The Longevity Nutrient – by Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson

This is about C15:0, the first essential fatty acid to be discovered in nearly a century.

It was discovered by the author, a marine biologist (there are many benefits) who was hired by the US Navy to lead a program to improve the health of their dolphins.

She discovered that dolphins were aging at a rate inversely proportional to the amount of C15:0 in their diet (which was found by examining specific diets, and then working out what the common factor was).

While not everything that works for non-human animals holds true for us, dolphins are large intelligent mammals, with big brains and long lifespans, that experience most of the same age-related problems that we do.

So, it was put to the test in humans also, and found to be highly beneficial. Like the dolphins, we can get it from our diet, but unless we want to eat incredible amounts of fish every day, our options become limited. Most foods don’t contain enough; dairy usually does contain it but at the quantities needed, would have more harmful effects. So for most people, supplementation seems the sensible option.

On which note, the author does also sell C15:0 supplements, so there is some conflict of interest, but the information throughout is very well-sourced (proportionally much bigger bibliography than most books of this kind have), and she details the scientific rigor of the testing she, her team, and other researchers did along the way.

The style is mostly narrative, with a lot of science—she tells the stories of how things were pursued and discovered. It makes for fairly engaging reading through what could otherwise have been a rather dry topic.

Bottom line: you could, of course, skip this book and simply go get yourself some C15:0 or not. However, it’s good to understand things, not only as a point of human endeavor, but also because on a psychological level, we’re more likely to benefit if we do. So, this book is highly recommendable reading.

Click here to check out The Longevity Nutrient, and enjoy the dolphin-powered benefits!