Dr. Roizen on Omega-7 in Food

Interviewer: Someone might ask, when it comes to the omegas, we know if we eat salmon, other marine sources, we get our omega-3s.  Can the same be said for omega-7 if we consume that kind of diet?

Dr. Michael Roizen: We don't know the answer to that question.  The reason that this is new is, one, we first have a source that's worthwhile studying, and secondly, we have it in a purified fashion that's worthwhile your taking.  You could get it inexpensively from some of the other sources I mentioned, like sea buckthorn, but it isn't worthwhile studying because it comes with the antagonist.  

In this case, the purified omega-7 comes inexpensively, and so it's worthwhile finding out "Is it useful?"  It looks very useful in decreasing inflammation, decreasing the markers of inflammation, even decreasing plaque formation that is the stuff that hardens the arteries in animal studies.  It looks like it is very useful and inexpensive.

Salmon is a great food.  If you're going to say, "What are the best foods to eat?" Salmon is one of those because it doesn't come with a lot of contaminants and hasn't learned to eat corn and soy meal, so you really get omega-3s when you have salmon or ocean trout.

The problem is that salmon doesn't have much omega-7 with it.  It's only a few of the fish that have ability to use the omega-7 they have in purified form to make inexpensive yet reliable and effective pills.