I eat a fairly balanced high protein diet with lots of green vegetables.
I also take a multi, a calcium supplement, fish oil and glucosamine. I take the calcium and gluco because I have bad joints due to the various wear and tear associated with several years as a full contact fighter, and I’ve seen a definite reduction in the number of knee related bad days since I started a couple of years ago.
I don’t know about the calcium and the fish oil, but my doc told me I should take them and my cholesterol has never tested above 100.
The reason there is such an extreme difference in fish oil prices is that the higher priced stuff is refined to contain a higher percentage of omega3’s. If you look at the costco pills only 30% of the oil is omega 3’s (EPA/DHA). The fish oil I take is about $25 for 90 pills, but is 100% omega 3’s and is ~750 mg of omega 3’s/capsule vs 300 mg. I have found that I get less fishy burps using the more expensive pills as well (not sure what exactly that is related to however).
I honestly am not sure why Lovaza is so expensive other than because it is a prescription medicine it has had to go through clinical testing, which they need to make some money back on. While NinetyWt probably couldn’t use the Costco brand for the high dose he/she is taking, there certainly are other non precription fish oils that contain similar amounts of omega 3’s for much cheaper
If your doctor is prescribing a ‘special’ supplement, he is getting a cut of the sale. Guaranteed. ( No cite.) Many doctor offices supplement (heh) their income with specialty stuff be it supplement or skin care regime stuff. All for a cut to the DR’s office.
Compare the ingredients with what you can find at any store.
So…fish oil isn’t just some kind of “snake oil” pill? I assumed it was total shit, but I am admittedly ignorant of it. I always figured it was “health store” kind of stuff. What, scientifically, does it do?
I take:
1 Multivitamin - It has Iron and I was told I was barely anemic a year ago. I figure this helps.
1 Niacin pill - I have low “good” cholesterol and this helps
2 Calcium pills - I just do.
2 Vitamin C pills - Again, no idea why I do this. Just do.
“Omega-3 acid ethyl esters, a type of fat found in fish oil, is used along with diet and exercise to help lower levels of a certain blood fat (tryiglyceride). It may also raise “good” cholesterol (HDL). <snip> Lowering triglycerides and increasing “good” cholesterol may help decrease the risk for strokes and heart attacks. Omega-3 acid ethyl esters are thought to work by decreasing the amount of triglyceride the body makes”.
I occasionally take one SleepMD, which contains melatonin along with valerian, white willow, lemon balm, hops, lavender powder, passionflower, and coQ10. Works great. Expensive as all get out, though. I would love to find a cheaper version.
They supply Omega 3 fatty acids, which are supposedly much lower in most modern diets than is healthy. This website sums up pretty much every claim I’ve heard about it:
You can get high dose niacin pills as a prescription to lower cholesterol. I took it for a while as Rx. Recently I have seen ads for a Rx version of niacin that is extended release. Of course you can also get high dose niacin pills over the counter.
A side effect of high dose niacin is flushing (red skin, tingling) but that often goes away after you are on it for a few weeks- it went away for me. A way to avoid that side effect is to take aspirin or ibuprofen 1 hour before the niacin.