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Omega 3 in pill form is a scam

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 3/31/2012 11:06 PM (GMT 0)
I am sorry if what I am writing is obvious to many of you who has been having this illness for longer than me, anyway here goes;

I, like a lot of other people started reading up on the effects of omega-3 for people with ulcerative coltis and bought my first set of fish oil shortly after reading about the positive effects shown in several studies. A week or so after I decided to do what I really should have before I bought my pills - to read how much I need to make a difference.

What I found was rather surprising. Serveral of the studies pointed to a required daily intake of 4.5-5 g EPA (the part of omega 3 we need) to make a difference for people with IBD, so I turned my newly purchased can of pills over and read: each capsule contains 100 mg (!!!) EPA. So I basically have to eat a whole can of this stuff every day to reach the intake they have proven useful for people with IBD. This just sounded too stupid to me to be acceptable so I quickly looked up how much 100 g of various fish contains. Well guess what, 100 g mackerel contains up to almost 2 g omega-3 (1g EPA, 1g DHA).

I will from now on eat mackerel as part of my lunch and bin my fish oil capsules.

Post Edited (curl3d) : 3/31/2012 5:20:57 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/31/2012 11:23 PM (GMT 0)
Quite a good list of omega 3 contents of each fish:

http://fn.cfs.purdue.edu/fish4health/HealthBenefits/omega3.pdf
Posted 3/31/2012 11:27 PM (GMT 0)
I don't think it's a scam.

They didn't create the Omega 3 pills to treat UC patients. The omega 3 pill is supplement.

They clearly specify how much mg of EPA there is in each pill. If it said differently then you could call it scam.
Posted 3/31/2012 11:37 PM (GMT 0)
Calling it a scam might be to take it too far I agree but to sell and promote something as a health supplement which contains so little of whats just inside fish seems to me a border line case of scam
Posted 4/1/2012 7:26 AM (GMT 0)
It seems you didn't read the label before purchasing. Omega 3 fish oils come in a myriad of dosages.

I don't get the connection of you calling it a scam, however.

I, personally, would never take the recommended dosage of 4.5 - 5 g daily!

You, however, might want to check out mercury levels in fish consumption.

q
Posted 4/1/2012 9:40 AM (GMT 0)
There seems to be a discussion around if mercury in most fish is actually a problem at all as many of the fishes also contain high levels of selenium which binds mercury. From what I have read, pregnant women and young children are adviced not to eat large amount of some of the fishes such as king mackerel, swordfish, but for the rest of us there really doesn't seem to be a huge problem to eat plenty of fish, see ;

http://www.eatingwell.com/blogs/health_blog/is_mercury_in_fish_as_harmful_as_you_thought
Posted 4/1/2012 9:43 AM (GMT 0)
Regarding the term scam; I think it's misleading to say the least to talk about omega 3 in pill form causing great health benefits. You get more omega 3 by eating a good portion of salmon once a week than what they recommend on those pill cans
Posted 4/1/2012 2:00 PM (GMT 0)
I take it for heart health, but my omega-3 comes in 1,000 mg capsules.  I take three a day and eat fish a couple of time a week.  I almost always buy them on sale, buy one get one free.

If you want to eat 200 grams (about a cup) of mackerel every day, go for it, but I couldn't, and I really like mackerel.

There's no scam. 

Posted 4/1/2012 3:56 PM (GMT 0)
@seconder, wow now we're talking. 1000 mg is at least a decent amount. Maybe I have just been ignorant enough to buy the "low dose but still expensive as f- pills" .
Posted 4/1/2012 5:17 PM (GMT 0)
You might want to also look into liquid form Omega. Usually higher potency and fewer pills to take. I use the brand Cyto-Matrix...each tsp has 1750mg EPA and 875mg DHA.
Posted 4/2/2012 12:15 AM (GMT 0)

curl3d said...
@seconder, wow now we're talking. 1000 mg is at least a decent amount. Maybe I have just been ignorant enough to buy the "low dose but still expensive as f- pills" .

^


plus it's not expensive if you put time in and look online.
Posted 4/2/2012 11:45 PM (GMT 0)
As far as my knowledge goes, there is a basic flaw in your understanding that you need to take ~5gms of EFA. Its ~3gms of fish oil, which should equate to about 1gm of EFAs. If you do need more than that, you could get Rx for Lovasa.

@twbb,
Where do you get Cyto-Matrix from? It seems to me that they sell it to only medical professionals.
Posted 4/11/2012 12:50 PM (GMT 0)
What about tuna in can in vegetable oil, do you think it is safe food for UC?
Posted 4/11/2012 2:13 PM (GMT 0)

funkyskank saidWhat about tuna in can in vegetable oil, do you think it is safe food for UC?

 

What you dont want is more vegetable oil in your diet,try tuna in spring water, or one without added veggie oil.

Old Mike

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