Posted by Larry Hoover on September 27, 2003, at 6:57:23
In reply to Omega 3 pills instead of fish oil? « Wolf Dreamer, posted by Dr. Bob on September 25, 2003, at 8:01:56
> > I was reading here http://www.oilofpisces.com/fishoilnutrient.html and apparently fish oil just has omega 3 in it. Does it have anything else useful? Can I just take Omega 3 pills and get the same effect?
Fish oil definitely has other stuff in it, but let's just ignore that issue for the time being.
Omega-3 is a description of a whole family of similar fatty acids. The fatty acids in fish oil, the ones we want to focus on here, are omega-3 fatty acids. I'm not sure what you're talking about when you mention omega-3 pills, but I'd bet that they contain flax oil (read the label....it's important). Flax oil contains a shorter omega-3 fatty acid than is found in fish oil. (There is a wee bit of the shorter stuff in fish oil, but it's not important here.)
For many years, it was believed that flax oil would provide the same health benefits as would, say, fish oil. However, we now know that to be false. There really is no substitute for obtaining the longer omega-3 fatty acids from your diet, already formed.
Fish oil is way better for you than flax oil, if you're considering mood stabilization or heart protection. Just remember to always take it with your biggest meal of the day. Otherwise, you might get "rancid fish burps", and they are rather gross.
> > Also at another artical I read at
> > http://www.oilofpisces.com/vitamine.html it says you need to take Vitamin E along with the fish oils, since they deplete that vitamin in your system.Yes, that is true. Omega-3 fatty acids are particularly susceptible to oxidative damage (which is why they're routinely removed from processed food, leading to the deficiency problems that most people have). Really, you should be taking vitamin E anyway (I'm big on supplements), but supplemental fish oil requires that you take some vitamin E. I'm sorry if I don't harp on that enough, everybody.
> > I know Sam's Wholesale club sells supplements of Fish Oil and Omega 3, so I wasn't sure which one would be the best to buy.
Fish oil, hands down. Sam's Club would be fine as a source. Walmart's fish oil meets my personal quality expectations.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:263143
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20030903/msgs/263695.html