13 ms·

Omega-3 fatty acids, which are important components of many healthy foods, such as seafood, nuts, legumes and leafy green vegetables, act to reduce inflamma

by pvnick 13y ago

Omega-3 fatty acids, which are important components of many healthy foods, such as seafood, nuts, legumes and leafy green vegetables, act to reduce inflammation Score another point for fish oil supplementation, on top of the already enormous pile of scientific research showing it to be a miracle chemical (and I definitely don't say that lightly) [2]. Seriously, if you aren't getting enough omega 3 fatty acids, either from regularly eating lots of fatty fish or through supplementation, you're seriously missing out on some good stuff. Among supplement enthusiasts, it's consistently declared to be one of the only supplements that's actually useful. I prefer the liquid form [1]. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Now-Foods-Omega-Lemon-Flavor/dp/B001B4NFNS http://www.amazon.com/Now-Foods-Omega-Lemon-Flavor/dp/B001B4... [2] http://examine.com/supplements/Fish+Oil/ http://examine.com/supplements/Fish+Oil/ Edit: added [2], a well-written examine.com page summarizing fish oil effects

derefr 13y ago
It's not that fish oil is an unalloyed good, mind; just that we get way too much Omega-6 in western diets, and it seems that Omega-3 "cancels it out." In cultures with balanced Omega-3/6 intake, like Japan, fish oil has no benefit.
- brational 13y ago
  Correct. The alternative to pounding fish oil supplements is simply stop eating so much refined seed and vegetable oils. A ratio can always be fixed in at least 2 ways obviously.
  - teach 13y ago
    It's harder than that. Our food supply has changed; sixty years ago when cows ate grasses, beef naturally had some omega-3s in it. Now that their diet is largely corn, beef brings virtually all omega-6s. Ditto for "shelf-stable" foods. Omega-3 fatty acids go rancid at room temperature, so many packaged products have had the omega-3-based fats removed so they'll last longer on the shelves. Source: my wife, who has a PhD in nutrition.
    - tptacek 13y ago
      My understanding (from investigating this a couple years ago) is that grass-fed beef, while higher in O3's than corn-fed beef, is not a particularly significant source of dietary O3.
      - irishjohnnie 13y ago
        Check out http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16500874 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16500874
      - teach 13y ago
        I think that is accurate. I only meant to use beef as an example of how our food supply has changed, not to suggest that beef is any sort of good source for omega 3s.
      - kdragon 13y ago
        Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not just that grass-fed beef is higher in Omega 3, but lower in Omega 6. So it's not just about Omega 3 intake, but the ratio between the two.
      - isleyaardvark 13y ago
        I believe that is the main reason it is labelled as such and more expensive than regular grain fed beef. Same with free range/cage-free eggs.
    - kzrdude 13y ago
      Wild Salmon should be a good omega-3 source, while Norwegian grown salmon is probably not.
      - mikkom 13y ago
        Here is a link to small study about this. > The results show a little more of the healthy long-chain marine omega-3 fatty acid forms known as EPA and DHA in farmed salmon than in wild salmon. > [..] > “Indeed, there is a larger amount of omega-6 in farmed salmon. You get nine times as much as when you eat wild salmon,” says Research Fellow Ida-Johanne Jensen at the Norwegian College of Fishery Science. http://sciencenordic.com/farmed-salmon-retains-good-fats http://sciencenordic.com/farmed-salmon-retains-good-fats
  - Florin_Andrei 13y ago
    There's a certain optimal ratio between the various omegas. You could get too much or too little from any particular kind. It just happens that modern diets have too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3.
- irishjohnnie 13y ago
  Plus the Japanese diet tastes better than a fish oil gel cap ... speaking of which, does this mean that the incidence of depression in Japan is low?
  - gms7777 13y ago
    Well, according to this article about a recent study: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/11/07/a-stunning-map-of-depression-rates-around-the-world/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/11/07... Japan has the lowest rate of diagnosed cases of depression of any country in the world (<2.5%). Of course, there could be other causes for this, and the accuracy of how well the diagnosed rate represents the actual rate is an open question. In particular, in east asian countries thre seems to be a cultural taboo against admitting mental illness and seeking treatment in order to get diagnosed in the first place. The fact that Japan has one of the highest suicide rates of any country in the world is an especially telling statistic that the diagnosed rate may not be telling us everything.
    - saraid216 13y ago
      A healthy diet is really not a remotely sufficient substitute for a healthy social context. One of the reasons there's a link at all is because we often eat with people.
      - hcarvalhoalves 13y ago
        It may not be that deterministic, as if it's either diet or social context. One thing can feed on the other. It can start as an emotional response, deflagrating an inflammatory process, revealing the nutritional deficiency. Or it can start with a nutritional deficiency, deflagrating an inflammatory process, which the brains reads as depression. This mechanism is already seen regarding stress and magnesium. High stress -> Mg depletion. Low Mg -> Stress symptoms.
    - joyeuse6701 13y ago
      I wonder if we can make the assumption that a suicide must have come from depression. Or at least, I'm not sure if the reasons/depressions experienced in Japan are comparable to other countries. I'd also agree that the admittance of mental illness may be lower than the actual. There are some pretty strange conditions out there, like hikikimori.
WalterSear 13y ago
FWIW, fish oil demand is driving overfishing. http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/15-06/st_infoporn http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/15-06/st_i... There are environmentally better sources, thought they are, naturally, not as cheap.
- corysama 13y ago
  In terms of $/gram of Omega3, flax oil is much, much cheaper than fish oil. http://www.amazon.com/Barleans-Organic-Oils-Lignan-16-Ounce/dp/B002VLZ81M/ref=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1393438936&sr=1-2&keywords=flax+seed+oil http://www.amazon.com/Barleans-Organic-Oils-Lignan-16-Ounce/... http://www.barleans.com/images/supplemental/ot-lignan12oz-sup.jpg http://www.barleans.com/images/supplemental/ot-lignan12oz-su... It also has a lot of 6&9. I'm assuming that still moves you towards a good balance. Can someone tell me I'm mistaken?
  - baugarten 13y ago
    flax has a lot of ALA omega 3's, which are less usable than the EPA/DHA in fish oil
  - jonahx 13y ago
    I am not an expert, but I've read in many places that the omega-3 in flax oil is far inferior, to the point of almost being worthless, compared with fish oil. IIRC the problem is that flax contains omega-3 in the form of ALA, in contrast to fish oil, which contains EPA and DHA -- the forms we actually need. The body can convert ALA to EPA and DHA, but the conversion process is extremely inefficient (something like only 5% get converted).
    - dllthomas 13y ago
      "The body can convert ALA to EPA and DHA, but the conversion process is extremely inefficient (something like only 5% get converted." Interesting. I wonder if that would be practical to do synthetically.
lectrick 13y ago
Instead of killing fish, here is my favorite nut mix (BY FAR!), which also happens to be chock full of Omega-3: http://smile.amazon.com/Planters-Nutrition-Omega-3-Ounce-Canister/dp/B003VMZZ04/ref=sr_1_1 http://smile.amazon.com/Planters-Nutrition-Omega-3-Ounce-Can... Cannot recommend enough. A handful for a snack is filling, healthy and not too caloric.
- chrisgd 13y ago
  I can never stop at just a handful though
  - Jtsummers 13y ago
    I dole things like this out to myself each day when I fix my lunch. If I'm going out for lunch I pack it anyways and usually eat it between 10:00-10:30am, keeps me from overeating at lunch. Otherwise, yeah, they'd last about 5 minutes.
    - chrisgd 13y ago
      Sometimes the simplest idea seems like the best solution. Perhaps not having the entire container in my desk drawer (half open) is not the solution.
- zwischenzug 13y ago
  Bit too much sugar there for my liking...
- js2 13y ago
  So you might want to do some research on ALA, EPA, and DHA. Our ability to convert ALA to Omega-3 is apparently fairly limited. This link appears to be fairly well researched: http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/othernuts/omega3fa/ http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/othernuts/omega3fa/
- Mz 13y ago
  FYI: Ingredients Walnuts, Sweetened Dried Cranberries (Cranberries, Sugar, Sunflower Oil), Candy Coated Dark Chocolate Soynuts (Dark Chocolate {Sugar, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter}, Sugar, Oil Roasted Soybeans {Soybeans, Soybean Oil}, Artificial Color {Includes Caramel Color}, Corn Syrup, Gum Arabic, Confectioner's Glaze {Carnauba Wax, Beeswax}). Without doing serious research on every ingredient listed above, let me suggest that you (or other interested readers) can just buy Walnuts for the same effect, without being exposed to all this other crap, which may be a problem for some people. Walnuts are unusually high in omega 3. I have a lot of dietary issues and I would be unlikely to eat the above (and I usually do not eat Planter's because most of their nut mixes are made with peanut oil, which is highly inflammatory and tends to make me psychotic and suicidal). I cannot take fish oil. I am allergic to shellfish and I break out in hives when I take enough fish oil. So I have long eaten walnuts when I want to bump up my Omega 3 intake. But, for my purposes, a) avoiding problem oils does more for me than trying to specifically counteract them by adding other oils and b) eating less acidly also goes a long way to control my inflammatory condition.
pygy_ 13y ago
IIRC, you need a 1/5 (Omega 3 / Omega 6) ratio, but our usual diet is so poor in the former that we end up deprived. Palm oil, which is everywhere, has Omega 6 aplenty, and (virtually?) no Omega 3. In Europe, it is usually listed as "vegetal oil" in the ingredients lists. When it's not palm, they put the full name.
- nazgulnarsil 13y ago
  palm oil is only 9% polyunsaturated, as opposed to something like canola which is 20%.
  - pygy_ 13y ago
    I had never heard of canola oil. The ratio is ~1/2, which is pretty good to know.
    - aestra 13y ago
      > I had never heard of canola oil. It is called different things in different places. Canola is actually a specific cultivar of Rapeseed. Canola actually stands for "Canada Oil" and the term probably isn't well known out of North America. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapeseed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapeseed
      - gcb0 13y ago
        South America, canola oil is pretty well known
esemiss 13y ago
Please be aware of the issue of rancidity before taking any fish oil supplements. http://blog.omega3innovations.com/blog/bid/215649/Is-Your-Fish-Oil-Rancid http://blog.omega3innovations.com/blog/bid/215649/Is-Your-Fi...
- TheEzEzz 13y ago
  There's an obvious conflict of interest with that link. They discuss the rancidity of fish oil and then pitch their own fish oil product. I've heard rancidity of fish oil discussed before. It seems like a reasonable thing to be concerned with, but I'd like to see an impartial, scientific discussion.
- ericxb 13y ago
  I like Coromega brand because it can't become rancid. The oil is sealed in an air tight packet until you consume it.
- manmal 13y ago
  Open a capsule of each new batch and smell it. Then put the package in the fridge, and keep it there. Problem solved.
  - Florin_Andrei 13y ago
    The fridge alleviates many such issues. I've had fish oil capsules that were packaged under nitrogen, specifically to reduce degradation before sale. But those are not cheap.
irishjohnnie 13y ago
Grass fed beef is apparently also a good source of Omega-3 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16500874 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16500874
- neves 13y ago
  Brazilian meat is grass fed. Which countries more export grass fed meat?
  - chad_oliver 13y ago
    New Zealand exclusively produces grass-fed beef.
  - irishjohnnie 13y ago
    I don't know about countries exporting grass fed meat, but in the US there is a growing movement for raising grass-fed cattle and pastured chickens (for meat and eggs) usually within 100 miles of major cities, as opposed to grain-fed livestock raised in large factory farms. The Omega 3 to 6 ratios of the resulting meat (and eggs) is better than the grain-fed ones. It seems that a lot of these inflammation problems are not only caused by the diet of the average person but also caused by the diet of the average livestock that we're consuming.
  - adrr 13y ago
    They cut down the rainforest to create those pastures which the cows graze on.
tasty_freeze 13y ago
There is recent research linking fish oil and prostate cancer, especially more aggressive forms of prostate cancer. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/podcast/transcript090313.html http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/podcast/transcript090313....
- Jach 13y ago
  I was going to link that too if someone else didn't. But since the base rate is already about 150/100,000 per year, and 15% over a lifetime, and the survivability for prostate cancer is high, the increase isn't really that much and the benefits outweigh the risks for me.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
danparsonson 13y ago
The great majority of effects tested and listed in the 'Human Effect Matrix' at [2] are either minor in magnitude or non-existent. That would seem to contradict your statement that Omega-3 is a miracle chemical. Am I reading it wrong?
- dfc 13y ago
  This is reads as "minor or nonexistent? Evidence Level Effect Change Magnitude Consensus A Depression Decrease Notable 100%
  - danparsonson 13y ago
    No, and I didn't say it did. The parent to my original comment claimed that Omega-3 is a "wonder chemical", having many beneficial effects, and cited that website as evidence. I was responding to that claim by pointing out that the website does not in fact appear to back up their position.
    - dfc 13y ago
      The problem is you expanded OP's claim. For starters OP never used your interpretation of wonder chemical: "cures many ailments". The article was on depression and OP never broadened the "therapeutic horizon." The linked website did not describe the effects of fish oil on depression as "minor in magnitude or non-existent."
      - danparsonson 13y ago
        I think we disagree on the interpretation of > Score another point for fish oil supplementation, on top of the already enormous pile of scientific research showing it to be a miracle chemical (and I definitely don't say that lightly) [2]. I read that as "here is yet another thing that omega-3 treats", rather than "here is yet more evidence that omega-3 treats depression". Especially since it followed a quote from the article about anti-inflammatory properties rather than specifically mentioning depression. Followed by: > Seriously, if you aren't getting enough omega 3 fatty acids, [...], you're seriously missing out on some good stuff. Among supplement enthusiasts, it's consistently declared to be one of the only supplements that's actually useful. Among supplement enthusiasts, not among depression sufferers. But then it can be so easy to misunderstand the written word; perhaps I missed the intent of the original comment.
DanBC 13y ago
There is good evidence that supplementing fish oil does nothing to prevent death, but that eating fish does. I haven't got cites but it was pretty clear on this BBC Radio Four programme - maybe someone else has got better sources? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019dl1b http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019dl1b (They talk about the dangers of Selenium supplementation in regions with plenty of bioavailable selenium in the soil, especially when combined with Vit E supplementation. These are not heroic doses either.)
dfc 13y ago
Why do you prefer the liquid form?
gtani 13y ago
I think Andrew Weil's books are a good common sense source on supplements and he recommends fish oils purified to exclude mercury and PCB's. For counterexamples, I've noticed a few people taking quite large dosages of B complex vitamins. Dr. Weil notes that mega doses of B3 and B6 can cause problems including irreversible nerve damage. He also recommends against resveratrol supplements, another trendy thing.
partoutok 13y ago
The Cochrane review on omega-3 fats in 2004[1] didn't find any clear benefit concerning Mortality/Cardiovascular problems/Cancer. [1] http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD003177/there-is-not-enough-evidence-to-say-that-people-should-stop-taking-rich-sources-of-omega-3-fats-but-further-high-quality-trials-are-needed-to-confirm-the-previously-suggested-protective-effect-of-omega-3-fats-for-those-at-increased-cardiovascular http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD003177/there-is-not-enough-e...
- carbocation 13y ago
  Follow-up studies, such as this 12,000 person RCT [1], have not been any more favorable towards omega-3 fatty acids. When my patients ask me if they should take omega-3 capsules, I tell them that it depends on whether they enjoy paying for them. (Some do.) 1 = http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1205409 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1205409
illuminate 13y ago
"on top of the already enormous pile of scientific research showing it to be a miracle chemical (and I definitely don't say that lightly)" http://www.badscience.net/category/fish-oil/ http://www.badscience.net/category/fish-oil/ The research hasn't held up, but the marketing and supplement industry pretends as if it has.
tomgruner 13y ago
Also hemp hearts - available from some costco stores and most whole foods are an excellent source of omega 3s. They are good in smoothies too.
Nursie 13y ago
Fish oil supplementation is, like most other supplementation, really only applauded by the supplement industry. There's no proof any of it does much, which is why here in the UK all supplement advertising has to include disclaimers like "May benefit the elderly or those on a restricted diet"
- shubb 13y ago
  There have been some decent clinical trials showing a high does of fish oil (something like 1g a day) improves mood better than placebo in bipolar depresssives. There are some risks to taking really high doses of fish oil every day though - and not just mercury content. Similar trials for just doing plenty of regular excersise such as walking show a better result. Given that excersise is really good for you, it's probably a better option.
novaleaf 13y ago
try flax, not fish.

by pvnick 13y ago

derefr 13y ago

It's not that fish oil is an unalloyed good, mind; just that we get way too much Omega-6 in western diets, and it seems that Omega-3 "cancels it out." In cultures with balanced Omega-3/6 intake, like Japan, fish oil has no benefit.

brational 13y ago
Correct. The alternative to pounding fish oil supplements is simply stop eating so much refined seed and vegetable oils. A ratio can always be fixed in at least 2 ways obviously.
- teach 13y ago
  It's harder than that. Our food supply has changed; sixty years ago when cows ate grasses, beef naturally had some omega-3s in it. Now that their diet is largely corn, beef brings virtually all omega-6s. Ditto for "shelf-stable" foods. Omega-3 fatty acids go rancid at room temperature, so many packaged products have had the omega-3-based fats removed so they'll last longer on the shelves. Source: my wife, who has a PhD in nutrition.
  - tptacek 13y ago
    My understanding (from investigating this a couple years ago) is that grass-fed beef, while higher in O3's than corn-fed beef, is not a particularly significant source of dietary O3.
    - irishjohnnie 13y ago
      Check out http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16500874 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16500874
    - teach 13y ago
      I think that is accurate. I only meant to use beef as an example of how our food supply has changed, not to suggest that beef is any sort of good source for omega 3s.
    - kdragon 13y ago
      Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not just that grass-fed beef is higher in Omega 3, but lower in Omega 6. So it's not just about Omega 3 intake, but the ratio between the two.
    - isleyaardvark 13y ago
      I believe that is the main reason it is labelled as such and more expensive than regular grain fed beef. Same with free range/cage-free eggs.
  - kzrdude 13y ago
    Wild Salmon should be a good omega-3 source, while Norwegian grown salmon is probably not.
    - mikkom 13y ago
      Here is a link to small study about this. > The results show a little more of the healthy long-chain marine omega-3 fatty acid forms known as EPA and DHA in farmed salmon than in wild salmon. > [..] > “Indeed, there is a larger amount of omega-6 in farmed salmon. You get nine times as much as when you eat wild salmon,” says Research Fellow Ida-Johanne Jensen at the Norwegian College of Fishery Science. http://sciencenordic.com/farmed-salmon-retains-good-fats http://sciencenordic.com/farmed-salmon-retains-good-fats
- Florin_Andrei 13y ago
  There's a certain optimal ratio between the various omegas. You could get too much or too little from any particular kind. It just happens that modern diets have too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3.
irishjohnnie 13y ago
Plus the Japanese diet tastes better than a fish oil gel cap ... speaking of which, does this mean that the incidence of depression in Japan is low?
- gms7777 13y ago
  Well, according to this article about a recent study: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/11/07/a-stunning-map-of-depression-rates-around-the-world/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/11/07... Japan has the lowest rate of diagnosed cases of depression of any country in the world (<2.5%). Of course, there could be other causes for this, and the accuracy of how well the diagnosed rate represents the actual rate is an open question. In particular, in east asian countries thre seems to be a cultural taboo against admitting mental illness and seeking treatment in order to get diagnosed in the first place. The fact that Japan has one of the highest suicide rates of any country in the world is an especially telling statistic that the diagnosed rate may not be telling us everything.
  - saraid216 13y ago
    A healthy diet is really not a remotely sufficient substitute for a healthy social context. One of the reasons there's a link at all is because we often eat with people.
    - hcarvalhoalves 13y ago
      It may not be that deterministic, as if it's either diet or social context. One thing can feed on the other. It can start as an emotional response, deflagrating an inflammatory process, revealing the nutritional deficiency. Or it can start with a nutritional deficiency, deflagrating an inflammatory process, which the brains reads as depression. This mechanism is already seen regarding stress and magnesium. High stress -> Mg depletion. Low Mg -> Stress symptoms.
  - joyeuse6701 13y ago
    I wonder if we can make the assumption that a suicide must have come from depression. Or at least, I'm not sure if the reasons/depressions experienced in Japan are comparable to other countries. I'd also agree that the admittance of mental illness may be lower than the actual. There are some pretty strange conditions out there, like hikikimori.

WalterSear 13y ago

FWIW, fish oil demand is driving overfishing. http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/15-06/st_infoporn http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/15-06/st_i... There are environmentally better sources, thought they are, naturally, not as cheap.

corysama 13y ago
In terms of $/gram of Omega3, flax oil is much, much cheaper than fish oil. http://www.amazon.com/Barleans-Organic-Oils-Lignan-16-Ounce/dp/B002VLZ81M/ref=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1393438936&sr=1-2&keywords=flax+seed+oil http://www.amazon.com/Barleans-Organic-Oils-Lignan-16-Ounce/... http://www.barleans.com/images/supplemental/ot-lignan12oz-sup.jpg http://www.barleans.com/images/supplemental/ot-lignan12oz-su... It also has a lot of 6&9. I'm assuming that still moves you towards a good balance. Can someone tell me I'm mistaken?
- baugarten 13y ago
  flax has a lot of ALA omega 3's, which are less usable than the EPA/DHA in fish oil
- jonahx 13y ago
  I am not an expert, but I've read in many places that the omega-3 in flax oil is far inferior, to the point of almost being worthless, compared with fish oil. IIRC the problem is that flax contains omega-3 in the form of ALA, in contrast to fish oil, which contains EPA and DHA -- the forms we actually need. The body can convert ALA to EPA and DHA, but the conversion process is extremely inefficient (something like only 5% get converted).
  - dllthomas 13y ago
    "The body can convert ALA to EPA and DHA, but the conversion process is extremely inefficient (something like only 5% get converted." Interesting. I wonder if that would be practical to do synthetically.

lectrick 13y ago

Instead of killing fish, here is my favorite nut mix (BY FAR!), which also happens to be chock full of Omega-3: http://smile.amazon.com/Planters-Nutrition-Omega-3-Ounce-Canister/dp/B003VMZZ04/ref=sr_1_1 http://smile.amazon.com/Planters-Nutrition-Omega-3-Ounce-Can... Cannot recommend enough. A handful for a snack is filling, healthy and not too caloric.

chrisgd 13y ago
I can never stop at just a handful though
- Jtsummers 13y ago
  I dole things like this out to myself each day when I fix my lunch. If I'm going out for lunch I pack it anyways and usually eat it between 10:00-10:30am, keeps me from overeating at lunch. Otherwise, yeah, they'd last about 5 minutes.
  - chrisgd 13y ago
    Sometimes the simplest idea seems like the best solution. Perhaps not having the entire container in my desk drawer (half open) is not the solution.
zwischenzug 13y ago
Bit too much sugar there for my liking...
js2 13y ago
So you might want to do some research on ALA, EPA, and DHA. Our ability to convert ALA to Omega-3 is apparently fairly limited. This link appears to be fairly well researched: http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/othernuts/omega3fa/ http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/othernuts/omega3fa/
Mz 13y ago
FYI: Ingredients Walnuts, Sweetened Dried Cranberries (Cranberries, Sugar, Sunflower Oil), Candy Coated Dark Chocolate Soynuts (Dark Chocolate {Sugar, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter}, Sugar, Oil Roasted Soybeans {Soybeans, Soybean Oil}, Artificial Color {Includes Caramel Color}, Corn Syrup, Gum Arabic, Confectioner's Glaze {Carnauba Wax, Beeswax}). Without doing serious research on every ingredient listed above, let me suggest that you (or other interested readers) can just buy Walnuts for the same effect, without being exposed to all this other crap, which may be a problem for some people. Walnuts are unusually high in omega 3. I have a lot of dietary issues and I would be unlikely to eat the above (and I usually do not eat Planter's because most of their nut mixes are made with peanut oil, which is highly inflammatory and tends to make me psychotic and suicidal). I cannot take fish oil. I am allergic to shellfish and I break out in hives when I take enough fish oil. So I have long eaten walnuts when I want to bump up my Omega 3 intake. But, for my purposes, a) avoiding problem oils does more for me than trying to specifically counteract them by adding other oils and b) eating less acidly also goes a long way to control my inflammatory condition.

pygy_ 13y ago

IIRC, you need a 1/5 (Omega 3 / Omega 6) ratio, but our usual diet is so poor in the former that we end up deprived. Palm oil, which is everywhere, has Omega 6 aplenty, and (virtually?) no Omega 3. In Europe, it is usually listed as "vegetal oil" in the ingredients lists. When it's not palm, they put the full name.

nazgulnarsil 13y ago
palm oil is only 9% polyunsaturated, as opposed to something like canola which is 20%.
- pygy_ 13y ago
  I had never heard of canola oil. The ratio is ~1/2, which is pretty good to know.
  - aestra 13y ago
    > I had never heard of canola oil. It is called different things in different places. Canola is actually a specific cultivar of Rapeseed. Canola actually stands for "Canada Oil" and the term probably isn't well known out of North America. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapeseed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapeseed
    - gcb0 13y ago
      South America, canola oil is pretty well known

esemiss 13y ago

Please be aware of the issue of rancidity before taking any fish oil supplements. http://blog.omega3innovations.com/blog/bid/215649/Is-Your-Fish-Oil-Rancid http://blog.omega3innovations.com/blog/bid/215649/Is-Your-Fi...

TheEzEzz 13y ago
There's an obvious conflict of interest with that link. They discuss the rancidity of fish oil and then pitch their own fish oil product. I've heard rancidity of fish oil discussed before. It seems like a reasonable thing to be concerned with, but I'd like to see an impartial, scientific discussion.
ericxb 13y ago
I like Coromega brand because it can't become rancid. The oil is sealed in an air tight packet until you consume it.
manmal 13y ago
Open a capsule of each new batch and smell it. Then put the package in the fridge, and keep it there. Problem solved.
- Florin_Andrei 13y ago
  The fridge alleviates many such issues. I've had fish oil capsules that were packaged under nitrogen, specifically to reduce degradation before sale. But those are not cheap.

irishjohnnie 13y ago

Grass fed beef is apparently also a good source of Omega-3 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16500874 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16500874

neves 13y ago
Brazilian meat is grass fed. Which countries more export grass fed meat?
- chad_oliver 13y ago
  New Zealand exclusively produces grass-fed beef.
- irishjohnnie 13y ago
  I don't know about countries exporting grass fed meat, but in the US there is a growing movement for raising grass-fed cattle and pastured chickens (for meat and eggs) usually within 100 miles of major cities, as opposed to grain-fed livestock raised in large factory farms. The Omega 3 to 6 ratios of the resulting meat (and eggs) is better than the grain-fed ones. It seems that a lot of these inflammation problems are not only caused by the diet of the average person but also caused by the diet of the average livestock that we're consuming.
- adrr 13y ago
  They cut down the rainforest to create those pastures which the cows graze on.

tasty_freeze 13y ago

There is recent research linking fish oil and prostate cancer, especially more aggressive forms of prostate cancer. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/podcast/transcript090313.html http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/podcast/transcript090313....

Jach 13y ago
I was going to link that too if someone else didn't. But since the base rate is already about 150/100,000 per year, and 15% over a lifetime, and the survivability for prostate cancer is high, the increase isn't really that much and the benefits outweigh the risks for me.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

danparsonson 13y ago

The great majority of effects tested and listed in the 'Human Effect Matrix' at [2] are either minor in magnitude or non-existent. That would seem to contradict your statement that Omega-3 is a miracle chemical. Am I reading it wrong?

dfc 13y ago
This is reads as "minor or nonexistent? Evidence Level Effect Change Magnitude Consensus A Depression Decrease Notable 100%
- danparsonson 13y ago
  No, and I didn't say it did. The parent to my original comment claimed that Omega-3 is a "wonder chemical", having many beneficial effects, and cited that website as evidence. I was responding to that claim by pointing out that the website does not in fact appear to back up their position.
  - dfc 13y ago
    The problem is you expanded OP's claim. For starters OP never used your interpretation of wonder chemical: "cures many ailments". The article was on depression and OP never broadened the "therapeutic horizon." The linked website did not describe the effects of fish oil on depression as "minor in magnitude or non-existent."
    - danparsonson 13y ago
      I think we disagree on the interpretation of > Score another point for fish oil supplementation, on top of the already enormous pile of scientific research showing it to be a miracle chemical (and I definitely don't say that lightly) [2]. I read that as "here is yet another thing that omega-3 treats", rather than "here is yet more evidence that omega-3 treats depression". Especially since it followed a quote from the article about anti-inflammatory properties rather than specifically mentioning depression. Followed by: > Seriously, if you aren't getting enough omega 3 fatty acids, [...], you're seriously missing out on some good stuff. Among supplement enthusiasts, it's consistently declared to be one of the only supplements that's actually useful. Among supplement enthusiasts, not among depression sufferers. But then it can be so easy to misunderstand the written word; perhaps I missed the intent of the original comment.

DanBC 13y ago

There is good evidence that supplementing fish oil does nothing to prevent death, but that eating fish does. I haven't got cites but it was pretty clear on this BBC Radio Four programme - maybe someone else has got better sources? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019dl1b http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019dl1b (They talk about the dangers of Selenium supplementation in regions with plenty of bioavailable selenium in the soil, especially when combined with Vit E supplementation. These are not heroic doses either.)

dfc 13y ago

Why do you prefer the liquid form?

gtani 13y ago

I think Andrew Weil's books are a good common sense source on supplements and he recommends fish oils purified to exclude mercury and PCB's. For counterexamples, I've noticed a few people taking quite large dosages of B complex vitamins. Dr. Weil notes that mega doses of B3 and B6 can cause problems including irreversible nerve damage. He also recommends against resveratrol supplements, another trendy thing.

partoutok 13y ago

The Cochrane review on omega-3 fats in 2004[1] didn't find any clear benefit concerning Mortality/Cardiovascular problems/Cancer. [1] http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD003177/there-is-not-enough-evidence-to-say-that-people-should-stop-taking-rich-sources-of-omega-3-fats-but-further-high-quality-trials-are-needed-to-confirm-the-previously-suggested-protective-effect-of-omega-3-fats-for-those-at-increased-cardiovascular http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD003177/there-is-not-enough-e...

carbocation 13y ago
Follow-up studies, such as this 12,000 person RCT [1], have not been any more favorable towards omega-3 fatty acids. When my patients ask me if they should take omega-3 capsules, I tell them that it depends on whether they enjoy paying for them. (Some do.) 1 = http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1205409 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1205409

illuminate 13y ago

"on top of the already enormous pile of scientific research showing it to be a miracle chemical (and I definitely don't say that lightly)" http://www.badscience.net/category/fish-oil/ http://www.badscience.net/category/fish-oil/ The research hasn't held up, but the marketing and supplement industry pretends as if it has.

tomgruner 13y ago

Also hemp hearts - available from some costco stores and most whole foods are an excellent source of omega 3s. They are good in smoothies too.

Nursie 13y ago

Fish oil supplementation is, like most other supplementation, really only applauded by the supplement industry. There's no proof any of it does much, which is why here in the UK all supplement advertising has to include disclaimers like "May benefit the elderly or those on a restricted diet"

shubb 13y ago
There have been some decent clinical trials showing a high does of fish oil (something like 1g a day) improves mood better than placebo in bipolar depresssives. There are some risks to taking really high doses of fish oil every day though - and not just mercury content. Similar trials for just doing plenty of regular excersise such as walking show a better result. Given that excersise is really good for you, it's probably a better option.

novaleaf 13y ago

try flax, not fish.