I have just recently started looking into supplements after reading a number of very positive threads here. I am a long standing vegetarian so when fish oil was high on the list I immediately turned to flax as an alternative DHA source. This morning while reading the Omega-3 page on the HD lighthouse page it says flax oil "should not be used as a source of DHA" however it didn't elaborate on why. I previously read the HOPES page on fatty acids and thought Flax seed would be a positive alternative especially because it contains vitamin e already. Is there a reason why flax should not be used, or is that just how they go about saying that fish oil is a better bet?


[hdlighthouse.org]

[hopes.stanford.edu]

I would guess that flax oil doesn't have enough DHA. The recommended amount for HD people is 2,000 mg per day. You could try using an "algae based DHA supplement" instead of fish oil. Google that and you'll find a bunch of products.

Will

For what I've read, our brains are mostly composed of DHA and even if our bodies have the capacity to transform other fatty acids into DHA, the body is not very efficient at it. So, not matter how much flax seeds you consume, it will never be enough to get enough DHA.

As Will says, you can buy the algae based DHA because, actually, that's where fish get their DHA in the first place. They don't produce it at all. The problem with algae based DHA is that you get cero EPA and we have good reason to believe EPA (that you find in fish, not flax seeds) also could help. In fact, all the research has been conducted on EPA.

So, the information on Omega 3 fatty acids is scarce and it's been mostly done on EPA (for HD), and it's up to us to decide which combitation of fattie acids we prefer. Personally, and because our brains are mostly DHA, I feel this is what we should be having most (but always combined with some EPA). I don't follow the recommendation to have more EPA because the rationale behind doing a research on EPA and not on DHA was not that they suspected EPA was better, but that they had already developed a purified version of EPA they wanted to sell.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2010 09:08AM by Luz.

Here is a good explanation of differing rationales about Omega-3's. To me, the nice thing about Omega 3 is how basically harmless it is. So whether you ar hopeful, cautiously hopeful or even skeptical, it doesn't hurt.

[hddrugworks.org]

There are some people who should use caution when using the fish oils ; those who bleed easily or have bleeding in the gut etc... They do warn that it may thin the blood . All my best. db

Hi there,

Sorry for the delay in responding but I remembered something I had read quite some time ago and I don't remember the source.

I think I remember reading that fish oil DHA crosses the blood brain barrier but the flax seed DHA does not. What the effects on the brain are I don't know. But I think this is why most people choose fish oil.

Concerned Partner

I know at ubc where i go, they recommend fixh oil, or flaxseed oil. Flaxseed oil has natural vitamin e in it, and vitamin e crosses the blood brain barrier. But im sure ive seen things on the forum here in last few months, that fish oil is questioned now, but im not positive on this. I know i cant take it, get migraines from it.

hmmm...here is an interesting link, don't know if i'd be thrilled with flax oil either, maybe, maybe not, not sure:

[www.umm.edu]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2010 11:30PM by Barb.