Will flax seed oil provide needed health benefits?
I have an unusual situation as I've found, through many years of experimentation, that I can only eat raw foods, fruits, nuts, seeds, and vegetables, to be healthy. Any animal products, even in moderation, I've found to be detrimental to my health. I've been eating raw for 25 years, though not always consistently. I've discovered your supplements in September of 2005 and have used them off and on since.
Part of my regimen is the use of Flax Seed Oil. I would prefer to use Cod Liver Oil but I have fears of negative effects because it is an animal product. Would your Omega3 capsules be sufficient to replace the flax seed oil or even the cod liver oil? I might also mention that I actually like the taste of cod liver oil.
Answer: from Warren
Your situation is more common than most people realize. Only difference is that you have recognized this problem whereas many people do not.
The problem with Flax Seed Oil is that it does not provide the essential fatty acid DHA. For that matter cod liver oil only provides a small amount of DHA as well.
The main Omega 3 fatty acid in flax seed oil is alpha linolenic acid (ALA). This is quite a simple fatty acid which only has 18 carbon bonds and 3 cis double bonds. In contrast DHA which is found in fish oils is much more complex with 22 carbon bonds and 6 cis double bonds.
It is the DHA which the brain and other parts of the body need. If there is no dietary intake of DHA then the body has to try to make it from other Omega 3 fatty acids…mainly ALA or EPA. This is a big ask and studies have shown that very little DHA is made from EPA (which has 20 carbon bonds and 5 cis double bonds), even less from ALA.
This is the reason why we focus on concentrating DHA in our Omega 3 DHA/ester products. This is harder than concentrating EPA which most other companies focus on.
So, bottom line John, you are probably deficient in DHA so if possible it really would be worth giving our Omega 3 a try to see if you can tolerate it. Also, it is hard to get cod liver oil that is highly purified.
Good luck.
Reader Comments (7)
would fish oil be the same thing as your omega 3?
July 2, 2007 | Joan
Yes and no Joan. Ordinary fish oil does contain some DHA but it is quite low, usually less than 50% of the DHA in our Omega 3. The big difference is in the purity. Ordinary fish oils tend to have a lot of contaminates. We know of people who have actually had mercury poisoning from fish oils.
If you go to http://www.omega3-dha.com/popup_purity-standards-COA.asp you will see some of the standards that are used for fish oils. As I said many of them do not even reach the lowest level standards.
July 2, 2007 | Warren Matthews
which is best Fish oil or Flex oil. Which one should I take. I am 48 years old.
November 14, 2007 | Tee
Which oil is the best Fish or flex seed
November 14, 2007 | Tee
Hi Tee,
That is an easy one. A quality Omega 3 fish oil is much superior to flax oil. The reason?
Well, Omega 3 from fish oil contains DHA and EPA which is what the body really needs, particuarly the brain which has high levels of DHA.
The DHA and EPA are more complex components of Omega 3 and are not present in flax seed oil which is primarily ALA. The body has to convert the ALA to EPA and then up to DHA. Only a small fraction ends up being converted to EPA and even less to DHA.
As a result you only get a portion of the Omega 3 benefits from flax seed oil.
What is the best type of fish oil. Well I have no reservations in telling you that our own New Zealand purified and molecuarly distilled oil from New Zealand fish is as good as you can get anywhere in the world.
November 14, 2007 | Warren Matthews
Reader Comments (0)