You know, I had a feeling someone was
going to call me out on that.
Fish oil contains two omega-3s: EPA and
DHA. Flax seed oil contains an omega-3
called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which
is one of two fatty acids that the body
needs and cannot make for itself.
The body uses various enzymes to convert
ALA to other omega-3s, and the process is
not very efficient, especially as one gets
older. Estimates of the rate of conversion
range from 5% to 25%. In order to make
sufficient amounts of EPA and DHA, one
needs to consume 5 or 6 times more ALA
than if one relies on fish oil alone.
Also, women convert ALA to the other
omega-3s more efficiently than men,
largely so they can meet the nutritional
demands of their infants during pregnancy
and breastfeeding.
Another consideration is that ALA competes
metabolically with the other essential
fatty acid that the body cannot make for
itself. Linoleic acid (LA) plays the same
role for omega-6 fatty acids that ALA does
for omega-3s: The body uses LA to make all
the other omega-6s that it needs.
By competes, we mean that when LA is
oversupplied in the diet, the body makes
more of the LA-derived fatty acids than it
needs, and not enough of the ALA-derived
ones. The “LA side” of these
substances help us react to dangers and
stress and are therefore crucial to our
health and survival, but when they are
oversupplied, the result is chronic high
blood pressure, cellular inflammation, and
other conditions leading to today’s
panoply of degenerative diseases.
For healthy adults, the recommendation is
300-500 mg per day of EPA and DHA
combined, plus an additional 800 to 1100
mg of ALA.
The EPA/DHA recommendation can usually be
met with one softgel capsule of fish oil
(with 1 gram or 1000 mg of fish oil) which
usually contains 180 mg of EPA and 120 mg
of DHA, totalling 300 mg of the two
omega-3s. However, amounts do vary (some
products are stronger, some weaker), so
look at the amounts of EPA and DHA
provided, and add them together to see if
the product supplies 300 mg in one
serving.
h
ttp://www.supplementquality.com/efficacy/f
ishoil_flaxoil.html
