Anyone taken flax or fish oil?

[blinkwatt]

As I read weightlifting magazines I see some people take flaxseed and fish oil. I'm open to new ideas and was wondering if someone could shed some light on either one and their pros & cons? Thanks!

 

[shagnscoob]

ironaddict and WBA both are HUGE on fish oil. search ironaddicts.com for articles about it, theres one where iron addict shows like a million different things its good for...

 

[Viroid]

It should be number one on your supp list.

 

[Road Demon]

This is taken from a prior post of mine:

I started to take omega3 fish oil pills, about 3-4 grams a day of fish oil, which equal about 900-1200 mg of active omega 3s EPA/DHA combined, a few months ago, and I do feel better for sure.

What did I notice: better mood, no more bleeding gums when I flossed, some hair regrowth back despite being under constant stress (I'm 30), as well as don't hurt when I work out. I had my father take it and he saw a decrease in PSA test to normal level. Again, these are empical observations on my part, but the scientific literature suggests very positive cardiovascular benefits as well as improved mood status.

Actually, the American Heart Assocation has a position paper on the use of fish oil supplements, to improve cardiovascular health. Check out the their website. An organization such as AHA will not recommend something that does not have scientific evidence.

The specific omega3s EPA/DHA in fish oil works though a mechinism that involves the downregulation the inflammation pathway, ie it decreases inflammation by decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Supplemention with fish oil or whole oily fish like salmon or sardines creates a more favorable ratio of Omega 6 to Omega3 fatty acids in our diet that is more similar to the hunter/gather diet over the past 2 million years.
Bottom line, we consume far too much Omega 6 relative to Omega 3 in our western diet.

Fish oil and plant source Omega3 are different in terms of body bioavailability. Plant Omega3s such as flax and walnuts are primary ALA omega 3s, which has a 10% conversion efficency by the human body to active 'active omega3' . You need about 10 grams of Flax to equal the potency of 1 gram of 18:12 Fish oil capsule. (18:12 refers the the ratio of active EPA to DHA; so that would equal 180 mg EPA and 120 mg DHA per 1000 mg fish oil capsule). Bottom line fish oil supplements are more available to use by the body without some sort of enzymatic conversion. The plant dervived omega 3 sources are still good for sure, but the fish oil is more potent.


I recommend Carlson Brand size from small oily fish OR some sort of fish oil that undergoes molecular distillation to make sure that is PCB, heavy metal, and toxin free. The crap you get at drug stores might not be third party tested to ensure that is contaminte free. Think PCB in the fat of the fish in the Hudson River of NY. Not good.

http://www.carlsonlabs.com/product_...14&PHPSESSID=9864fd1a921c226af529a7676a581d46

BTW biblebelt posted some good links esp. the cleveland clinic!

Again, you should look into to it. Of course speak with a MD, as he knows your specific history, before taking any pharmacologically active agent such as fish oil. There can be some rare adverse reactions in very specific populations of heart patients that take fish oil supplements. But, feel free to eat all the wild salmon or sardines you can tolerate.


Maybe good dose to start at would be 2 grams/day taken with a fat meal of 18:12 fish oil pills. Give it few weeks...

Both Dr. Andrew Weil and Cardiologist Dr. Michael Roizen recommend fish oil supplements. Google them for their books they have on healthy living. Good reads.

j

 

[Bible_Belt]

here is the link to the other thread:
http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=101334&highlight=omega

I agree about the third-party testing for heavy metals and PCBs.

 

[Bonhomme]

The other guys stole the words right out of my typing finger. Omega 3 fatty acids have so many benefits it takes a book to list them... and one very good book is Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill, by Udo Erasmus (see espi's post above).

The only "con" -- if you want to call it that -- is that a lot of health food stores don't store the oils right. They should be kept away from light, preferably refrigerated. Most have opaque bottles, anyway.

 

[Hockey Playa]

so do you think just taking the pills daily, would make a significant difference?? Also this would mean i would be taking green tea pills, omega3..protein shakes..Cold Fx pills, thats alot of supplements...

 

[spesmilitis]

Some sources say the conversion can be as low as 3%. I'll post em when I have the time to find em

 

[Throttle]

obviously the placebo effect must be huge, but I've noticed most of the same benefits as road demon since i started taking 3 gels of fish oil per day about 2 months ago, per the suggestion of WBA and others.

i would rather drink green tea than take pills (though I have some of those around too when i'm too lazy to brew that much green tea). so for me the daily regimen is fish oil plus a good multivitamin. whey shakes are a different category so far as I'm concerned -- they're just a cheap, efficient source of straight up protein. might just as well think of them as powdered eggs.

 

[Road Demon]

Some sources say the conversion can be as low as 3%. I'll post em when I have the time to find em

You must be refering to plant source omega3s (Flax seed, walnut) which primarily alpha linolenic acid (ALA);ALA conversion is at best 10% to active omega3s by humans. Good to take, but fish oil is a superior omega3 source.

Fish oil source EPA/DHA are directly utilized in by human biochemical pathways. It gets incorporated into the lipid portion of the plasma membranes of cells, so it takes some time to accumluate.

Solvay Omacor is a 90% EPA/DHA fish oil that is available by prescription. So yes, fish oil it is pharmcologically active substance.

http://www.omacorrx.com/

Make sure you take, a molecular distilled version of fish oil that is 3rd party purity tested, esp. if you are taking high doses. I cannot stress enough to get the good stuff that is tested. Buy cheap vitamen C, but NOT cheap fish oil.

I take 2 pills a day of Carlson Brand Fish oil, which is 50% EPA/DHA. Most pills are 30% EPA/DHA, so make sure you read the back of the bottle for dose. You are looking for how much EPA and DHA is present. I prefer the high potency Carlson to that gives 1000mg of actual EPA & DHA combined with only two 1000mg fish oil capsules. Their are other good companies out their like Nordic Naturals, Spectrum organics, MEG3 brand, etc...

It makes sense to me. I did the research.

 

[Hydroblunt]

You must be refering to plant source omega3s (Flax seed, walnut) which primarily alpha linolenic acid (ALA);ALA conversion is at best 10% to active omega3s by humans. Good to take, but fish oil is a superior omega3 source.

Fish oil source EPA/DHA are directly utilized in by human biochemical pathways. It gets incorporated into the lipid portion of the plasma membranes of cells, so it takes some time to accumluate.

Solvay Omacor is a 90% EPA/DHA fish oil that is available by prescription. So yes, fish oil it is pharmcologically active substance.

http://www.omacorrx.com/

Make sure you take, a molecular distilled version of fish oil that is 3rd party purity tested, esp. if you are taking high doses. I cannot stress enough to get the good stuff that is tested. Buy cheap vitamen C, but NOT cheap fish oil.

I take 2 pills a day of Carlson Brand Fish oil, which is 50% EPA/DHA. Most pills are 30% EPA/DHA, so make sure you read the back of the bottle for dose. You are looking for how much EPA and DHA is present. I prefer the high potency Carlson to that gives 1000mg of actual EPA & DHA combined with only two 1000mg fish oil capsules. Their are other good companies out their like Nordic Naturals, Spectrum organics, MEG3 brand, etc...

It makes sense to me. I did the research.

Interesting, great stuff. I have Carlson's cod liver oil cause of www.mercola.com so it's good to see you confirm that.

I think gels are inferior though, just because you're mixing gelatin in there and slightly complicates the digestion. No big deal I'm sure.

Got some advice about mixing up the fish oil vs flax. One day fish, the next flax, etc. Makes sense.

 

[LoneSilver]

You can't go wrong with Omega-3 or fish oil if you care about your heart, brain and eyes.

LoneSilver

 

[Road Demon]

I believe Carlson makes an excellent product.

Check out Carlson Vitamin E products,in particular

E-Gems Elite 400 IU
E-Gems Elite is an exclusive blend of eight forms of natural source tocopherols and tocotrienols providing the antioxidant benefits of the entire family of vitamin E.

the liquid fish oil actually in the gelatin capsules.