Fish oil brands

Try flax seed oil - should do the same trick

No, flax seed doesn’t work as well. I recommend high doses of EPA and DHA, the ALA in flax seed is a precursor. You’d have to take thirty times the amount to get it converted, would make you sick. Flaxseed oil is better than nothing but not much.

There are vegetarian sources of DHA made from algae, if that’s the issue with fish oil.

>Try flax seed oil - should do the same trick

Some agree, such as the oil guy, Udo Erasmus. Link

Others say the conversion rate is a problem.

Rod, affraid not. The omega-3 in flax seed oil (ALA) only converts to EPA/DHA in small amounts. Flax oil also has omega-6 and omega-9. The omega-6 competes with the omega-3 for enzymatic conversion.

>The omega-6 competes with the omega-3 for enzymatic conversion.

Any source handy for this? I found a study on PubMed that showed better absorption of fish oil when taken with high fat meals.

Udo Erasmus. :rolleyes: Now that’s where you should be talking alleged expert and guru!

Let me poke around—it’s common knowledge that omega-3’s and omega-6’s compete. I assume saturated fat was what helped the omega-3 absorption.

Perhaps. I’ve seen some wacky statements from him. But that doesn’t mean he is upside down on everything.

Although, if you are going to take him as an expert, this is from his biography, “His technological innovations include: development of custom-made parts for existing oil presses to protect the oils being pressed from damage caused by light, oxygen, and heat; use of opaque containers for fresh oils to protect them from light; refrigeration or freezing of oils during transport to slow deterioration and shelf-dating of oils to warn consumers about old oils,”—indicating it isn’t just the amounts of EPA and DHA and lack of contaminants that affect fish oil quality.

Compete on a per meal basis, or that overall high ingestion of w-6 impairs utilization of w-3?

My interpretation is Udo thinks fish oil is unnecessary and that ALA sources are adequate. He’s right about the protective measures above for w-3 oils, though I don’t know if he “innovated them.” I doubt it.

As I’ve repeatedly said before, I’m not into the guru thing. I don’t have any gurus and never will. Some who do end up taking cyanide while wearing Nike’s so they can meet up on a comet whizzing by. I’m not into that.

Here’s a pretty thorough discussion (although focusing on ALA):

http://www.lipi dforum.org/Lipi … book-review.htm

That info is consistent with what I’ve read and my current understanding. 2:1 ratio of 6 and 3 is probably about ideal.

However, that link didn’t address absorption of fish oil when taken with other fats or macronutrients. That’s what I’m wondering about.

:eek: Well then why on earth did you give me such a hard time when I was saying that the sort of processing would affect quality if you agreed with me? I thought your whole argument was that EPA=EPA and that and low contaminants were all that a person needed to look at.

You are making the assumption there is a difference in processing among brands. Is the expensive stuff processed, transported and stored any differently than the cheaper brands? If you think so, do you have any evidence?

Rancid flax oil is easy to spot. It tastes terrible compared to fresh.

Fish oil is usually encapsulated, which reduces its ability to oxidize. Still, I keep the bottle in the fridge if it won’t be used soon. This probably isn’t necessary, but without the rancidity taste test available I’d rather err on the side of caution.

Still, I have no control of the conditions under which the fish oil was processed, transported and stored before I bought it. I’d think the best policy is to buy from a retailer who sells a lot and is therefore receiving fresh stock regularly.