Posted by Ilene on January 24, 2003, at 22:07:49
I tried taking fish oil (EPA & DHA) to no avail. I was taking 9 grams of EPA per day (18 gelcaps). I finally gave up because of the expense and the difficulty of swallowing all those pills, while it didn't seem to have any effect.
So I have been eating some fish every day. I've been going for small fish that don't sequester mercury. Plus I can get calcium from the ones that are canned with bones. I've been getting canned salmon, mackerel, and sardines, and pickled herring. These are also less expensive than smoked salmon and other luxuries. (My cats are quite interested, my daughter thinks it's revolting. I'm beginning to agree with her.)
Problem is--when I checked the lipid content of these fish I found a 100 gram (about 3.5 oz) serving had hardly any EPA (20:5 n-3) or DHA (22:6 n-3). I don't see how anyone could get more than a couple of grams, short of 3 squares a day of mackerel with a cod-liver oil chaser.
What's the deal here? Am I eating the wrong fish? Am I looking at the wrong lipids? Is the data wrong? I'm using the USDA Nutrient Database (http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl).
poster:Ilene
thread:137404
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030119/msgs/137404.html