Sponsored by OmegaBrite
“This must be what it feels like to be normal.”
Those were the words of a patient treated by Dr. Carol Locke, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist now living in Ponte Vedra.
For Locke, the moment crystallized the power of omega-3 fatty acids — nutrients most Americans are severely deprived of — to transform mood, cognition, and long-term health.
From Harvard to Ponte Vedra
Locke, who founded the high-purity supplement OmegaBrite in 1998 while on faculty at Harvard Medical School, has spent more than 25 years studying these essential fats.
She has now brought her pioneering work to St. Johns County, where she continues to lead a national push to raise awareness of omega-3s and their pivotal role in brain, heart, and cellular health.
“Omega-3s are foundational to our health,” Locke told The Citizen. “They build the structures in our brains, support the immune system, and help tamp down inflammation — the root of so many chronic conditions.”
Her work is now reaching beyond the lab into the local community and well beyond.
She and her son, OmegaBrite CEO Jason Locke, moved from Newport Beach, California, to St. Johns County in 2022.
“We were told this was a quiet, lovely corner of Northeast Florida — and it’s true,” Locke said. “It’s a great place to live, and now we’re expanding our work here as well, and I look forward to bringing my practice here.”
How a deficit impacts health
March 3 marks International Omega-3 Awareness Day, which Locke founded in 2010 to spotlight what she calls a silent public health crisis: Americans are running too high on inflammation and too low on omega-3s.
This year, in observance of Omega-3 Day, Locke interviewed Dr. William Harris, co-inventor of the Omega-3 Index blood test, and Dr. John Ratey, the Harvard psychiatrist best known for his bestselling book “Spark,” to highlight the growing evidence linking omega-3s to brain health, mood, and resilience to stress.
The typical U.S. diet, she explains, is heavy on seed oils, meat, and eggs from animals fed omega-6 corn, creating a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 as high as 20-to-1 instead of the ideal 2-to-1.
That imbalance flares up in everything from joint pain and mood swings to long-term cognitive decline, she said.
The origins of OmegaBrite
Locke’s passion for omega-3s is rooted in her research at Harvard. While involved in the early research on mood disorders and omega-3’s, she was struck by the difference they were makingin patients’ lives.
“My vision of the science was that neural inflammation was driving mood disorders and really impacted cognitive and neurological health, Omega-3’s offer a way to help that was not previously known,” she told The Citizen.
Its tangible impact on patients, she said, was striking. “One patient said, ‘This must be what it feels like to be normal,’ and another said, ‘I feel like I have access to myself again,'” Locke recalled. “That was profound for me.”
But there was no product on the market that delivered the formulation she felt patients needed — so she created OmegaBrite.
Today, OmegaBrite is a family-run company with a reach spanning over 190 countries. Its formulation, Locke says, is high in purity and is specifically designed to address mood, brain health, and inflammation at the root level.
Every batch is third-party tested, and the formula is backed by 14 independent published clinical studies.
The science behind the benefits
“A 2026 UK Biobank study found that adults ages 40 to 64 with higher blood omega-3 levels had a roughly 35% to 40% lower risk of early-onset dementia over an 8-year follow-up.
Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn teamed up with University of California, San Francisco, and Ohio State University to study OmegaBrite’s formula and determine if omega-3s could offer protection from the effects of stress on telomeres — the protective DNA caps often compared to the plastic tips on shoelaces.
Researchers found that participants with low omega-3 and high omega-6 levels who were given OmegaBrite not only had their telomeres protected from stress, but saw them actually grow longer.
Telomere length is a key marker of biological aging. The study was performed using OmegaBrite’s advanced omega-3 formula, which is a specific formula Dr. Locke created to target neuroinflammation, and very different than what you get at Costco or the drug store.
“It’s remarkable that something as simple as a supplement can provide that much protection all the way down to our very DNA,” Locke said.
“If you want to strengthen your resilience to stress and support long-term brain health, omega-3s are one of the most important things you can do, and it’s something people can actually control.”
CEO Jason Locke, who also runs a burgeoning life coach practice, emphasized the broader public health stakes. “Omega-3 deficiency is one of America’s most overlooked — and preventable — dietary risk factors for early death,” he said.
“Yet 90% of the population isn’t getting enough. That’s why we created Omega-3 Day to raise awareness, and to put this nutrient back on the national radar.”
Why teens can benefit
Locke says they have a strong focus on children and teen health, particularly given the increasing levels of depression and ADHD in today’s youth.
The research on OmegaBrite shows it promotes brain development, mood regulation, and improved executive function, which can be crucial for those with ADHD, depression, or bipolar symptoms.
Dr. Ned Hallowell, co-author of “Driven to Distraction” and “ADHD 2.0,” has taken OmegaBrite for about 20 years and recommends it to his patients.
“For kids struggling today, knowing we can make a difference drives us onward,” Locke said.
A mission rooted in St. Johns County
Locke is energized by the ever-growing science on omega-3’s she has helped to catalyze.
“It’s surprising that a safe, affordable supplement with dramatic benefits remains relatively unknown,” she said.
As Omega-3 Day shines a spotlight on this overlooked nutrient, Locke remains at the forefront, blending clinical expertise, research, and a hands-on approach to community health.
“It should be a standard of care, yet it’s not,” she said. “That’s what we’re working to change — here in St. Johns County and across the country.”
