Is Omega-3 Fish Oil Simply Snake Oil?
A brief history of the origin of the shady Snake Oil business
It’s true. Omega-3s indeed entered America in the form of a therapeutic Snake Oil only to have its reputation tarnished over the years by greedy conmen. This article is a brief history of Omega-3s humble but strange beginnings.
In the early 19th century, Chinese migrants came to America to work on laying tracks for the transcontinental railroad. A back-breaking job, requiring heavy lifting and intense manual labor. Needless to say, joint pain and stiffness were common ailments among them — their treatment of choice — was a Traditional Chinese Medicine-based snake oil. Rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, this oil was made from Chinese River Snakes.
Soon this Eastern-origin river snake oil became a hot seller boosted by American “medicine shows” and slick salesmen promoting it as a cure for rheumatism, catarrh, hay fever, cramps, sore throat, and more. But there was a catch. While the original Chinese river snake oil was rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, the American sales charlatan version was not. The con artists purported the use of rattlesnakes in their version of snake oil ointments, but the truth was their oils contained no snake oil at all and instead were made with concoctions of various mineral oils and pseudo-herbs.
