Barry Sears (of Zone Diet Fame) on Lifetime Metabolic Health and Sourcing Omega-3s

Dr. Kara Fitzgerald | New Frontiers in Functional Medicine, Longevity, Epigenetics

I'm excited to welcome Dr. Barry Sears, the renowned creator of the Zone Diet and a pillar in our field. Dr. Sears has not only authored bestsellers but has also made incredibly important contributions to clinical practice which we still rely on today: He is, for instance, the scientist who put the use of the AA:EPA ratio on the map. Dr. Sears provides elegant and accessible explanations of the unassailable importance of diet in addressing inflammation, metabolic health, chronic disease, and longevity, and the role that fatty acids play in that milieu. And while he and I might not agree that polyphenols need to be absorbed intact for benefit - there's plenty of evidence that their postbiotic products are very important players, especially in their interactions with the epigenome - his concerns about the chemical structure of highly concentrated fish oil supplements (with the potential for isomerization, as he argues) has opened my eyes and is important, without doubt. I think the jury is still out as to whether there is a negative influence of isomerization in highly concentrated EPA and DHA, but it's worthy of further investigation and (importantly) is another factor in the argument for a whole-food approach. - DrKF

Check out the show notes at https://www.drkarafitzgerald.com/fxmed-podcast/ for all the relevant links and resources.

Guest information

• Dr. Barry Sears, President, Inflammation Research Foundation and CEO of Zone Labs.Inc.
• Email: [e-mail]
• Website: http://www.drsears.com/
• Zone Living Website: http://www.zoneliving.com/
• Inflammation Research Foundation: http://www.inflammationresearchfoundation.org/

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Show Notes

• Dietary Control of Inflammation and Resolution - https://tinyurl.com/vadkjzf7
• The STRENGTH trial - https://tinyurl.com/282cz27m
• OMEMI Trial - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33191772/
• REDUCE-IT Study - https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01492361
• ASCEND Study - https://ascend.medsci.ox.ac.uk
• VITAL Study - https://www.vitalstudy.org/
• Longitudinal Study - Multi-omics Biological Age Estimation and Its Correlation with Wellness and Disease Phenotypes - https://tinyurl.com/2p85yx5f