Omega 3 capsules (merged)

Ted_Hutchinson

I've been buying my Omega from them for years now and only once had a problem when they ran out for a while but that was sorted in a few days. I don't think many of the vitamin suppliers actually produce their own stuff from scratch. I think they all buy it in from other manufacturers which is why the formulations tend to be very similar.

Boyes was selling a product with an identical formualion to Omega Juice a while ago but I haven't been find anyone else selling it. Because ZIPVIT is a entirely UK based company it will have to meet all the product testing and quality controls our health and safety, trading standards and legal liabilities unlike other companies who operate outside UK strict controls. I've got nothing to gain by recommending them or their products. They don't offer discounts or affiliation fees to anyone, so as you may have noticed, where other companies offer a cheaper product and equally good service I recommend them.

mae

I've purchased the zipvit omega juice does it need to kept in the fridge?

Ted_Hutchinson

Yes If you keep it in the fridge it will stay fresher longer and taste less. Mine only comes out of the fridge for the time it takes to fill a dessertspoon and is then returned straight away so it doesn't warm up at all.

HappySad

Thanks you Ted for the information. I will now buy this product for my family and recommend it to all my friends. Cheers for all you help with Omega3 advice and support.

kit

Hi Ted

Can you help me in baby steps please???! All this is confusing me (thats not hard tho!).

I have suffered depression on and off for many many years. I am told that I currently have postnatal depression due to having a baby who's 9 months old.... not sure if its meant to be different from normal depression but I can definatly be sure that I have a form of depression. Am currently taking anti-depressants and have been for 4 months now.

Can omega 3 help me? What else can help me? Will I be able to take stuff without causing problems with my medication?

Doctors are pushing for me to stop the tablets but from experience I know that I'm not ready for that but would like to try some other ways to help me.

Thanks
Kit

Ted_Hutchinson

Drug Interactions
New! Check your medicines for any Drug Interactions.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
D (Cholecalciferol)

There is a detailed presentation of how man evolved to need sunshine directly on the skin here but remember this scientist is living in Canada where they fortify milk with VitaminD we don't fortify milk in the UK.

Information on how omega 3 fatty acids: affect our health.
and how vitamin D is involved in Depression

I can find the paper which explains how vitamin D is involved in getting omega 3's into the cells, it's to do with ion exchange but too complicated for me to garble here, I can also find another even more complicated paper which explains how comunication between the neurons cells in the brain is managed by special cells which depend mainly on Omega 3 for their structure. The point is that for our brains to work efficiently we need omega 3's and fish oil is the most readily available form, and that can only be absorbed in the presence of vitamin d. We mainly get that from the sun, for free, but in the UK or Canada no one will get any from the sun between September and April and so using a sunbed OR up to 4000iu Vitamin D daily is the best option to maintain health in the Winter.

HappySad

Hi Kit

I can recommend this book that really helped me "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" by David D. Burns
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0380810336/qid=1135093015/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_11_1/202-0712184-1172635

It was recommended to me buy a medical student & it really made a difference for me.
His other books are also good. If you want I can give you a list of other really good books that can make a differnce.

Teak

Ticklemouse wrote:

Anic - when I got my Omega Juice, I tried all ways to disguise it on my boys' food. I put it on toast, in jam sandwiches, in yoghurt, on their weetabix, but they always noticed, even a small dose. In the end, I just told my 6yo it was good for him and gave it in a small amount of orange juice. He just drinks it down with no problems.

My 3yo is another problem though. No amount of persuasion will get him to take it, so I'm still giving him Hemp Seed Oil tablets - which he chews up and so tastes the oil

I however have to take it with OJ. I find 2-3 times the amount of OJ is enough to mask the taste, but a small enough quantity to drink quickly so it's gone.

Might try taking it with OJ or something else. It's not the taste that bothers me (unless it goes off if not kept in the fridge?), but the oily texture makes me gag. Cannot say I'm impressed with ZipVits delivery though. 2 weeks and needed to chase them about it.

HappySad

Equazen go on about they being different because their unique ratio of 4 parts EPA & 1 part DHA & this being better than the rest. http://www.equazen.com/default.aspx?pid=25 "Why Eye Q is different"

Also the BBC used then twice in the Duraham & "Child of our time" trails. Why would the BBC use them?

Are they better than the rest? Are they right about their ratio? Are they better & is why the BBC used them?

What evidence do you have to support your reply...

Many Thanks

Ted_Hutchinson

Will get onto answering the important part of this question later but first I'll point you to Post 11 in this thread which shows you may be able to get Equazan half price. Still not a bargain in my opinion but will tell you why when I've got my evidence sorted.

My first point is that using fish oil supplements is to substitute for the oily fish most people are not eating enough of in their diets. On average we eat one portion of oily fish per person per month. A quarter of a portion a week is pathetic and it's no wonder we are suffering the consequences. However
Mackerel, Atlantic 0.9gEPA 1.4gDHA
Herring, 1.0g EPA 0.7gDHA
Sardine, Atlantic, Canned in Oil 0.5gEPA 0.5g
DHA Salmon, Pink, Canned 0.9gEPA 0.8gDHA
so my first point is that the most natural, unmessed about with ratio of EPA to DHA is not a 4 to 1 ratio found in Equazan.
The ratio found in my preference is 900 EPA to 600 DHA as found in the Zipvit [size=-1]A216j, OJ Omega Juice[/size] is therefore closer to that in whole oily fish than the Equazen

We know that DHA is involved in brain cell activity that underlies the ability to think, move, and respond to the outside world. When the amount of DHA in the brain is low, the brain may not work the same as if there were a normal amount of DHA. I am not convinced that placing the emphasis on EPA is necessarily a sensible option. This link supports my view that DHA is required for the developing brain in a higher ratio that is generally expected in fact it suggests a DHA supplement in addition to a normal omega 3 supplement.
Essential fatty acids cannot be synthesized in the body but they are required for maintenance of optimal health. There are two classes of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)- omega-6 and omega-3. The parent omega-6 fatty acid, linoleic acid (LA) is desaturated in the body to form arachidonic acid while parent omega-3 fatty acid alpha- linolenic acid (ALA) is desaturated by microsomal enzyme system through a series of metabolic steps to form eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and decosahexaenoic acid (DHA). But there is a limited metabolic capability during early life to metabolize PUFAs to more active long-chain fatty acids. There is a critical role of EFAs and their metabolic products for maintenance of structural and functional integrity of central nervous system and retina. Most of the brain growth is completed by 5-6 years of age. At birth brain weight is 70% of an adult, 15% brain growth occurs during infancy and remaining brain growth is completed during preschool years. DHA is the predominant structural fatty acid in the central nervous system and retina and its availability is crucial for brain development. It is recommended that the pregnant and nursing woman should take at least 2.6g of omega-3 fatty acids and 100-300 mg of DHA daily to look after the needs of her fetus and suckling infant. The follow-up studies have shown that infants of mothers supplemented with EFAs and DHA had higher mental processing scores, psychomotor development, eye-hand coordination and stereo acuity at 4 years of age. Intake of EFAs and DHA during preschool years may also have a beneficial role in the prevention of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and enhancing learning capability and academic performance.

It is most likely that the initial deficiency originates from the low vitamin d levels in Northern latitudes because pregnant and nursing mothers don't sunbathe in the winter as the sun isn't warm and strong enough for the skin to synthsise vitamin D3 cholecalciferol and vitamin d3 has to be present to enable the ion exchange necessary for DHA to pass through the brain cell walls. It follows that if the developing brain is short of DHA supplementing later with EPA isn't necessarily going to remedy the deficit.

Edit Thinking about this last night it occured to me that as we know that DHA has such an important role in the brain and the body it is silly to filter it out simply to increase the percentage of EPA. If the body doesn't need it then your liver will dispose of it in the usual way. Putting all your eggs in the one EPA basket seems pointless when there is good reason for believing that both EPA and DHA are essential for the structure and operating systems in the brain and therefore for the maintainance and renewal of both.

EDIT: There is a detailed description of how DHA is metabolised in body out of the OMEGA 3 fatty acids. here
Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, from the omega-3 group) is also converted through a series of elongations of the fatty acid. After some initial conversions, it is converted to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA); then to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Like arachidonic acid from omega-6 fatty acids, DHA from omega-3 fatty acids makes up about eight per cent of the dry weight of the brain.30 DHA also makes up 60 per cent of the photoreceptors responsible for receiving light photons and sending image messages to the brain.
Although only very small amounts of EPA are found in the brain, it serves a vital purpose in acting as a precursor to the production of eicosanoids. Eicosanoids are a group of short-lived hormones that perform a number of
complex functions in the brain, including regulating inflammation and releasing some neurotransmitters. AA and DGLA (from omega-6 fatty acids) and DHA (from omega-3 fatty acids) are also precursors to eicosanoids.

I think you can see that providing EPA will after it is metabolised by the body enable DHA to be produced as required but providing simply DHA would not I think allow EPA to be metabolised. Therefore it may be better, if cost is no option to provide simply EPA and allow the body to decide how much or each is required. However if both are available then this saves time and resources as less work by the liver will be needed. It still seems to me that using the cheapest high strength fish oil concentrate you can find is the best MSE option.