3s. And you can see. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't work. So they tried to see, what's the key to success?
And what they found was something that they called unopposed EPA, which means the EPA minus the AJ [??] that you took. OK? So if you took a 50/50 blend, your unopposed EPA is zero. And such is the result. So only in high unopposed EPA level everything beyond a certain point everything succeeds in terms of relieving depression. Beyond this point, everything fails. So they concluded, that's the key to successfully relieving depression.

And what's the thought behind it? Why unopposed? Because EPA and DJ [??] are very similar molecules competing for the same receptors in the human body, while they have different efficacy. And EPA being the relevant for depression. That's why what you want is a pure EPA play for adults. So both bioavailability and also the composition is unique in this product.

Interviewer: What form does the algae form come it? With fish oil we can get the actual oil or gel caps. And then with fish oil you often times will have the burps that come.

Dr. Berzin: Right. Wonderful.

Interviewer: And the fishy taste.

Dr. Berzin: Perfect. Great.

Interviewer: How does algae compare?

Dr. Berzin: OK. If you mix oil and water, oil floats on top. That's why you get the burps. If you take pololipids and mix them they form an emulsion, and it's a beautiful to see it in a jar. They form an emulsion. Therefore you avoid the burpy, fishy pleasure.

Interviewer: Bad taste, yeah.

Dr. Berzin: And I think since the molecule of Omega PL is polar, just as krill oil, you actually avoid the pleasure of sharing with your friends what you had for lunch.

What you're getting is oil, just as fish oil. It looks the same, feels the same, smells better. Just green. OK, it's green because it's coming from a plant. You get it in a soft gel and I think it's beautiful. For the customer it's the same experience, minus the burp, with the right composition of EPA and the right molecular form of pololipids for high availability. Other than that, there is no major change in the interface with the customer.