Fish Oil ---->How Much?

[brown_eyes]

i usually take about 4 per day. I try to take about minimum of 3000mg per day...
fish oil is not hat we can call dangerous for the health. and it seems to help a lot to ours system

[YGB]

I have heard from a very good source that the best fish oil with omega 3's, DHA & EPA is Carlson fish oil bottled in Norway. Note that there is actually independent regular tests of this product for freshness, potency and purity. This does not happen with the supplements that you get in the U.S. (ex. flaxseed oil whose supplements are not absorbed as well and Biotears).

I was using Biotears, but switched to the liquid Carlson brand and it is evident that the quality is far better. The lemon flavor makes it easy to take by the teaspoon. I believe the standard is 1 teaspoon for every 50 pounds of body weight. Therefore, I take a little more than 3 teaspoon's a day. I could take 1 teaspoon with every meal, but since it needs to be refrigerated, I take 1.5 in the morning and 1.5 teaspoons at night. From my research and talking with others more knowledgable than I, Carlson's is by far one of the best ways to get your supplement instead of Flaxseed oil and Biotears. This is of course only based on what I have heard and learned, but for anybody interested in researching or trying it out, here is a web link to where I bought it from ...

http://www.luckyvitamin.com/088395015458.html

[Tony Barnes]

Found a very good source for vegetarians - from a company called Martek. It's algal DHA that's manufactured under very strict conditions - no heat, light, oxygen - so it should be totally free from any damage.

There's a list of different products it's in here http://consumer.martek.com/findinglifesdha/

Looking through they may be quite pricey though??

[Vicki In Oregon]

TOny you mentioned series 1 & 3 prostaglandins, and also the precursor for phosphatidylcholine. What is this and where do I get it? Thanks.

[Tony Barnes]

Hi Vicki,

I think my head was just stuck in general EFA mode when I was typing that!! I shouldn't have said series 1 prostaglandins, just series 3, and the phosphatidycholine is probably more EFA relevant than fish oil.

EPA is used by the body to produce the series 3 prostaglandins, and as DHA and EPA are interconvertable, a supplement containing either will work, as will LNA from flax as it is earlier in the conversion chain (women do this conversion more efficiently than men, presumably due to oestrogen levels, it's not confirmed yet though!). One of their main functions is the prevention of the release of the inflammatory series 2 prostaglandins, as well as being mildly anti-inflammatory too.

Phosphatidylcholine is made up from efas (both LNA and LA) coupled with a choline molecule. I'd imagine there are variants with fish oils in them, which will do similar things in the eye, but I'm not sure. It's the main component of the lipid layer of the tear film, and is responsible for preventing evaporation. Lecithin is an excellent source (that's what it's made from!), and direct spray applications like clarymist get round doing it the nutritional way.

For general health I'd always recommend a good base of seed oils for EFAs, and fish oils as needed. For dry eye I'd say the same really.

Hope this makes some sense, let me know if it doesn't!!

Tony