The Udo's Choice story and how he came to develop his flax oil-based blend. Udo Erasmus is an international authority on fats, oils, cholesterol and human health.
Udo received his B.Sc. in Honours Zoology from the University of British Columbia and followed this with graduate studies in Biochemistry and Genetics. In 1980, his life took a significant turn for the worse when he was poisoned when carelessly working with pesticides. When conventional medicine was unable to provide help, he concluded that his health was his own responsibility and turned his attention to nutrition. Several years of research culminated in his best-selling book, 'Fats that Heal Fats that Kill' which earned him a PhD in nutrition.
Following this, and realising that there was nothing commercially available for consumers that gave them the fats that they needed in enough quantity and in an ideal ratio for optimum health he pioneered technology for pressing and packaging edible, fresh oils, under the exclusion of light, heat, and oxygen - the three main factors which can transform nutritious oils into toxic ones. Until that time, oils were highly processed by destructive methods, sacrificing health benefits in order to attain long shelf life. Most cooking oils to this day are processed to destroy the 'Good' fats that we need as these shorten the shelf life of the product so make them difficult to sell through supermarkets.
He first pressed fresh flax oil and began to introduce this to the market place. He also experimented by having flax oil as his only source of fat. Within a few months the symptoms he had from his poisoning subsided. However, after a little time longer he found he was getting other symptoms, this time of Omega 6 deficiency as Flax Oil has a high amount of Omega 3 compared to 6, so the balance was not ideal. He therefore began to introduce other organic seed oils and ended up creating Udo's Choice Ultimate Oil Blend. This had a more appropriate ratio of Omega 3 to 6 of 2:1 which would help ensure that whilst having a high quantity of Omega 3 that there was still a sufficient quantity of Omega 6.
Over the past three decades, Udo has appeared on radio and TV and has given thousands of media interviews and lectures, educating audiences across Canada, USA, Europe and Australia on the components of good health. Currently Udo is continuing his work developing new initiatives that will contribute towards healthier living. He has also developed a range of healthy living products such as Microbiotics for every member of the family from Infants to senior citizens, Digestive enzymes to help us absorb the nutrients from our food properly and Beyond Greens, a mix of green foods with enzymes, fibre and essential fats Omega 3 and 6.