Nalin Siriwardhana
Reckitt Benckiser, USA
Title: Role of omega-3 in prevention and healing of disease
Biography
Biography: Nalin Siriwardhana
Abstract
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential nutrients for the human body. Despite a few recent controversial scientific reviews and meta-analysis regarding the benefits of omega-3s, the global omega-3 market has been projected to reach upto $34B in 2016. Furthermore, there is continuous and growing interest towards further exploring the science behind omega-3s. The number of scientific studies appearing in PubMed has exceeded 21,000 publications. Also, there is a critical knowledge gap of properly designed clinical studies linking individual variability in utilization of omega-3s with long term benefits. This presentation discusses the major mechanisms by which omega-3 delivers health benefits, both positive and negative consistent outcomes from clinical studies, and scientific facts contributed to why omega-3s have been regarded amongst the top nutrients of all time. In modern western diet, the ratio between omega-3 and omega-6 is over 1:20, whereas human beings evolved on a diet with a ratio of approximately 1:1 or 1:2. This change has occurred within an extremely short time period as compared to the evolutionary time scale of the human genome. Given the well-established importance of gene-nutrient compatibility, the dramatic shift of the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio may be the underlying reason for many chronic diseases. Therefore, intake of nutrients compatible with our genome may ensure proper and efficient functioning of the human body, thus contributes towards the prevention of a variety of diseases.