How much Omega-3 Daily? - High Cholesterol Message Board

mghealth · 10-26-2005, 01:56 PM

I've been trying to figure out how much Omega-3 to take daily. My doctor says just to take the dosage on the label - but that's way too little - 2 grams a day maximum - according to what I've been reading elsewhere.

I did find one source of information on how much to take, let me know if anyone thinks this is reasonable:

1. Maintain your insulin control by balancing protein, carbohydrate and fat.

2. To determine how much fish oil to take, check the results of your last cholesterol screening if you had it within the past six months. If you haven't had a recent test, get a fasting cholesterol blood test to find out your TG/HDL ratio. If the TG/HDL ratio is less than 2, supplement your diet with a preventative dose of 2.5 grams of long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids per day (equivalent to a teaspoon or 4 capsules of ultra - refined fish oil). If your TG/HDL ratio is more than 2, supplement your diet with 5 grams of long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids per day for 30 days, and then reduce the dosage to 2.5 grams per day.

3. Continually check your TG/HDL ratio every six months. Your goal is to try to keep it between 1 and 2.

Got it from here: ( removed ) (oh, I didn't realize that was a commercial site, sorry

)

Uff-Da! · 10-26-2005, 04:40 PM

That's a very interesting method of determining how much one needs. I have no idea if it is a good method or not.

When my cholesterol was up a few years back and I told my doctor I wanted to just try lifestyle changes first, she recommended three grams daily of fish oil. With the ones I'm taking, I think that's about two grams of DHA + EPA. My trig/HDL ratio at the time was 2.1. Looking back over my records, I see that the ratio has been under 2.0 ever since, and I've just continued taking the same amount, in spite of going on niacin therapy. A most interesting observation, though, is the one three-month period that I was eating two eggs a day, my trig/HDL ratio went down to .75! I have no idea what implications that might have.

hga1990 · 10-27-2005, 03:44 AM

Please read this article at: http://www.oilofpisces.com/cholesterol.html

"Patients with heart disease should eat enough oily fish on a daily basis to obtain about 1 gram per day of EPA and DHA combined or take a fish oil supplement providing 1 gram per day of EPA + DHA. Patients with high triglyceride levels should receive 2-4 grams/day of EPA+DHA under the care of a physician."

mghealth · 10-27-2005, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hga1990

Please read this article at: http://www.oilofpisces.com/cholesterol.html

"Patients with heart disease should eat enough oily fish on a daily basis to obtain about 1 gram per day of EPA and DHA combined or take a fish oil supplement providing 1 gram per day of EPA + DHA. Patients with high triglyceride levels should receive 2-4 grams/day of EPA+DHA under the care of a physician."

Thanks!

hga1990 · 10-27-2005, 09:38 PM

Another article that you want to have a look, the information you want is in these two headings: Intake of Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Safety of Omega-3 Fatty Acids.

http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/106/21/2747