Omega 3 Fats

[Bible_Belt]

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=99

"Over 2,000 scientific studies have demonstrated the wide range of problems associated with omega-3 deficiencies. The American diet is almost devoid of omega-3s, except for nuts, such as walnuts, seeds and cold-water fish. In fact, researchers believe that about 60% of Americans are deficient in omega-3 fatty acids, and about 20% have so little that test methods cannot even detect any in their blood."

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=81

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=104

http://www.clevelandclinic.org/heartcenter/pub/guide/prevention/nutrition/omega3.htm

 

[Brian20o2]

Good thing I take my flax oil pills.

 

[Road Demon]

Ok Guys,

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.

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

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 Spectrum Organic fish oil pills 1000 mg 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.

http://www.spectrumorganics.com/index.php?id=210

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.

I'm a scientist by training, with a PhD in the Pharmacology and Physiology, so I have looked into the research. I do believe that fish oil has helped me feel better in term of both physical and mental health.

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]

PCB, heavy metal, and toxin free

These are good points. Fish are like sponges, soaking up nutrients from the ocean, but they soak up pollution too. The third-party testing is a good idea. PCBs are stored in the fish's fat, so trimming visible fat will help as well.

One would think that salmon from fish farms would be less polluted. But farmed salmon seem to be not as healthy as those caught in the wild.

http://www.healthcastle.com/farmed-salmon.shtml

* In July 2003, the Environmental Working Group EWG released a report stating that farmed salmon purchased in the United States contain the highest level of PCBs in the food supply system. In the report, EWG reported that farmed salmon have 16 times PCBs found in wild salmon, 4 times the levels in beef, and 3.4 times the levels in other seafood. EWG recommends that consumers choose wild instead of farmed salmon, and they should eat an 8 oz serving of farmed salmon no more than once a month.

* Science Journal: In January 2004, the journal Science warned that farmed salmon contain 10 times more toxins (PCBs, dioxin, etc.) than wild salmon. The study recommends that farmed salmon should be eaten once a month, perhaps every two months as they pose cancer risks to the human beings.

Why do Farmed Salmon contain more PCBs than Wild Salmon?

* Fishmeal/Feed: Studies found that the fishmeal fed to farmed salmon is highly contaminated with PCBs
* Farmed salmon are "fatter": Farmed salmon are generally bigger in size and contain more fat than wild salmon. PCBs are stored in fat and remain there for an extended period of time, therefore farmed salmon contain more PCBs.

 

[RaWBLooD]

nuts, such as walnuts, seeds and cold-water fish

eat those and youll be ok

and the pollution in fish........ try the pollution in air and everything that breathes it. fish populations are just getting so small that bs like that had to come out sooner or later.

 

[Bible_Belt]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/feature...9jun06,0,4739222.story?coll=sfla-news-science

New warning for canned tuna
June 6 2006

The chance that canned tuna will contain high levels of mercury is great enough that pregnant women should never eat it, according to new recommendations from a leading consumer group.

 

[Skilla_Staz]

I like my salmon. Anybody have any other fish recommendations?

 

[Bible_Belt]

Wild salmon have mercury and farmed salmon have pcps and dioxins, so maybe just balance it out? Eating as diverse a fish diet as possible, across types of fish as well as brands seems like a good idea.

Omega-3 fatty acids: where to find them?
http://www.eufic.org/gb/food/pag/food38/food381.htm

Fish Oil, Omega-3, and Heart Disease
http://healthlibrary.epnet.com/GetC...bf-2a24-406f-8083-f1484720ce65&chunkiid=30085

 

[Skilla_Staz]

I'm guessing that they have such small levels of those that it's trace amounts. Correct? If this is so, then eating salmon once in a while should be no problem.

 

[Bible_Belt]

You're probably fine. We're all full of chemicals anyway. Bodybuilders who eat large amounts of canned tuna and salmon might be more concerned.

 

[Bible_Belt]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li...ain.html?in_article_id=391503&in_page_id=1774

Fish oil 'calms children better than Ritalin'
by FIONA MACRAE, Daily Mail
20th June 2006

A daily dose of fish oil is better at treating hyperactivity than Ritalin - the 'chemical cosh' linked to the deaths of children, stunning research has revealed.

Just six capsules a day of the naturally-occurring oil can vastly improve children's behaviour without any of the side-effects of Ritalin and related drugs.

 

[Bible_Belt]

Eating fish helps ward off common blindness
10 Jul 2006
CHICAGO, July 10 (Reuters) - Cigarette smoking increases the risk of the most common cause of blindness among the elderly but eating fish protects against it, according to studies published on Monday.

Macular degeneration is a disease in which the sharp central vision of the eye becomes blurred. It is the leading cause of blindness after age 60.

The Boston study also found that those who ate more fish, including those who smoked, were less likely to have developed the disease, with the biggest benefit among those who ate two or more servings per week.

"About a third of the risk of (the disease) ... could be attributable to cigarette smoking, and about a fifth of the cases were estimated as preventable with higher fish and omega-3 fatty acid dietary intake," concluded the study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology.

In another study appearing in the same journal, Australian researchers reported a similar protective effect from omega-3 fatty acids, especially among those who ate two or more servings of fish per week, even when a history of smoking was taken into account.

"Insufficient essential fatty acid intake could result in abnormal retinal metabolism and cell renewal," while higher levels of omega-3 especially from fish "may protect against retinal oxidation and degeneration," said the report from Westmead Millennium Institute and Vision Co-operative Research Center in Sydney.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07198525.htm

 

[Bible_Belt]

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Depression/story?id=2579670

Benefits of Eating Fish Trumps Risks, Studies Say
By JOANNA SCHAFFHAUSEN

Oct. 18, 2006

Two new studies this week recommend that Americans continue to keep fish as part of a healthy diet because the benefits of eating fist outweigh the health risks. The Institute of Medicine reviewed the recent literature on fish and health, and it concluded that healthy adults can safely consume up to 12 ounces of fish a week. Fish provides a source of lean protein and good omega-3 fatty acids. In a second study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health drew similar conclusions about the benefits of eating fish. They estimated that eating one to two servings of fish a week could reduce the risk of heart attack by about a third. The Institute of Medicine report goes softer on the heart benefits of eating fish, saying there "may be" some reduction in heart attack risk. It also said that it is not clear whether it is eating the fish that reduces the risk of heart attacks or whether it's what fish lovers are not eating -- fatty meats like steak and hamburger -- that's important.

 

[Throttle]

salmon, esp. alaskan sockeye, is so damn good that i can't imagine anyone not eating it regularly who isn't either (a) allergic or (b) unable to afford it. i'd rather eat salmon than eat out!

 

[spesmilitis]

WE went over omega-3's in my nutrition class today. This is what i learned

-reccomended ration of omega 3's to omega 6's: 1:4. Average american gets 1:15

-The fishes with the most omega 3's are cold water deep sea fishes

-The real benifit of omega-3's are when they are converted to DHA and EPA (didn't write down what they mean). In fishes, many of the omega 3 acids are already converted to this. Now for plant sources of omega-3's like flax seed. Less of the omega-3's in flax seed are converted to DHA and EPA. That means if you take plant sources for omega-3's, you need to take more of it than you would from fish sources.

-Other good fish sources besides salmon: alantic mackeral, spiny dogfish, lake trout, herring, cod liver, shrimp. . . any cold water deep sea fishes.

Maybe fishes use omega-3's to keep warm. . . so maybe the colder the water the fish is found it, the more omega-3 fatty acids it has?

 

[Bible_Belt]

I had never thought about why only cold-water fish have omega 3. It is a good question. From what I can find, it looks like you are correct:

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T040900.asp

Omega-3 fatty acids are nature's antifreeze.

 

[Celadus]

I worked in a salmon cannery over the summer. Pretty interesting process how they get the oil. All the heads go up into a room and put in a big vat. Can't remember the exact order but the heads are burnt, smashed and then the oil is sucked out. Smells awful.

Good stuff though. Its my only source of fat.

 

[Bible_Belt]

The burning part is surprising. According to whfoods.com:

Polyunsaturated oils, including the omega 3 fats, are extremely susceptible to damage from heat, light, and oxygen

But maybe there is so much oil in the vat that the amount that is damaged is negligible?

I doubt that most people would enjoy seeing how their food is prepared. There's a cliche that says two things most people don't want to see being made are laws and sausages.

 

[spesmilitis]

I bet polar bear and penguin are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. mmmmmm

 

[Throttle]

I had never thought about why only cold-water fish have omega 3.

cold-water fish have the most omega-3 in the edible (non-organ) parts b/c they have a significant fat layer as insulation from the the cold. other fish store a significant part of their reserves in their liver (hence the popularity of cod liver oil). however, all fish have omega 3 fats in them, just in smaller quantities.