EP186 The Effect Omega-3’s Have On Your Eyes, Heart, And Brain

Transcript Of Today's Episode

Dr. Martin Jr: You're listening to The Doctor Is In podcast from martinclinic.com. Although we share a lot of practical, and in our opinion, awesome information, what you hear on this podcast is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes, so enjoy.

Dr. Martin Jr: Hello, I'm Dr. Martin Junior.

Dr. Martin Sr: I'm Dr. Martin Senior.

Dr. Martin Jr: And this is The Doctor Is In podcast and this [00:00:30] is episode 186. Now, I'm back after taking one week off. You did it by yourself last week.

Dr. Martin Sr: Wahoo.

Dr. Martin Jr: You even got through the technology okay. I mean, it was pretty simple, right? Just start and stop.

Dr. Martin Sr: I know.

Dr. Martin Jr: But you did it. That's a ... Like 80%, if there was a Vegas house odds, I would've bet a lot of money that you would've talked for 30 minutes and there would have been nothing on the tape.

Dr. Martin Sr: I was almost, I was sure of it. The thing is, you can't check and see.

Dr. Martin Jr: [00:01:00] No, you can't. Once you're going you have to commit to it. You have to go. But, I would've been willing to bet money that it would've came back and you would've been all proud of yourself and you would've handed me the unit and I would have taken the little memory stick out of it, put it in the computer and it would've been blank.

Dr. Martin Sr: Yeah, I was shocked.

Dr. Martin Jr: Yeah, so you're awesome.

Dr. Martin Sr: I wouldn't have taken ... I would have bet right there.

Dr. Martin Jr: You would have bet against yourself. But anyway, so you did it last week on your own and so we're back this week again. Episode 186 [00:01:30] and today we want to talk about Omega 3 but specifically DHA. Now, I guess the thing that we should do first is explain what DHA is and one analogy that I like to use for people is that if you ... You know, there are a lot of different types of cars out there, there are a lot of different types of cars. And you look at ... There are Hondas, Toyotas, Kias and Porsches and BMWs and so Omega 3s is like saying a car, [00:02:00] right? It's a generic term that can me a lot of different things.

Dr. Martin Jr: And DHA is like saying it's a Honda. So it's a car but it's a Honda. Or, EPA is like saying it's a Toyota. So when we talk about DHA, we're talking about an Omega 3 fatty acid. But we're talking about a specific one. So the conversation we're going to have today is around a specific Omega 3 fatty acid which is DHA [00:02:30] and we love DHA. We like EPA as well but based on the stuff that we experience, we like DHA better because most people are significantly decreased in DHA. And we know that the brain is mainly fat and DHA is the preferred source of fuel for your brain. And it needs a lot of it.

Dr. Martin Jr: So people just don't get enough of it. So we're going to talk about DHA and there's a couple of-

Dr. Martin Sr: And one thing, too, just about DHA. [00:03:00] It's really only found in the animal kingdom. So when you have a fish oil, that's where you would source your DHA because EPA and DHA are byproducts of animal fat, right? So fish oil or even grass-fed beef or whatever would have high levels of DHA. And whereas in the plants, you do get Omega 3s, there are [00:03:30] Omega 3s in the plants like flaxseed for example, would have Omega 3 and hemp seed has Omega 3. But they're different, they don't have that DHA.

Dr. Martin Jr: No, and they tend to have more Omega 6s as well. And that's why we like it because people just don't get enough fish, obviously. And some people don't like fish. So they don't get enough DHA which means you have to ... If you don't get enough in your diet, you have to supplement. And we're going to talk about why we love DHA. And why [00:04:00] people who take enough DHA, because that's another issue as well, they feel fantastic.

Dr. Martin Jr: A lot of studies that ... Every once in a while, we have a fantastic private Facebook group and I like it because a lot of people ask us what are our opinion on different things that come up. You know, you'll see in there a lot, "Hey, what does Dr. Martin think of this? Or what does Dr. Martin think of that?" And a lot of times, a study will come out and first of all, there are no worse studies [00:04:30] than nutritional studies. They're all based off of these questionnaires, they're terrible. They're no good. Most of them are garbage.

Dr. Martin Jr: Even the ones that will show good things, a lot of times the study is garbage. And you know, you and I were talking over lunch today about research but also how research is a lagging indicator. The stuff that we see in the clinic happens year, really, before they start to test it in labs. Does it mean that [00:05:00] before they do it in labs it doesn't work? Of course not. Because the fact, and this is the thing that you and I were talking about today which we found interesting, the fact that this stuff is still around today tells you it works.

Dr. Martin Jr: Because the whole system is set against it, right? You look at the agenda of big food companies, big pharmaceutical companies, DHA is not a drug. You get it in fish.

Dr. Martin Jr: You get it in fish oil capsules or liquid. Yeah, [00:05:30] that's what it is. So it's not a drug. And the fact that nutrition, especially supplements, are still around today tells you that they work because people wouldn't take them. Because it's not like they're getting good press. It's not like their doctors like it. It's changing for sure. But there was a time when not many family doctors, people would like about ... They wouldn't tell their doctors they're taking a supplement because they worried about getting lectured about taking a Vitamin [00:06:00] C. No problem taking any drug on the planet but heaven forbid, they're taking Vitamin C and Vitamin D. And it's like, "You better-

Dr. Martin Sr: Watch out.

Dr. Martin Jr: You'll get a lecture. I remember years ago getting a letter in the mail from a physician who was upset because their patient was taking Vitamin C. And we've come a long way from that, obviously.

Dr. Martin Sr: Yeah, because the internet and even stuff that we do-

Dr. Martin Jr: And the doctors take it and they feel better themselves.

Dr. Martin Sr: Yeah, and you know, there isn't a cardiologist [00:06:30] that I've ever met that doesn't take Omega 3. They take it themselves.

Dr. Martin Jr: They do.

Dr. Martin Sr: Whether they recommend it, that's another issue. But they're always hesitant to recommend it just because they've never done any work with it.

Dr. Martin Jr: No, and they're bound to what they call the standard of care which is written, it's basically the law. And they get in ... If anything ever goes wrong and they went outside of the standard of care, that's when they get in trouble, even by their malpractice insurance. So, they're hesitant to deviate very [00:07:00] far from the standard of care and of course, pharmaceutical companies have a big hand in the standard of care. So drugs, if you don't recommend a drug and something happens down the road, you could get yourself in trouble. And so that's why you're seeing more of it. It's not as scary as it used to be. But you're right, DHA is one of those things that doctors recommend. And, DHA is also one of those things that, you know, if were to pick four or five things that we would say 80% of the population is low in.

Dr. Martin Sr: [00:07:30] It'd be that.

Dr. Martin Jr: Yes. Omega 3 blood levels in people would be down below optimum.

Dr. Martin Sr: Extremely low.

Dr. Martin Jr: All right. So, that's a long way of saying we're going to talk about DHA today. We love it. We like what it does for the brain but we're going to go through some of the stuff that we found interesting. The first one specifically was looking at diabetic retinopathy and the damage done to the blood vessels as a result of the diabetic retinopathy because one of the side effects of [00:08:00] diabetes, if you will, is eye problems because the eyes-

Dr. Martin Sr: And its microcirculation, right?

Dr. Martin Jr: Tiny, tiny, tiny blood vessels.

Dr. Martin Sr: Yeah, they got a little highway. You know, it's always interesting. You know, when you were in school and when you look in the eye and when you take the little instrument and the first time that you ever look inside an eyeball, you see a highway.

Dr. Martin Jr: And you always pretend you see what they're telling you to look at, right? They're always telling you, "Oh, you see that?" You're like, "Oh, yeah, I see that." And you're like-

Dr. Martin Sr: [00:08:30] No, I don't.

Dr. Martin Jr: I have no idea what you're talking about.

Dr. Martin Sr: But, what's always interesting is that you saw this. It looked like your ... I don't know if anybody's ever been to Los Angeles but you got about eight lane highways and there is about 50 of them-

Dr. Martin Jr: Yeah, it's like a satellite view of Los Angeles, looking down on Google Earth.

Dr. Martin Sr: Yeah, exactly. All these highways going everywhere. But it's all blood-

Dr. Martin Jr: All blood vessels. And each of those little capillaries are extremely important and diabetes [00:09:00] ruins them, specifically, and we've talked about this before in newsletters, cholesterol is overrated. We talk more about endothelial damage. So endothelial is the lining-

Dr. Martin Sr: Of the blood vessels.

Dr. Martin Jr: Of the blood vessels. And those linings, just like your gut lining, like a lot of linings in your body can get damaged. And when they get damaged, that's where the problem is. Diabetic retinopathy damages. So part of the high blood sugar levels and high insulin [00:09:30] levels of a diabetic. You know, the funny thing is this, and we've talked about this numerous times before. Even if you're a diabetic and you control your blood sugar via insulin, you're going to get diabetes of the eye, diabetic retinopathy of the eye because the underlying problem hasn't been fixed. Right? You're still requiring insulin. And I mean, at the end of the day, diabetes isn't a disease of high blood sugar level, high blood sugar level is a symptom.

Dr. Martin Sr: You just don't process insulin.

Dr. Martin Jr: [00:10:00] No, it makes no sense that if you control the symptom you're going to fix the disease. That's not how it works at all. So, diabetes, a lot of them, diabetic management, it only has to do with controlling blood sugar, right? The medications are around stabilizing blood sugar. And rightfully so to a certain extent because high blood sugar is deadly. It's deadly. Low blood sugar level could be very deadly. So maintaining a normal stable blood sugar.

Dr. Martin Jr: But high blood sugar level is a symptom of diabetes so the current treatment protocol or management, [00:10:30] I don't want to say treatment because they don't treat it, they manage it. The current management protocol of diabetes is giving insulin, control blood sugar levels. But they still end up with eye issues. They still end up with diabetic retinopathy of the eye. And because, as we mentioned, the underlying issue is not fixed. But, high circulating insulin, high blood sugar levels destroys the endothelium in the [inaudible 00:10:51]. It destroys the layer, the inner layer of the blood vessels that affects the blood flow and that, in a sense, their blood flow decreases [00:11:00] in the eye. Diabetic retinopathy is ... You know, one way of looking it, the eye just ages very quickly.

Dr. Martin Sr: And they're much more susceptible [inaudible 00:11:11] diabetes because, again, of what it does to ... Anytime you talk about eyes, like the first thing that comes to my mind is blood vessels and it's always circulation, it's microcirculation. So guess what glaucoma is?

Dr. Martin Jr: Yeah.

Dr. Martin Sr: Guess what cataracts are. It always has to do with what's going on [00:11:30] in the highways.

Dr. Martin Jr: Free radical damage.

Dr. Martin Sr: The highways are blocked.

Dr. Martin Jr: That's right. If you look at the ways that the blood vessels get destroyed in the eyes, probably the top three causes of all those conditions you just mentioned are messed up blood sugars, messed up insulin and free radical damage which ultimately destroys the endothelium as well of the eyes. Those things age the eyes faster. So you know, we've got a lot of requests over the last little bit to talk about the eyes. And, you know, we'll do a good video teaching on the eyes. But [00:12:00] if you boil it down to the big three things that really hurt the eye as you age or the three things you got to watch out for, it's those three things, ultimately cause that.

Dr. Martin Jr: If you can keep your blood sugar levels stable, if you can keep your insulin levels low and you keep your free radical damage low, your eyes, generally, will be pretty healthy. I mean, unless you stick something in. Like your mom said, "Don't run with the pencil sticking up." But, for the most part, your eyes will be pretty good.

Dr. Martin Jr: So, [00:12:30] let's go back to this study was looking at diabetic retinopathy and what they found and this is what was interesting is they were fed a DHA-rich diet and I'll just read you the results. They found that it prevented diabetes-induced increase in a number of retinal. So they basically ... What they found, because I don't want to read all these big words, it's hard on me to read them anyways. But, what they found-

Dr. Martin Sr: Hard on your eyes.

Dr. Martin Jr: Yeah, so a DHA-rich diet basically fully prevented retinal vascular pathologies what they're saying [00:13:00] which is amazing to think about. So DHA, and you think about why that is, you know, how can DHA and Omega 3 fatty acid help eye health? And, they go down to the very basics again. Your cell walls need fat and endothelial cell walls need fat. And DHA repairs the damage in those little endothelial cells. So basically, DHA [00:13:30] can repair the lining or protect the lining of the eye.

Dr. Martin Jr: And, you and I for eye health really like DHA. High DHA and obviously pine bark extract because pine bark extract is tremendous for the endothelial cell, even for blood vessels to the heart and we like that. We'll do that on another episode.

Dr. Martin Sr: We'll combine the two. I mean, it's a tremendous way to have healthy eyes is to combine those two things.

Dr. Martin Jr: So again, if you are worried about retinopathy, [00:14:00] you may want to look at increasing Omega 3 fatty acids. So that's one study. Here is another study. We'll shift away from the eyes for a second because we are talking mainly about DHA. This study looked at the effect of DHA on inflammatory levels in the liver, specifically. Because, again, the liver, we talked about this a few episodes ago, it's not a filter. People think it's like a car filter, that's not what [00:14:30] the liver is. Toxins don't get trapped per se in there. A good detox doesn't take a hose to the liver and filter. That's not what's going on, that's not how it works.

Dr. Martin Jr: But, when the liver has issues, there is fat, we talked about fatty liver, when the liver has issues, it's not producing something called glutathione.

Dr. Martin Sr: Which is your master detoxer.

Dr. Martin Jr: Yeah, glutathione, always think of it's sulphur based so it's sticky. The reason why [00:15:00] you-

Dr. Martin Sr: Velcro.

Dr. Martin Jr: The reason why you make glutathione is it's very sticky and that goes throughout your body and bad things stick to it and then it's then taken out of your body. So it's like a natural [inaudible 00:15:12] to an extent. And, there's a correlation between disease and decreased glutathione for a while, that was really big in nutrition where getting glutathione, just to increase your glutathione levels. Fascinating stuff. But at the end of the day, when you have [00:15:30] an inflamed liver or a fatty liver that's bad news.

Dr. Martin Jr: And, I would encourage you go back and listen to our episode, just a few ago, we talked about fatty liver just to show how dangerous that can be. But, this specifically, they looked at fish oil on fatty liver. And what's interesting ... Not fatty liver, sorry, inflamed liver. But I want to talk about a few of the benefits that they found specifically on this. So they found a decrease in oxidative stress which, again, free [00:16:00] radical damage. So it had a protective.

Dr. Martin Jr: A decrease in inflammation markers. Increased telomere length. Now, telomere lengths are interesting. We always tell people think of telomeres as the candle wick, the longer the candle wick, the longer the candle is going to burn for. Well, the telomere, that's the little tips, right down at the cellular DNA level, the longer your telomeres [00:16:30] are, the longer you're going to live. Short telomeres equal short life. Basically, you want longer telomeres.

Dr. Martin Jr: Anything that cuts the telomere length is not a good thing. Anything that protects or adds telomere length is a very good thing. And research is looking more into that, the effect of that but it's very-

Dr. Martin Sr: What increases it, what decreases it.

Dr. Martin Jr: Yeah, it's very interesting. But what they found was when you have inflammation of the liver, you ultimately have shorter telomeres because that's not a good thing. [00:17:00] Your candle's burning faster than it should.

Dr. Martin Sr: Yeah, you're going to age very quickly and die younger.

Dr. Martin Jr: Exactly. And what they found was, again, fish oil protective of that, protects the telomere length. Also looked at a few other things. Age-related gene expression. I mean, it helped, again ... The epigenetics of ... We always talk about genetics and epigenetics. It's amazing, all the stuff that DHA does, even for longevity. [00:17:30] And there are studies, again, looking at blood levels of Omega 3 fatty acid. And a person's mortality rate. Just like there is for Vitamin D. Generally speaking, people that have a higher level of Omega 3 fatty acids in their blood generally are healthier, they got a healthier brain, they got less inflammation. They got lower cardiac markers. Generally, they're healthier.

Dr. Martin Jr: So when somebody comes in and they got low Omega 3 fatty acid levels, you know that they are [00:18:00] heading down the wrong path. There's no question. So that was another study on fish oil that's interesting. Now, we'll go through, because we're moving along quickly here but I just want to go through a couple other studies just to talk about why we like DHA so much.

Dr. Martin Jr: Now, in our presentation you can get on our website, age proofing your brain, we talk about some of the benefits of DHA because we love Omega 3 fatty acids for brain health. So we talk about that. But there are a few studies I just want to mention here quickly. Let's talk first about the effect that DHA has on the brain. [00:18:30] One of the problem that happens, as you get older, is your brain-

Dr. Martin Sr: Shrinks.

Dr. Martin Jr: Get smaller. And there are certain lifestyle factors that shrink your brain faster. We wrote a newsletter about a month ago about Bonnie and Clyde because that movie came out. We talked about this on a podcast. And the Bonnie and Clyde for your brain is midlife inflammation but specifically, high blood sugar levels, midlife high blood sugar levels, midlife [00:19:00] high blood pressure that causes inflammation of the brain and your brain will shrink faster as you age.

Dr. Martin Jr: So, again, DHA is one of those things. When you're low ... And they've checked, they've tested this. People that have chronically low Omega 3 levels generally have faster brain atrophy as they age. So it's interesting. So, if you want to-

Dr. Martin Sr: So there you go. You come back to your diet, again, right? You come back to the importance [00:19:30] of getting this Omega 3-rich DHA into your diet. If you don't eat enough fish, you don't eat enough grass-fed beef, you better be taking the supplement of DHA.

Dr. Martin Jr: And taking enough of it and we'll talk about that at the end why that's a problem, why people ... They just don't get enough of it and we'll talk about the couple of reasons why that is. So it's very, very good for cognition. Quickly, like you mentioned, cardiologists, most cardiologists will take a fish [00:20:00] oil themselves. And if you look at what DHA specifically, we're going to talk the research on DHA, specifically what it does for your cardiovascular system. So, when you have higher levels, and this is a study that was done showing that when you have higher levels of DHA in circulating blood markers such as what they call serum phospholipid, you have a reduced risk of this: progression of coronary arthrosclerosis, lowered risk from sudden cardiac death was [00:20:30] two things, those are good things.

Dr. Martin Jr: Also, there was another study done on post ... So people that have had a heart attack and they found there was a substantial reduction of the risk of a sudden cardiac death when they increased their blood levels of Omega 3 fatty acid. So again, it's so good for the heart. We already know it protects the endothelial cells, our lining in your blood vessels in your eye. So you know it's doing the same thing for the blood vessels. So it's so good [00:21:00] for your heart, it's so good for your brain.

Dr. Martin Sr: Good for your eyes.

Dr. Martin Jr: Tremendous for your eyes. We didn't talk skin. DHA for your skin-

Dr. Martin Sr: We didn't talk kidneys. I always look at the kidneys, too, very similar to the eyes, right, in that sense of why are diabetics so susceptible to kidney disease. And again, it comes back to circulation because the kidneys are ... Your kidneys don't function without that microcirculation, all the blood supply to the kidneys and that. That gets [00:21:30] damaged and your kidneys, whoops, now your kidneys are not working properly and that can elevate your blood pressure and that can cause toxins to stay [inaudible 00:21:41]. We could go on for days about the importance of kidney health. But again, there's another reason to be taking DHA oil.

Dr. Martin Jr: And you know what's funny? We've heard this from a lot of people and we've seen this effect as well. There are a lot of people that would say after getting enough DHA [00:22:00] that their bladder works better and we've noticed that also in kids who wet their bed when they get their Omega 3 levels up high enough, it seems to help. I mean, it's not going to cure everybody but we've heard that enough and we've seen variations of that enough that we cure that. So it's interesting. So there is some kind of connection, again, between the health of the bladder and increasing and getting enough DHA.

Dr. Martin Jr: And how many people over the years have had their joint health improve [00:22:30] significant when they take more DHA? Because again-

Dr. Martin Sr: It's a tremendous anti-inflammatory.

Dr. Martin Jr: Yes, joints ... I've heard you tell people that when they got a lot of joint pain to take enough DHA that they slide in and out of the room. It's funny, I've heard you say that many times. But, again, there is a lot of reasons why we like DHA, specifically, if you go back a few episodes ago, we talked about the ratio between Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. [00:23:00] And obviously, when you increase your DHA, you're increasing your Omega 3 fatty acid so you're bringing down that ratio which, again, is so good for your overall health and mortality. So there is a lot of reasons why we're big, big fans of DHA.

Dr. Martin Jr: Now, let's end off this episode by talking about why people don't get enough of it. And there's a few reasons for that. One is they're taking an Omega 3 fatty acid supplement and the bottle says there is one gram of fish oil per [00:23:30] capsule. So they take two and they go like, "I'm getting two grams." But they're not getting two grams of DHA. If you're actually looking at the ingredients in the back, a lot of times, if it's a 1,000 milligrams or a gram of fish oil, they are lucky to get 100 to 150 milligrams of DHA. So if they're taking two, they're getting 300 milligrams of DHA every day which is not enough. It's not enough.

Dr. Martin Jr: A lot of fish oils are constructed with [00:24:00] a little bit of EPA and a little bit of DHA so if you add those two together, they're not even getting 300 milligrams. So it's not enough, specifically those are the two that we like to see in a-

Dr. Martin Sr: You need to take therapeutic doses. I always tell people, "Look, we live in a different world. The reasons that we live in a world where people ... Meat has been vilified and so is fish." I had a patient in this morning that actually told me I don't eat fish because [00:24:30] of mercury. I said, "Well, okay." And they're more scared of the mercury than they are worried about-

Dr. Martin Jr: Not getting it.

Dr. Martin Sr: Not getting enough fish in their diet. And I said, "Well, okay, we don't live in a perfect world, I understand. I don't like mercury any more than you do. But I'm so concerned about you not getting enough Omega 3 so you need to replace it with a supplement and I recommend, because of what we know, just even for what you have mentioned today, reading these studies, [00:25:00] isn't that enough reason to take a therapeutic dose of it?" Because, if you want your brain, your brain is made up of that fat. It's your fat. Your brain doesn't work without fat. And now, we talked about blood vessels around the eye and we talked about the liver and we talk about kidneys and we talked about your heart.

Dr. Martin Sr: Therapeutic doses of DHA is something that the Martin Clinic talks a lot about because you don't have to take 1,000 [00:25:30] things. But, this is one thing and the science is clear. And there is nobody disagreeing with the importance of Omega 3 and especially high therapeutic doses of DHA oil. There is just nothing that replaces it in terms of what it does in ... You know, you even talked about telomeres and stuff that's sort of new on [00:26:00] the radar in health. I mean, what that does to your DNA and the repair like telomeres, they repair. Your body repairs itself. But you need good doses of DHA for that to happen properly. So, folks, make it part of your-

Dr. Martin Jr: Yeah, it's foundational in a sense.

Dr. Martin Sr: It's foundational, it is.

Dr. Martin Jr: It's one of those things. I look at certain things that I take every day as just foundational. Vitamin D, DHA, Magnesium. Those are just like those things that [00:26:30] we just don't get enough of in our diet, in our soil. So I just know that going into my day so I just ... Those are just foundational. I take a lot of other things but that's just like, "Yeah, I'm not gonna get enough of that in my day, I know that. And I'm just going to take that every day." Again, we can talk about this another time but people say, "Well, if you eat the perfect diet, will you need supplements?" Yes, because there is no such thing as the perfect diet.

Dr. Martin Sr: Well, not in this day and age.

Dr. Martin Jr: No, and because of the stress on the body from the air we breathe, [00:27:00] the plastics, the chemicals, the lack of sun, the skin cream, everything, yes. We'll talk about that another time. But, again this was an interesting episode because a lot of people do ask us about fish oil, about Omega 3, there is a lot of confusion out there. And a lot of people just-

Dr. Martin Sr: Read your labels, guys.

Dr. Martin Jr: Yes.

Dr. Martin Sr: You don't read your labels.

Dr. Martin Jr: They don't take enough of it. They are like, "Oh, I take a gram every day." Well, really you're taking less then 300 milligrams of DHA and EPA. So we're not expecting a miracle, right?

Dr. Martin Sr: And any study that's negative, usually, I [00:27:30] just want to mention that.

Dr. Martin Jr: Yes, you're right.

Dr. Martin Sr: Because any of the studies ... And you and I go over these studies and we look at them and go, "Well, no wonder."

Dr. Martin Jr: Yeah, there was no effect on fish oil.

Dr. Martin Sr: You know, it's like somebody saying, "Well, Vitamin D doesn't work." Well, how many units? Well, I was taking 400 international units. Well, a mouse can't live on 400 international units.

Dr. Martin Jr: And it's funny because a lot of the studies where they say fish oil had no effect or no beneficiary effect, they're taking like 1,000 milligrams plus again, we don't even know how much actual DHA and EPA they're getting.

Dr. Martin Sr: We know it wasn't much.

Dr. Martin Jr: No. And I've given this analogy before but, a study [00:28:00] like that is like telling somebody to go to the gym to build a muscle. Like, this weekend in town, there is a big bodybuilding competition and you can see them around town.

Dr. Martin Sr: They bulked up.

Dr. Martin Jr: They've bulked up. It's like telling those guys to say, "Hey, listen, go to the jump, do one rep and then leave." And then they come back six weeks later, "Hey, I've been going to the gym every day and I've done one rep and I'm not putting on muscle." Yeah, because you're not doing enough." It's the same thing with these studies. I could have told them not do to the study when they had the study design [00:28:30] done, when they submitted the thing. The design, I could have told them, "You're just wasting your time and money, you're not going to dosage enough to have any effect on anything." But, that's another issue of mine when it comes to nutritional studies, they're just not doing things right. Or they'll do a low carb study and they're like, "Well, low carb didn't ..." And you look at the study frame, it was like 40% carbs. By nobody's definition is 40% carbs low.

Dr. Martin Jr: Anyways. That's the frustrating thing. But the headlines would say, "Low carb diets do this. [00:29:00] Or high fat diets are no good because of this." But when you look at the study, they fed the mouse processed crappy fats and sugar and all these things and then they say, "High fat diets don't work." Like that's the same thing. But, anyways, that's another pet peeve.

Dr. Martin Jr: All right. We're out of time. So let's close this episode off. We want to thank you for listening and have a great day.

Dr. Martin Sr: Thanks for listening to The Doctor Is In podcast from martinclinic.com. If you have any questions, you can reach [00:29:30] us at info@martinclinic.com. If you're not a newsletter subscriber, you can head to our website and sign up for free. We also have a private Facebook group that you can join. It's a community of awesome people. Finally, I do a Facebook live every Thursday morning at 8:30. Join us again next week for a new episode.

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