It seems like we are being bombarded with ads for fish oil capsules-like consuming them will make you live to 100, eliminate heart disease, etc., etc. These things are pretty pricey too…thus explaining the adds. So what is the truth? i was in a fih market yesterday, and you can buy a 16 oz. bottle of cod liver oil for $3.65-versus a bottle of 50 pils (perhaps 2 oz.0 for $24.00!
My dad told me , that when he was a kid 9before synthetic vitamin D became available0, it was standard procedure for kids to take a teaspoon of cod liver oil every day-he hated it!
I don’t know about living to 100, but my doctor told me I should take fish oil capsules.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fish-oil/NS_patient-fishoil
Well you need Omega-3 fatty acid in your diet, so if you believe you’re not getting enough, taking them can be beneficial. I hate fish oil, though; it gives me horrible fishy indigestion, so I take flaxseed oil capsules several times a week instead.
Like anything that comes out about health benefits, marketing gets ahold of it and you see the “live to be 100” verbage everywhere. Better to EAT fish and other foods rich in this nutrient, along with a balanced diet and you should improve your health. Tip from me: buy ground flaxseed meal and throw it in muffins, cornbread and the like, even meatloaf, spaghetti sauce, etc. You’ll get your Omega-3’s the natural way!
I’m not sure if it’s quack medicine or not; but I found a 2007 news story mentioning a 2002 study, so it’s not all that new. The story isn’t all that positive towards the industry, either.
Did your mother not stuff cod liver oil down your gullet when you were a child?
Along with coconut oil, it’s part of my daily regimen to battle Early Onset Alzheimer’s. It’s said that the Omega-3’s prevent the plaque that causes AD
To be honest, at this point, I’m doing a lot of reading and if there’s any kind of documentation that something works, I’ll try it.
http://tampabay.com/news/aging/article879333.ece
Q
One of the new frontiers of medicine is the study of inflammation. It is implicated in many conditions, ranging from heart disease to depression. My knowledge is primarily about using fish oil to prevent and treat depression, and IIRC there are several studies showing efficacy, but I can’t remember how big they were or give you a cite. Anyway, the fats EPA and DHA do seem to reduce inflammation and combat depression. Flax seed is not useful for this purpose since it provides low levels of EPA, which is essential especially to treat pre-existing depression. (Flax does provide some EPA, but to get enough for mood elevation, you would wind up inflicting some severe intestinal distress on yourself.)
And yeah, it would be better to get the fish oil from eating fish, but public health people have acknowledged that most Americans will never eat that much fish, and having a supplement is the next best thing.
Fish Oil with exercise, no kidding, dropped my LDL to the low-low 100 range and my triglycerides to the 140 range in two months. I didn’t change my eating habits except to include a few more salads. Now I’m buying all of my fish frozen at a Trader Joes and eating better, but it works as advertised for my money. Also, you can buy ‘burpless’ fish oil if you get the fishie burps.
I started taking fish oil to improve my mental prowness as to do better in engineering school. While I couldn’t tell if I was doing better in school, I did notice some mood-elevating effects. Anecdote is not data…
At present I consider prescribing fish oil for folks with isolated triglyceride problems (over 500 despite dieting, yet with fairly normal levels of cholesterol) and for people who already have heart disease, looking to prevent further progression.
That’s based on decent evidence: Multiple credible scientific studies show that it appears to be beneficial in those circumstances.
And that means improved outcomes, cardiac-wise. Not just improved numbers. But fewer cardiac events.
The evidence for all the other claims being made for it isn’t at that level yet.
I expect some decent evidence will come in eventually for a few of the claims, and still be lacking for others.
Most Americans need more O-3 and less O-6. Oddly, some cpasules are sold which combine the two. Do not take these.
Likely- eating Salmon, Tuna and Sardines is better than taking the capsules- Tuna is lower than the others, but if you eat a lot of Tuna, you’re likely getting enough O-3, but perhaops too much Mercury. Flax also appears to a good source, but there’s some dispute here.
My physical medicine doc has me on 7-7.5 grams per day on an Omega 3-6-9 Combo to reduce inflammation and improve flexibility. It seems to be helping, but YMMV, and I think that level of intake should be monitored by an MD.
Do you have to be eating fatty fish to get the omega-3 benefits? We eat a lot of white fish (halibut and sole, mostly), with occasional salmon, but I’m not sure these not very fat fishes contribute to cardiac health.
Qadgop is correct, of course, when he writes
"The evidence for all the other claims being made for it isn’t at that level yet.
I expect some decent evidence will come in eventually for a few of the claims, and still be lacking for others. "
And here is a WB MD article which agrees with him:
http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20050322/fish-oil-may-fight-alzheimers-disease
But am I going to wait around and do nothing while we wait for conclusive proof?
No, I am not. I’m going to do whatever proactive things I can do to help myself.
Thanks
Q
The question that begs to be asked: Is there any evidence that supplemental fish oil pills are harmful? If so, in what amount? The only problems that I can think of are contamination with mercury, PCBs, etc., or blood clotting problems. Are there any good data out there? Anyone? Bueller?
If not, is there any harm in taking it while waiting for definitive studies of effectiveness?
My triglycerides usually run high and I can not stomach seafood, so my doctor suggested fish oil pills. I buy the chip extra-coated ones at the drug store and have one every night after dinner. No fishy taste, and while somewhat expensive, they are not more so than any other supplement.
I take it sometimes for reasons already posted here. I also was instructed to break open a gel and squirt it all over a dog’s meal when I was dogsitting for a friend; it was the vet’s order. I think it was for his joints or his kidneys.
Have you seen this bit of news? Its fairly promising looking and they’ve started human trials.
Tuck
I had not seen that article, so thsnks fotr the link!
Everytime I think someomne doesn’t give a shit, someone DOES.
I sure don’ want to be a burdern to anyone.
No sweat. One of the things that keeps me up at night is worrying that I might wind up with some form of dementia. Not a fate I’d wish on anyone.