Omega 3 capsules (merged)

HappySad

Thanks Ted for your responce.

This sounds good what you are saying. That it would work out cheaper to eat 1/2 a tin of canned fish daily to get 1g of Omega3 in its natural form. Don't you have to limit your fish intake because of pollutant? Or is that just for Tuna?

Ted_Hutchinson

Food standards agency
Half a tin of sardines provides only 45g oily fish daily.
It is unlikely that this amount of sardines would seriously conflict with the FSA advice, but relying mainly on sardines isn't necessary, the Zipvit Omega Juice is a suitable alternative. My concern is that the unwarrented emphasis on the ultra-purity of some products may lead people to consider that other products are inferior. The sales of bottled water show how gullible people are.
Your brain/body will work better if properly supplied with vitamin d3 and omega3. Ensuring you get plenty of both is far more important than worrying about the effects of over consumption of either.
In a population where the majority of people are deficient in both cholecalciferol and omega 3 worrying about the toxicity of either is similar to a person dying of thirst in a barren desert worrying about drowning.
So get out into the sunshine around lunchtime today and expose as much of your skin as is prudent for at least 20minutes and stop worrying about the possible adverse effects of too much fish.
Currently the AVERAGE person eats one portion of fish every 3-4weeks. They have such a way to go before there is any threat to their health that it simply isn't realistic to become overly concerned.

Ickle_Steve

Does anybody know what happens when someone stops taking these fish oils after a long period of taking them?
Does the body get so used to absorbing omega 3 that it reacts badly when it no longer gets it?

black-saturn

Good question, I'd like to know the answer to that.

Ted_Hutchinson

Sudden decreases in omega levels are thought to precipitate depressive episodes. So it would be best to move to eating sardines more regularly as you stop the capsules.

These results suggest that incorporating fish into the diets of nursing mother during lactation, in the form of 100 g of sardines two or three times a week, contributes to an increase in omega-3 series fatty acids.

The FSA recommendations are that we eat 2-4 portions (140g) oily fish a week. Currently the average is one portions every 3-4 weeks depending on which source you quote. It is fair to assume that MOST people in the UK are omega deficient.

If your bank account is overdrawn and you stop paying into it your financial situation gets very much worse very quickly. Much the same happens with your omega status.

Thinking about not taking any more omega and/or not eating oily fish is about as sensible as thinking about giving up drinking water while walking across a desert.

This is a far more sensible question.
How can I get more omega 3 fatty acids in my daily meals?:

Edit: The research I was thinking about that showed depressive incidents following periods of cloudy/overcast weather would only be indirectly related to omega 3 as the vitamin d3 levels would be immediately affected by overcast skies this would lead to a decline in DHA in the brain and consequent depressive episodes of violence/abuse. On the whole most people need more not less omega 3 and also the presence of MORE vitamin d3 to enable it to move through your cell walls.
[size=+1]In humans, the seasonal variation in poly-unsaturated fatty acids is related to the seasonal variation in violent suicide and serotonergic markers of violent suicide.[/size]

random456

vegetarians note-in morissons they are doing 30 capsules of omega 3+vits+minerals+iron for £1.49. i got some yesterday, really pleased to find the omega 3 without gelatine/omega 6.

Ted_Hutchinson

pumpa wrote:

vegetarians note-in morissons they are doing 30 capsules of omega 3+vits+minerals+iron for £1.49. i got some yesterday, really pleased to find the omega 3 without gelatine/omega 6.

Vegetarian sources of omega are not the best

aliasojo

Ickle_Steve wrote:

Does anybody know what happens when someone stops taking these fish oils after a long period of taking them?
Does the body get so used to absorbing omega 3 that it reacts badly when it no longer gets it?

My 6 year old has been taking EyeQ capsules for a little over a year now.

(Ted I appreciate your opinion with regard to your preference but these capsules suited my daughter better than the Zipvit which was also tried. So, it's not that I have more money than sense. Genuine jokey remark - no dig meant. )

Anyway, due to a serious bout of sickness followed by a really bad cold, she had not been taking her usual dose for a 3 week period.

As soon as she returned to school, her teacher called me in and asked how she was at home as she had no concentration in class and had to have an auxilliary beside her to coax her on, otherwise she would get distracted or start dreaming etc.

At home, she was a pain in the proverbial and was irritating to say the least. She also had little appetite, although this could be equally attributed to being off colour for so long.

I started her back on the capsules but I was uncertain whether she could restart on the maintenance dose that suited her, or whether she should restart on the high dose until the levels built up in her system again.

I telephoned Equazen (the manufacturers) and was told that after stopping intake of these oils, the high levels of EPA/DHA will diminish at a different rate for different people and there's no way to tell without testing. They reckoned there should be no ill effects but that whatever reason you started taking the oils for in the first place will likely return (how quickly depending on how fast or otherwise your body used up it's reserves of omega.)

I noticed no ill effects with my daughter other than the almost immediate re-ocurrance of the very problems we were trying to counteract in the first place.

Also as soon as she started taking her capsules again, her appetite increased greatly and she is eating well and sleeping better. Again, perhaps a coincidence, but I do seem to remember this happening when she first started taking them last year too. As she is very petite, and there's nothing of her.....I'm very happy this is the case.

I do agree this is expensive however. I deliberately don't want to count up how much I have spent on these capsules over a period of a year. I now treat them as a necessity and budget accordingly. I also bulk buy whenever I find them on offer or I can use Boots codes etc to bring down the cost.

finc

Ted_Hutchinson wrote:

I should point out Omega Juice is a bit of an acquired taste and some people aren't prepared to take the time to acquire a taste for it. So maybe only start with one bottle.

I followed your advice and bought the Zipvit Juice. I have to say that calling it zesty orange flavour is the biggest white lie ever! It tastes revolting :eek:.

We have to have a drink at the ready to gulp back after taking it to try to disguise the taste. I've managed to get my 7 year old to take it regularly but still can't convince my hubby. I haven't even tried with my 2 year old (not sure it's safe for him anyway.

Has anyone found a good way to make it a bit more palletable? (sp?)

Ted_Hutchinson

finc wrote:

I followed your advice and bought the Zipvit Juice. I have to say that calling it zesty orange flavour is the biggest white lie ever! It tastes revolting :eek:.

We have to have a drink at the ready to gulp back after taking it to try to disguise the taste. I've managed to get my 7 year old to take it regularly but still can't convince my hubby. I haven't even tried with my 2 year old (not sure it's safe for him anyway.

Has anyone found a good way to make it a bit more palletable? (sp?)

I find keeping it in the fridge once opened is important in keeping it fresh. I take it out of the fridge, take my desertspoonful and replace it straight away so the bottle never gets to room temperature after it's been opened. (this stops it going rancid) If you persist in taking it then it does become less unpaletable, I still can't say I like it, but I don't find it as repulsive as some readers seem to. Most new flavours are acquired tastes and familiarisation is important for all of them.
With regards the 2yr old Zipvit state that it is not intended for those under 3yrs old.
As it is very important that developing brains get adequate EPA+DHA where there is a choice between no oily fish or Omega Juice a half a teaspoon of OJ, the latter would be better than no omega at all. It meets all UK/Euro safety standards so is unlikely to cause any problems.

However as I have said before Sardines in Tomato sauce contain 2.3g of omega 3 per 125g tin so a third of a tin (30pish/3=10p) of sardines will provide as much OMEGA 3 as contained in 3 EyeQ tablets (60p) and/or half a teaspoon of Zipvit OJ. (2p)

It's your money your spending not mine. http://img.moneysavingexpert.com/icons/icon12.gif

PS: The sardine option also contains vitamin d. Vitamin D enhances the absorbtion of dha through the brain cell walls. Until you/your children can play outdoors (exposing as much skin as possible) supplementing with vitamin d as well as Omega3 will make the latter more effective and you will see increased mood enhancement and muscle tone.