Over the last couple of weeks I've been talking more about brain function.

Specifically: the fog, the decisions you keep pushing to tomorrow...

...the shitty email you regret sending by teatime.

(To state the obvious, brain function is VITAL in pretty much everything we do)

So I had a blood test done to see what was going on under the bonnet.

One number in particular — the balance of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in my blood.

It came back bad.

Omega-3 at 3.4% when the target is 8%.

Overall fatty acid score: zero percent.

Worse than the professional footballers I'd been reading about.

Which makes sense, because elite sport has been measuring this more and more.

It's a valuable biomarker in sports science.

So here's what I'm actually going to do about it.

And also why the answer isn't as simple as "take a fish oil tablet."

Let's start with what I'm NOT going to do.

I'm not going to start eating salmon four times a week.

(Even though I DO like smoked salmon and salmon fillets).

I know myself.

I'd manage it for a fortnight, get sick of it, then I'd be back to whatever's in the fridge.

So realistically, for a man like me, it's a supplement.

That's the obvious answer.

And it's also where most blokes get it completely wrong.

Here's obstacle number one.

Go into any supermarket or Holland & Barrett and you'll find a wall of omega-3.

All shapes, all sizes, all prices.

And the quality varies enormously.

Here's the bit that surprised me: fish oil is fragile stuff.

It oxidises (a polite way of saying it goes off).

It can happen on the boat, during processing, in a shipping container, or sat on a warm shelf in a shop.

And you'd have no idea, because they flavour it.

Some of what's on that shelf is genuinely good, and some of it isn't.

The problem is you can't tell which is which from the front of the box.

Which brings me to obstacle number two.

And honestly, this one is the bigger crime.

Let's say you do everything right.

You buy the good stuff and you take it every day like a man on a mission.

Six months later, someone asks you: has it worked?

And you say... "yeah, I think so? I feel a bit better?"

You THINK so.

You've spent six months and a few hundred quid on a feeling.

Now imagine doing that with anything else in your life.

Imagine putting money into a business for six months and having no idea what the return was.

Imagine hitting it hard in the gym and training for six months and never once getting on the scales or looking in the mirror.

You'd never accept it.

But with your health, most men do exactly that, year after year.

Because without a baseline, you have nothing to compare to.

And without a retest, you have no proof.

You're flying blind.

You are Stevie Wonder in the cockpit of a Boeing 747.

That's what struck me about this whole process.

The supplement isn't the clever bit.

The NUMBER (the marker) is the clever bit.

I know my numbers and it gives me something to work with.

Those are facts and not feelings.

And in a few months' time I'll have another set of facts, and I'll be able to tell you (with actual evidence) whether this was worth doing.

I might come back to you and say it barely shifted.

If that happens, I'll tell you that too.

But at least I'll KNOW.

And after twenty years of assuming I was fine because nothing hurt...

...knowing feels like a significant upgrade.

If you fancy finding out what your own number looks like, just hit reply and I'll point you in the right direction.

I'm still working through this myself but I want to be optimal just like the guys who are members of the Whole Man Academy.

Some of them are testing too, because they take their health (and performance) seriously.

More on this soon.

Anthony