Probs with Fish Oil | Arthritis Information
This whole thing is a little fishy! I am having a problem digesting the fish oil supliment so often recommended by everyone. For about 3+ weeks I have been taking 4 tabs a day, 2 in AM and another 2 in PM, both times with food, but I can still continually taste them. I feel like I am turning into a fish! Now, I have an upset stomach most of the time, which I think might be related. So, I switched to flax seed oil tabs instead as they are full of omega3 too. My question is: Do flax seed tabs have the same benifit as the fish oil for joints? (PS - my RD gave me a cortisone shot in the hip about the same time I bumped up the amount of fish oil. Don't know if this could be causing the tummy upset. I feel like I have to eat small amounts thoughout the day to keep that nawing feeling at bay.)
I used Udo's 3-6-9 blend of oils and add it to my morning smoothie. I try to use as many products in natural form and not in a capsule as possible so my body doesn't have to dissolve through the cap first to get to the ingredient I am wanting to use. Like my calcium is a calcium, magnesium and zinc liquid blend. Just be sure to watch if they need to be refrigerated, unlike most capsules. And if you get a bad capsule product, like one encased in plastic, it can go right through you and never even be in your system. Good luck.
The flax seed oil is not as efficacious as the fish oil because it has to be converted to the long chain omega 3s by enzymes in the body (~10% is converted). GI upset and "fish burps" are common side effects of fish oil, but these can be eliminated for the most part by switching to an enteric-coated form.
Rx2Heal39405.1727083333Uh-oh, my fish oil is in a plastic bullet-shaped case. I sometimes burp up a fishy smell so I thought that meant it's getting out of the case and into my body. JSNM, where did you hear about the plastic not releasing the oil? Maybe Jas will see this thread and post her experience on fish oil. If i remember correctly there is a fish oil that doesnt have that "fishy" tate. But she would have more to say about it. Or maybe PM her. Ive been thinking of starting it as well. Maybe in the next round of buying vitamins I'll get some.
I was told to put the fish oil in the freezer and when you take one, take it about 2/3rds into your meal. As it thaws it will already be in the digestive track and you should not get an upset stomach or fishy burps with it like this. I have been doing this and have had no problems with it. Good luck!
Taking it at night will eliminate that burping up in most cases. The liqud gel
caps are a gelatin that disolves in the stomach. I use enteric-coated fish oil... the capsule dissolves at higher pH, so that it doesn't release the oil until it's in the small intestine. This decreases the fish burps and upset stomach, and in addition it leads to higher absorption because the oil is not degraded in the stomach.
Fish oil shouldn't taste or burp fishy unless it's started to go
rancid. Buy your fish oil from a place that has a high turnover to
ensure fresh oil. I buy Webber Naturals and I keep it in the fridge.
It's usually A-OK but every now and then I get a not-so-nice one. Thems
the breaks.
Thanks everyone for the good advice. I certainly will try the freezer idea. That is a simple thing to do. I'm in Panama now so don't have a lot of different sources like in the US for the fish oil. I get mine at Pricemart here in Panama City, as it is the largest quanity for the least price, and there's only one brand, the "house" brand. I'll go back on the fish oil now since you all think it is the best. Muchas gracias! (We are working hard to learn to speak Spanish -- it is a fun adventure here in many ways!!!!)
I've read that some people with RA respond better to GLA oil found in Starflower or Borage Oil. You can take up to 3g daily (3 x 1 g). I take 2g starflower and 2g flax oil. Fish oil didn't agree with me and I came out in a rash similar to the one I got with Sulfasalazine!!!
anna
I take Nature Made Omega 3 fish oil, oder free. They are gelcaps. I take 1200 mgs morning, afternoon and night. Haven't had problems, but I also take prevacid every day for GERD, so that may be the reason I have no problem with it.
Do you take anything for acid reflux?
edited cause I can't spell
There is supposedly a test you can do with your vitamins to see if they dissolve. I cannot remember exactly what it is, but its like a vinegar and water mixture. If the pill doesn't dissolve in x amount of time, you cannot digest the capsule coating.
The end. Literally. PS Edited for grammar and frain bog.
justsaynoemore39405.7958449074
[QUOTE=justsaynoemore]
The plastic capsules experience was when my ex-chiropractor hubby called me into look at some LB xrays and showed me all this different-shaped spots in these woman patient's colon. So he went in and asked her if she took vitamins, and she said yes, and he asked what kind, and she said _________ (I don't want to get sued here). She was shocked to find out that she had been shelling out big bucks for vitamins that didn't dissolve. Just pooped them out. And I have good friends who run a port-a-pottie business and they say suck out vitamins all the time when cleaning them out.
There is supposedly a test you can do with your vitamins to see if they dissolve. I cannot remember exactly what it is, but its like a vinegar and water mixture. If the pill doesn't dissolve in x amount of time, you cannot digest the capsule coating.
The end. Literally. PS Edited for grammar and frain bog.
[/QUOTE]
For enteric-coated capsules you would have to run the dissolution test at higher pH, to simulate conditions in the small intestine where they are supposed to dissolve.
I know my fish oil capsules dissolve at higher pH. If I take too many, the extra oil is floating on the water in the toilet, and I notice a definite reduction in pain and stiffness when I take them regularly. The capsule is still made of gelatin; it's just formulated to withstand the low pH in the stomach. It's not a time-release thing.
Time-release capsules are typically plastic, and they are formulated to release small quantities of the drug over an extended period of time. The capsule ends up in the toilet, just like corn.
JasmineRain39405.8240046296Hi, I've had all the problems you describe with the tablets and am just trying to eat more fish. We live on the bay, on the west coast of Calif. for goodness sakes, so I should be able to get lots of 'fishy fish oil' , right? WE went down to the boardwalk and at 'fish n chips' before our walk on the beach yesterday afternoon. Heavenly. Lynda
what fish are the best source? We have 'cod' here.
Oily fishes such as mackeral, sardines, anchovies and salmon are the good
sources of omega 3s. Too bad for me the only one of those I really like is
salmon. I like halibit, sole and snapper and they are not loaded with omega
3s. On days I eat salmon I take less fish oil supplements.
I found this handy chart showing omega 3 content in servings of fish.
You need to get about 3 grams Omega 3s daily to aid inflammation (it's
surprising how little salmon that is!)
Amount
of Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Selected Fish and Seafood
Amount of
Omega-3 Fat
Atlantic Salmon
or Herring
3 oz. in tomato
sauce
Sea
Bass (mixed species)
3
ounces cooked
0.65
gram
Tuna, white meat
canned
Sole, Flounder,
Mussels
Wild Catfish,
crabmeat, clams
Trout, Orange
roughy
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