Our History

SanOmega - Our history

The story of SanOmega began back in 2005, 6 years before the first version of SanOmega oil came onto the market. Special education teacher Vegard Holum read an article about high-EPA omega-3 fatty acids on forskning.no. It was the start of a long journey that has helped to improve the health and schooling of a large number of children, young people and adults.

As a teacher in an alternative school department, Vegard brought many school-weary students into the classroom. With a background as a vocational teacher, civil engineer and carpenter, he is always interested in finding solutions that work in practice. It was natural to focus on healthy eating. "Young people prefer to eat what tastes good. Cola and wheat buns are not known to contribute to either concentration or good physical development. At some point, high-EPA omega-3 fatty acids became another important tool in the work with those who needed extra help in everyday school life.

The goodwill of principals and school managers, cooperative parents, solution-oriented public health nurses and the municipal doctor gave him the opportunity to explore how dietary changes could improve the everyday school life of some of the most vulnerable young people. In Norwegian schools, it is unusual to achieve an interdisciplinary understanding of an initiative such as providing fatty acids to young people.

The fatty acid supplementation initiative must be said to have been successful, which led Vegard to try out high-EPA fatty acid supplements in other arenas in the years that followed. He worked in parallel in institutions in child welfare and substance abuse care, and in some places he had the opportunity to give the supplements to young people with symptoms of sleep problems and concentration difficulties. Very often, these trials gave good results, which strengthened the belief that this type of omega-3 worked better than regular cod liver oil or other omega-3 products on the market. These types are cheaper and more readily available, so it was natural to try them. The results were not the same. This led to high-EPA emerging as the best option for this type of symptom.

 Another type of symptom, namely in muscles and joints, also improved when the doses used reached a certain level. Many of those who tried the high-EPA oil were able to report reduced symptoms after a few weeks or months. The need for knowledge about the effects of EPA led Vegard to contact the product manager at the importer of the supplement, which opened up a new world of knowledge and acquaintance with scientists. The knowledge behind the good experiences improved the accuracy of the treatments.

In order to treat fatty acid deficiency in the best possible way, the values of the people receiving treatment should be measured. Tests for fatty acid levels in the blood were introduced to the Norwegian market in 2007. With this tool at hand, the accuracy of the work was further improved. This also brought with it a new acquaintance. The owner of the company that supplied the tests is Joakim Graff. This man later became Vegard's business partner. Vegard and Joakim started the company San Helse AS in 2010 and developed the product San Omega-3. Vegard eventually bought Joakim out of San Helse AS and continued the journey under the company name SanOmega AS.