LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

DHA

How Much Fish Oil Dosage Should You Be Taking?

by

You’re aware that fish oils play a role in health.  But, there is serious disconnect between how much fish oil you should take and the fish oil dosage you are taking.

First, a little background.

When we talk about “fish oils” we are really referring to two types of fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).  These are called fish oils because we get them from fatty fish that got these fats in the first place from eating a plant based diet made up of seaweed and algae.

Another common type of omega 3 fatty acid is alpha linolenic acid (ALA), which is the principal form of fatty acids in plants such as walnuts, flaxseed and chia seeds.

This blog post is not going to go into the hundreds of benefits of omega 3 fatty acids.  Rather, I need to discuss dosages.  I do not believe I have ever had a patient come in who was taking the right amount of omega 3 fatty acids for their specific scenario.

As an example, I had a new patient this week who was a 51 year old diabetic female on 2 different diabetic drugs as well as insulin.  Pretty much the only supplement she was taking was fish oil.  Her dosage?  1 tablet.

Keep in mind that most fish oil supplements are in a one gram dose.  This is NOT 1 gram of omega 3 fatty acids, but rather the total weight of the little capsule.  Manufacturers usually use glycerin to make up the difference.  Do the math to make sure you know what dosage of omega-3 fatty acids you are taking.

Which brings us to the point of this blog post.  Therapeutic dosages of fish oil is almost always higher than what people are taking.  In general, it STARTS at 3,000 mg (3 grams).

This particular article confirms the appropriate dosages.  Researchers looked at the ability of 3.36 grams (3360 mg) of essential fatty acids to cut down on inflammation created by visceral fat cells.

Overall, the results were positive (as expected), but the take home message here is that the dosages used in clinical studies are much higher than what patients are generally using.

If you are using fish oils supplements, what dosages are you taking?

 

USE OF EPA REDUCES RISK OF CANCER – (08-01-05)

by

EPA inhibits UV-induced MMP-1 expression in human dermal fibroblasts

Remember that Eicosapentaenoic acid is an essential fatty acid that is found in fish oils along with DHA.  I have always stated that my belief is that the increase in melanoma in our kids is coming from inside, not from sun exposure.  As you all know, I truly hate to find research that supports my opinion, but I feel it is my obligation to my readers to point these articles out in a non-self-serving manner.

So in this study the ability of UV exposure to increase expression of the genes that produce matrix metalloproteinases–enzymes that destroy tissue and create inflammation–was reduced with the addition of EPA.  So, not only will it probably lower your risk of many types of cancer, your skin will look less wrinkled in the process.

Read entire article here

FLAXSEED OIL INCREASES PLASMA CONCENTRATIONS OF N-3 ACIDS – (02-13-06)

by

Flaxseed Oil increases the Plasma Concentrations of Cardioprotective (n-3) Fatty Acids in Humans

There has been some controversy about the ability of alpha linolenic acid in flaxseed getting converted in humans to EPA and DHA. I have personally moved to a broad spectrum essential fatty acid supplement that I recommend.

This study confirms that conversion to EPA is good, but flaxseed does not convert over to DHA. This being said, if a patient is willing to grind up flaxseeds daily and use the whole product, I am a strong supporter of this approach, because there are other compounds like lignans that will be present in addition to the fatty acids that are very good for our health.

Read entire article here 

Omega 3 vs. ADHD

by

Multiple recent studies have confirmed that childhood disorders like autism and ADD / ADHD are on the rise and have been for some time.  It seems clear to me that this is the end result of exposure to environmental chemicals in the womb and less than optimal maternal nutrition, or some combination thereof.  Chemicals known to affect brain development are almost everywhere, prescription prenatals are of shockingly low quality and our country’s collective diet is horrendous.

If this is true, it unfortunately means that the child’s brain may be susceptible due to factors involved in the womb.  We likely cannot change this predisposition.  If this predisposition meets an triggering factor (immunization, nutrient deficiency, more toxin exposure, processed foods and chemicals, etc…) something is likely to happen, and the end result could be autism, ADD / ADHD, type 1 diabetes or even childhood cancers.

I have come across many studies over the years espousing the benefits of certain natural compounds like probiotics and fish oils.  At times, the long list of conditions that have shown to benefit can make someone near giddy with excitement.  However, once you come down you realize that many of these conditions would likely not exist in the first place had we not removed healthy fats from our diet and blast our normal, protective bacterial flora to smithereens with antibiotics at the slightest hint of a sniffle.

With that being said, this particular study looked at the potential benefit of the essential fatty acids EPA and DHA on ADHD behaviors in children and found an improvement in several parameters with the supplementation.

Rather, it wasn’t actually the supplementation that demonstrated the positive effect, but rather the DHA levels in the red blood cells of the children.  This can be an important distinction and may relate to factors such as compliance with supplementation (better compliance for longer periods of time will raise DHA levels better) and the availability of other, less healthy fats in the diet.

Couple this with an unprocessed diet free of chemical additives, sugars and food dyes and it is likely you will begin to see positive changes in a young child’s brain and behavior.  What is there to lose by trying?

STUDY OF FISH, N-3 FATTY ACID INTAKE, AND COLORECTAL CANCER RISK IN MEN (02-23-09)

by

A 22-year Prospective Study of Fish, n-3 Fatty Acid Intake, and Colorectal Cancer Risk in Men

Not to rattle on incessantly about how much we can do about preventing cancer..but I just can’t help it. In this solid, long term study, we find up to a 40% reduction in the risk of colorectal cancer in those men with the highest intake of omega-3 fatty fish such as salmon. Given that colorectal cancer is up there in the number of cases and deaths, this could result in a staggering reduction in the number of cases. Couple this with soluble fiber, health bacterial flora, optimal vitamin D intake and it’s almost GONE.

So why is this message just not making it out to the public? Why do we continue to promote the idea of finding and funding a cure when prevention is so darn clear cut in almost all cases? A side note–there is a clear difference between farm raised and wild caught fish. Salmon in the wild eat algae as a fuel source, which is loaded in DHA and carotenoids. Farmed raised in generally fed grain meal, has dyes added instead of natural carotenoids, is high is pesticides and contributes to the perpetuation of parasites that destroy wild salmon. Still want to order the farmed raised?

Read entire article here

ARE FISH OILS BETTER THAN STATINS FOR HEART DISEASE?

by

ARE FISH OILS BETTER THAN STATINS FOR HEART DISEASE? Not that this should come as a shocker, but the answer is a very, very strong yes. This current study on primary prevention of fatal heart attacks shows that those with the highest intakes of EPA + DHA (still only at a very low 234 mg /day) had a 62% lower risk of fatal heart attack (compare to less than 50% w/ statins). The absolute risk reduction is relatively unexciting, but consider this. Statins cost tens of billions / year to our health system. The cost of side effects is much, much higher (concerns over certain cancers, muscle problems, liver problems, and yes–even heart problems!). And statins work for heart disease only.

Fish oils, in this study, were at a very low level (234 mg vs at least 1,000 mg in most studies), cost much less, and rather than having negative side effects, they protect against many cancers, diabetes, depression, Alzheimer’s, stroke, blah, blah, blah… Get the picture? One last sickening fact–Omacor / Lovaza is a prescription of fish oils. Not the best quality. The cost to your insurance? $200+ / month. Biotics brand we sell in office that is of higher quality? $25 / month. That should induce gastritis…

Read entire article here