Epax unveils Omega 3-9-11 for brain and heart health with simultaneous skin benefits

08 Mar 2024 --- Norway’s marine ingredients company Epax unveils Omega 3-9-11, which offers all the benefits normally associated with omega-3 supplementation, including heart and brain health, while omegas 9 and 11 offer benefits to skin and metabolic health. 

According to Epax, Omega 3-9-11 is the most concentrated version of an oil combining both EPA and DHA — long-chain poly-unsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) — and the less familiar long-chain monounsaturated fatty acids (LC-MUFAs), omegas 9 and 11, derived from pelagic fish from the North Atlantic. 

 “Epax has been working for a number of years on fatty acids longer than DHA – so-called Very Long Chain Fatty Acids,” Derek Tobin, PhD, business development and clinical science manager at Epax, tells Nutrition Insight.” These have a unique biological activity with essential roles in vision, dry eye, skin health and fertility. The oils have tremendous potential, and we look forward to presenting them in the near future.”

Derek Tobin, PhD, business development and clinical science manager at Epax (Image Credit: Expax).Skin health 
The product, created for nutraceuticals, has shown potential in the skin health category, with EPA and DHA reducing UV-induced inflammation and omega-9 and omega-11-rich cetoleic oils reducing skin redness. “Data from an independent skin study shows that redness, a proxy for inflammation, was statistically less in those taking fish oil with omega-9 and 11,” Tobin elaborates.

“The skin study using Epax Cetoleic 10 oil, the precursor to Omega 3-9-11, was performed with 28 female participants using the VISIA imaging system for quantitative analysis of skin quality,” he continues. 

“The women were given either fish oil or a placebo for three months. Great care was taken to treat the participants equally and to make them comfortable and relaxed. They all underwent the same skin cleaning protocol and were asked not to wear makeup on the day. This detail to quality prevented ‘skin flushing,’ for example, when you run to the bus or on a particularly cold windy day, which could lead to false readings.” 

Tobin explains that this pilot study and the results encouraged Epax to focus their further research on people with confirmed inflammation of the skin, such as eczema. “Epax is currently supporting a study with oil enriched in omega-9 and omega-11 to determine their effect on eczema.” 

“Trans-epithelial-water-loss will be measured, which is an important physiological function with important cosmetic effects. This study will also look at the lipid composition of the skin and inflammatory biomarkers. In other words, this larger study will provide information on skin health from a cosmetic or qualitative aspect and also a deeper understanding of the mechanisms by which it works.” 

Metabolic health 
In preclinical studies, metabolic health parameters have been to have improve the most with a combination of LC-MUFAs and LC-PUFAs than with each lipid on its own, according to the company.

“Omega-3 and omegas 9 and 11 all have anti-inflammatory effects. This leads to whether there is an added benefit of having both oil types. Preliminary evidence in metabolic health studies suggests that combining these oils does improve health benefits to a greater extent than giving the oils alone,” Tobin continues.

“Studies that cetoleic rich oils reduce LDL-cholesterol and regulate insulin and glucose levels, areas where LC-PUFAs are less effective. Omega-3 fatty acids' main activity in cardiometabolic health is on triglyceride levels, increase in HDL cholesterol, and improved blood pressure, areas not considered to be impacted by LC-MUFAs.”

“In this way, there is complementarity in the effects, and a mix of oils provides a more holistic metabolic protection,” he asserts. 

Tobin suggests that one hypothesis for this action is that omega-3 has greater effects in the liver than in fat tissue, whereas the opposite is true for omega-9 and 11. 

“If this is confirmed, it could explain the different actions seen with these lipids. Skin is the largest organ in the body and is composed partly of subcutaneous fat – the largest fat stored in the body. Any specific anti-inflammatory effect in fat could have a significant impact on the skin.”

Omega 3-9-11 is produced using Epax’s EQP+ Tech, a next-level distillation process, which allows the isolation and increase of the omegas 3, 9 and 11 content — Omega 3-9-11 contains a minimum of 720 mg/g of these fatty acids.

By Milana Nikolova