Inside the Mind of Deserusan

Supplementing with both fish oil and vegetable based oils is important if you aren’t getting the from your normal diet. Fish oil consists of DHA and EPA which take most of the credit for omega three supplementation. There are many benefits to these and taking fish oil caps is considered safer than eating a lot of fish as fish can contain heavy metals such as mercury which are dangerous. DHA serves a much more specific role than EPA so you can consider DHA supplementation alone through green algae sources. One drawback of fish oil though is that the concentrations of omega 3 are low and it is hard to acheive a 1:1 optimal balance of omega 3 to 6 in your diet.

Vegetable oils are also another great source of EFA’s.  The form of omega three in flax is ALA which is beneficial as well to anyone. A lot fish oil users claim it’s superiority to vegetable oils because of the poor conversion of ALA to DHA. However, the body only needs a small amount of DHA to benefit from it. ALA is also very important stand alone and is why one should consider both fish and vegetarian (flax oil, almonds, natural peanut butter) sources of omega three. Calorically speaking, it is much easier to fullfill your daily fat intake requirements using vegetable based oils.

One thing which flax contains and fish oil does not are lignans. Lignans are phytoestrogens which bind to estrogen receptors in the body. Some claim flax oil increases estrogen production in men. However, this popular misconception isn’t true. Although phytoestrogens can also bind to estrogen receptors, their estrogenic activity is much weaker than endogenous estrogens, and they may actually block or antagonize the effects of estrogen in some tissues.

Bottom line, is that you should try to achieve an EFA intake that incorporates ALA, DHA, and EPA. Furthermore, you should try to achieve a balance of 1:1 of omega 6 to omega 3’s. However, anything less than 5:1 is considered good by most nutritionists. That typical American diet is 30:1. This imbalance promotes inflammation due to the excessive intake of omega six. The higher the omega 3 content in your diet the more it combats this as omega three is an anti-inflammatory.

However, too much pure DHA/EPA can also be negative in attenuating necessary inflammation. Following eccentric motion, some inflammation is necessary for hypertrophy to occur. Too much of this will limit positive inflammation and cause a host of other physiological imbalances. If you are going to supplement wit pure fish oil use no more than a gram a day of EPA/DHA unless directed to by a physician.

Here are some great references:.

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsHerbs/Flaxseedch.html
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/omega-3-000316.htm
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/eicosapentaenoic-acid-000301.htm
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/omega-6-000317.htm

I’d recommend NOW, Natrol, or S.A.N. Triple Strength Fish Fats to get your EPA/DHA requirements. I’d look into Udo’s Choice Blend Oil or Barlean’s Flax oil to meet your EFA needs from a total EFA calorie perspective. The liquid oils I mentioned taste pretty decent in MRP shakes. One to two teaspoons a day should suffice. Other great sources of EFA’s are:

olive oil
almonds
almond oil
natural peanut butter
almond butter
cashew mutter
macadamia nuts
almonds
cashews
cold water fish
walnuts
canola oil
soybeans (in moderation)
soybean oil (in moderation)
pumpkin seed oil

As always, getting these from wholefood is always superior to supplemental alternatives.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 10:13 pm and is filed under Advanced Supplement Discussion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.