This article refers to a study done in Toronto, Canada on just 40 type I diabetic patients whose peripheral nerves have been damaged by their illness. This was an open label-study, proof of concept study. So not randomised nor blinded. The authors used corneal confocal microscopy to look at the changes in the corneal nerve fibre length as a surrogate for more peripheral nerve damage, thus avoiding the need for a nerve biopsy.
The study has been taken up by a number of web and print medical news journals,
The Harp Seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) appears on the IUCN Red List as an creature (some would say resource) of “least concern”. Canada’s seal hunt remains mighty controversial even within Canada. National Geographic asks why Canada still allows a seal hunt. And there is more emotive posts about Canada’s seal hunt, for example The Dodo website. Obviously there are proponents of seal hunting, and you can buy seal products, such as Canadian Sealers Association. Another proponent of seal oils suggests that the cute cuddly white coated variety are no longer hunted. It is okay to harvest these older seals as they are able to swim on their own and have left or been abandoned by their mothers. So that makes it okay if they are “abandoned”. Kerthunk…..
A problems with seal oil is the potential for contamination. One product blurb for seal oil appears to suggest that their product is safe as it is “bio-filtered fish oil“. As seals are much higher in the food chain than fish, “seals use their digestive system to filter out the many natural impurities found in fish.” Conversely biological dogma suggests the further up the food chain you travel, the more likely you end up with more contaminants, such as mercury, PCBs etc, not less. Dr Ho, who can sell you seal oil overcomes this problem through a process “molecular distillation“. His process removes all the impurities, such as mercury, metals and PCB’s from the oil and makes it a purer product that is safer for human consumption.
Personally, if I need more omega-3 in my diet I would be using the Australian Heart Foundation list of natural dietary sources and thankfully omits seals, which are protected in Australian waters.
