Fish Oil & Antioxidant - Need help - High Cholesterol Message Board

grammie2 · 09-12-2003, 11:10 PM

I posted before about my lipid levels and wanting to get them down without statin drugs. Have been trying to put to use the info I picked up from my posting as well as others. Have a few questions:

I'm reading labels & trying to figure out which bottle of fish oil capsules I should take. I read that for heart disease prevention, I should take 1000 mg 3 times a day. An example of what I've found is a bottle that says it's Omega-3 and that it's 1000 mg per serving. But then it lists the EPA as 360 mg and the DHA as 240 mg (for total of 600 mg). So I'm thinking that this does not really give me the 1000 mg that I'm looking for (even though it says 1000 mg on the front). Would someone confirm or correct my thinking on this?

I'm planning to increase my intake of the actual fish; but since I'm not used to that much fish in my diet, (especially strong tasting fish that will have the omega-3) I thought I'd supplement with the fish oil capsules. Anybody have an opinion of how you would go about figuring out how much to take? I read that if you eat the fish 3 times per week, you'll get enough of the omega-3.

Also, to Sal, if you're reading: (and to anyone else who cares to respond)
You advised me to be sure I was taking a good antioxidant pill. Currently I've been taking a "mixed carotenoid" capsule that says it contains 25,000 IU of Vitamin A (100% as Natural Beta Carotene from Dunaliella salina algae containing 15,000 mcg Beta Carotene, 470 mcg Alpha Carotene, 110 mcg Cryptoxanthin, 90 mcg Zeaxanthin, and 70 mcg Lutein) and 7 mg of Carotenoid Complex. In addition, I take 2000 mg Vitamin C, and I'm increasing my 400 IU of Vit. E to 800 IU daily. I also take a multi-vitamin -- a generic form of Centrum Silver.

My question is: Do you think this is covering my needs for "a good antioxidant vitamin pill"? If not, could you give me some guidelines of what I should be looking for?

Thanks,
grammie2

Sara70 · 09-13-2003, 01:01 AM

Hi Grammie: I asked the Pharmacist and he recommended the Omega 3-6-9 Capsules which contain 400Ml. of each. Of this 400Ml. is fish oil and the rest Flaxseed and Borage oils.

zip2play · 09-13-2003, 08:01 AM

grammie,

The 1000 mg on the front of the bottle is the weight of the pill's contents in toto.
If the pill contains 640 mg EPA+DHA, that's the number that should concern you....is that for ONE pill or for 3. If it's for one, than simply take 2 and you'll have more than you need. If it's for 3, then you'll need to take 5 a day (pricey?)

The 1000 mg EPA+DHA (Omega 3's) translates to a tsp. of cod liver oil. That's the way I like to get it.

If you try to get it from fish, you'll never be precise. For one thing, most of the oils are in the skin and just under. I LOVE salmon skin, my partner DESPISES it and leaves it behind for me. As a result I'm probably getting triple the Omega-3's from the same meal.

grammie2 · 09-14-2003, 05:37 PM

Sara,
Thanks for the advice. After trying for over a year to research and find out what really is the "healthy" thing to do (with supplements, lifestyle, foods to eat, etc.) my head is spinning. It seems as though I'm constantly readjusting my thinking about what is good and what is bad for me. For the moment, I'm hearing mostly about the fish oil, and since I'm longing to have this whole thing be simpler, I may not try the combination thing your pharmacist recommended. (Although, that doesn't mean I won't change my mind down the road about it.) Also, I've already been trying to add the flax to my diet (sometimes in flax seed that I grind up myself, and sometimes with the bottle of flax seed oil).

zip2play,
The omega-3 bottle I was looking at gives 600 mg per 2 softgels. So to get 1000 mg 3 times per day, I would have to take 10 pills per day! I forgot to write down how many pills were in the bottle, so I can't tell right now what that would cost me.

But another bottle of "Super EPA" pills from the same company gives 1200 mg per 2 softgels. That bottle is $11.99 for 60 softgels. I'd need 5 of those, which would cost about $1 per day. (That's if I've done the math right.) I guess that's not too bad, if it works. Of course, that's in addition to all the other stuff I swallow every day. It's no wonder why a lot of people just go the prescription route and take one pill -- it's really hard getting this worked out.

But that's where it's good to have people that you can share with on this board. It gives encouragement.

As far as being precise about how much I'm getting (as you mentioned when getting it from fish itself), I much prefer being sure I'm getting exactly the correct amount in all my nutrients -- that's my personality -- but it's beginning to look to me like I'm going to have to loosen up a little. I'm thinking that "maybe" as long as I'm consistently working on it, it doesn't have to be exactly on the mark every single day. (I'd be interested in other opinions on that.)

By the way, I was all set to go get some cod liver oil a couple of weeks ago. Then one of the websites that I get information from (Wholehealth) really stressed that they thought people should stay away from cod liver oil because "the high amounts of vitamins A & D contained in these supplements can be toxic". I guess maybe I scare easy. I've run into this type of warning to watch out for before, to the point that I've made sure my calcium supplements, etc. don't have vitamins A & D in them, because I think I'm already getting all I should of those.

I have found it so complicated and downright hard to first of all, figure out what supplements and in what amounts I should be getting. And then, to find them in the dosages that I'm looking for seems to be just soooo difficult. But, I'm going to persevere. It's too important not to.

Thanks to both of you for your input, and I'm still interested in hearing from anyone else.

zip2play · 09-16-2003, 06:41 AM

grammie,

That's 1000 mg. Omega-3's PER DAY, not three times a day! So cut your costs down threefold.

My tsp of cod liver oil ONCE per day yielding 900 mg. DHA+EPA a day costs me a DIME.
(That's at just under $7 for a 12 ounce bottle- 72 doses.)