Omega 3 & 6 - how much do you take?

DIM · Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:46 pm Post subject:

I found Solgar's 950 formula the best omega-3 around and free from heavy metals but if someone can have a presription for Omacor (anti-colesterol drug from Merck that has almost 1gr omega 3 per caps) they are also fine.
EPA converts almost 100% to DHA so if someone takes only DHA there is no problem at all but IMHO 2grams/day omega-3 are required for MSers.

Abe · Family Member Joined: Apr 11, 2007 Posts: 31

Yes, not all fish oil pills are created equal. Some have considerably better ratios of omega 3 to other fats.

Always read the label Idea

Longing4Cheese

I am saving money and having fewer pills to swallow by ingesting my omega3s in liquid form. I haven't settled on the "perfect" approach yet, so right now I have, in the fridge, a bottle of each:

Udo's Oil - DHA - 3-6-9 Blend (2:1:1 ratio)
-- 1 Tbsp. has 13g total fat, of which 5g are omega-3s, which breaks down into roughly 5g of ALA, 100mg of DHA, and 3mg of EPA; and 3g of om-6, of which 40mg is GLA. Add in 3g of Omega-9 (oleic acid), and that's this variety of Udo's Oil.

"Health From the Sun" brand Omega 3-6-9 oil, vegetarian, organic.
1 Tbsp. has 5800mg of omega-3 (ALA), 290mg of om-6 in the form of GLA, and 2300mg more of om-6 in the form of LA (linoleic acid). Also has 1700mg of Oleic Acid (omega-9).

Cod Liver Oil - Spectrum brand - has the most DHA, of course. Nutrients are listed per teaspoon, so multiply by 3 to compare with Tablespoons, to get (all omega-3s):
1620mg DHA
1080mg EPA
and "other omega 3 - 230 mg"

I get most of these at Whole Foods, and yeah, the pills are pricey, esp. for the fish oil. We still have a $38 bottle of fish oil capsules in the fridge, but in the nightly ritual of putting all my supplements together to take with dinner, I've been giving my wife her 2 capsules of fish oil, but I'm a big boy now and take my oil by the tablespoon. The bottles of oil give me more bang for the buck ... I think they're all in the $7 to $15 range, and one Tbsp. has about as much omega-3 goodness as, like, 10 capsules of fish oil. (It's way too late for me to do a direct mg for mg comparison -- if you want exact numbers, be my guest.)

I am also doing the Swank Diet, so I limit my daily saturated fat intake. Some of these oils have sat fat (the cod liver oil has the most, at 3g per tablespoon; the others have 2.5g (Udo's) and 1.5g (the vegetable oil mix [flax, borage, evening primrose, etc.]). So I keep track of that along with keeping track of the sat fat that I get in my meals. It's really not that hard to do.

I tend to take the oil in the morning with breakfast, so I have all day to burn off the calories. It's still less of a fat blast than a lot of people have, say in their latte and butter croissant at a café, but I gotta watch my girlish figure (OK, that's not so funny when you can't see that I'm not a girl -- my bad...).

I'm still figuring this stuff out, too. But I'm done with capsules, except perhaps for convenience when travelling.

Courage,

Jack Sprat