Posted by Mistermindmasta on December 13, 2004, at 17:04:38
In reply to Fish Oil for depression - How long waiting period?, posted by SLS on December 11, 2004, at 10:51:17
> I've been taking fish oil @ 1000mg EPA per day for just over a week. I was wondering how long one must take it before an improvement appears.
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> Thanks.
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> - ScottIt really does vary depending on what other fats you eat in your diet. For example, as a comparison, you could have one person who consumes 40 grams of omega 6 fats in one day, and 5 grams of trans fats. Supplementing 1 gram of omega 3 leads to a 1:40 ratio of omega 3 to 6's. I think it really is the ratio that counts. Another person might consume a meditteranean-ish diet that contains ample monounsaturated fats from olive oil and little omega 6's. A ratio at the same 1 gram dose of omega 3 might be 1:2 ratio of omega 3's to 6's.
Clearly, over the same dose of 1 gram per day, the 1:2 ratio of 3's to 6's is about 20 times more likely to produce a desired response in comparison to the 1:40 ratio. The less omega 6's you eat, the more metabolic opportunity you give the 3's to do their job.
By supplementing one gram per day and not altering your diet any further, this might help what would have been a deficiency condition. But maybe for you to get an effect, you need to lower those other fats so there's less metabolic competition. So if you lower the omega 6's and trans fats in your diet, while staying on that same 1 g dose, you now lower the ratio of 3's to 6's, which will produce a greater effect.
While you're at it, if you can tolerate 1 gram per day and there's not a huge cost issue, why not try to boost it to 2g / day? More is not necessarily better, but I see no problem with going the whole 9 yards with your trial. I do better on higher doses (I think!).
In September 2002, I was on a very strict diet of what could have been a few grams of omega 6's per day, and about 3 - 4 g omega 3's per day. I can say for DEFINITE that this was one of the best I've ever felt. I had so much energy that my usual 200 mg caffeine / day that I'd have around 2pm gave me insomnia at 10pm! Usually nothing gives me insomnia, especially my daily caffeine use. I tend to sleep a lot, and I was having insomnia, so this was sort of good thing you could say. It had a very noticable energizing and stimulating effect; I assume that my dopaminergic transmission in my frontal lobes and reward areas was helped especially.
poster:Mistermindmasta
thread:427722
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20041212/msgs/429006.html