FAQ’s on Fish Oil Supplementation
Quite often I field questions from clients regarding fish oil supplementation. Since I am a big advocate/supporter of the vegan diet, I am not a fan of fish oil. I have more compelling reasons other than my vegan diet not to ingest fish oil supplements.
Studies show that fish oil may increase LDL – bad cholesterol. Yet, there are those that believe that fish oil reduces the overall amount of LDL particles. Is it bad for you or is it good for you? Skip the confusion from the medical research mumbo jumbo… Get to the facts.
The best thing is to increase your fiber intake and decrease your cholesterol containing animal products, including fish and eggs. This will significantly reduce the LDL particles. Dr. Ornish published well known studies showing that this is the way to reverse coronary heart disease. Oils and oil based products should be avoided. They are high in polyunsaturated fats, which are oxidized to harmful substances causing heart disease, cancer and premature aging. Whole foods containing polyunsaturated fats also contain Vitamin E and selenium, which inhibit the oxidation of fats. Extracted oils contain little or no antioxidants. Our excessive consumption of oils increases the need for them. We should obtain fats in our diet from whole foods rather than extracting them.
We do not need to eat foods that contain all the different kinds of fatty acids. They body can convert one type to the other with the exception of linoleic and possibly linolenic acid. Because our bodies cannot make linoleic acid, it is called essential fatty acid. We must obtain it from our food. Linoleic acid must account for one percent of an adult’s caloric intake. We can easily obtain this amount when whole foods predominate in the diet. Foods high in linolenic acid are flaxseeds and pumpkin seeds.
Any added oil or fat is unnecessary and potentially damaging. Even a teaspoon of olive oil will boost your serum triglyceride level within an hour and a half. How harmful it will be depends on the fat backlog in your system. If you’re relatively fat free, it won’t harm you as much. The blood fat levels will rise and then fall quickly. If there’s a lot of fat, the blood levels will stay higher longer and do much more damage.
Another reason for not taking fish oil supplements is the risk of rancidity is very high. Some fish oils may be tainted with heavy metals, such as mercury. In talking to Barry Sears PhD, he told me while we were in Japan 2006, that fish or fish oil derives its essential fatty acids from plankton and chlorella. He admitted that consuming chlorella is a more direct source than trying to get essential fatty acids second hand from fish. Chlorella is a kind of green algae.
If you not an algae eater, essential fatty acids can also come from walnut hull, flaxseed, chia seed, lecithin, and fennel seed. For more information on supplementation and ingredients, please refer to the www.delgadoprotocol.com.