Omega FATS : clearing things up

Louno

New Member
OK ive been looking in the forums and im really confused...
I have one simple question, what fats do i need, because there are like 300 different product at my drugstore, Flax Oil , Salmon Oil, Fishs oils , Omega 3-6-9 blend oils some with EPA 30%, DHA 20%, CLA, and the list goes on, and also on the back of these, there are all kinds of different letters that dont mean much to me like ALA , LA , EPA , CLA , DHA and what not, some come vitamine E or whatever stuff in them...

This is turning out to be very complicated, are those Omega 3-6-9 blend better? Can someone PLEASE tell me exactly what i should be looking for ?

i spent like 20 minutes looking at 15 different bottles...

I dont want to buy anything online.
 
Omega 3, 6 & 9 are names for groups of poly- and monounsaturated fatty acids. They can't be produced by the body, hence their name Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)

Omega 3 (Polyunsaturated):
ALA - Alpha linolenic acid
EPA - Eicosapentaenoic acid
DHA - Docosahexaenoic acid
DPA (omega 3) - Docosapentaenoic acid

Omega 6 (Polyunsaturated):
LA - Linoleic acid
GLA - Gamma linolenic acid
DGLA - Dihomo gamma-linolenic acid
AA - Arachidonic acid
DTA - Docosatetraenoic acid
DPA (omega 6) - Docosapentaenoic acid


Omega 9 (Monounsaturated):
Oleic acid

For Omegas to work properly, you should be consuming them in the right proportion (2:1 Omega 6 to Omega 3, I've read somewhere). Apparently the western diet is already high in Omega 6, so you'll need to be concentrating on getting Omega 3s.

So you should be looking for something with a high ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6.

Of the Omega 3 acids, DHA and EPA are the ones you should be concentrating on. Your body can convert ALA into EPA and DHA, but not as efficiently as just eating the stuff. ;-) A hint: ALA comes from plant sources, while EPA and DHA mainly come from marine sources - you're gonna be wanting fish oil, basically.

From the FAQ:

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]"Try to get 2-6 grams per day of EPA+DHA."

CLA - Conjugated Linolenic Acid
This isn't an EFA. It can be taken in addition to, but not instead of EFAs.

From the FAQ:

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]"Regular use of CLA will change your "tendency" to gain and lose fat. It will basically make your fat cells act as if you had a genetic predisposition to leanness."

"It's going to take about 6-10 grams per day of CLA to notice any effect."

Which is interesting. Most CLA supplements come as pills containing between 300 and 1500mg of CLA - meaning you could have to take up to 20 of the suckers a day - much more than the "two to four a day" recommended on the box. This certainly makes CLA quite an expensive option.
 
Solid post Chris!
thumbs-up.gif
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (ChrisHouston @ Nov. 26 2005,10:56)]Omega 3, 6 & 9 are names for groups of poly- and monounsaturated fatty acids. They can't be produced by the body, hence their name Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)
um, there is only two essential fats.

Linoleic and alpha linolenic

oleic or any other fat is not essential
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Louno @ Nov. 25 2005,12:01)]OK ive been looking in the forums and im really confused...
I have one simple question, what fats do i need, because there are like 300 different product at my drugstore, Flax Oil , Salmon Oil, Fishs oils , Omega 3-6-9 blend oils some with EPA 30%, DHA 20%, CLA, and the list goes on, and also on the back of these, there are all kinds of different letters that dont mean much to me like ALA , LA , EPA , CLA , DHA and what not, some come vitamine E or whatever stuff in them...
This is turning out to be very complicated, are those Omega 3-6-9 blend better? Can someone PLEASE tell me exactly what i should be looking for ?
i spent like 20 minutes looking at 15 different bottles...
I dont want to buy anything online.
I would suggest you buy a quality fish oil (about 2 grams EPA/DHA per day) supplement and call it good. If fish oil isn't an option, go ahead with flax oil (1 tbsp/100lbs bodyweight).

By quality I mean something that says "molecularly distilled". This is the process by which ocean polutants and any organic (i.e. fishy) materials are removed.

If you add this to a good diet that already includes good fats and is low in bad fats you will be just fine.
 
Thanks guys, i bought some O3 fish oils, 1000mg containing 400mg/200mg (epa/dha) , i take 2 after a meal.

its kind of tricky to find good ones, there are 100 different brand but most of them are very low in epa/dha , 450/350 is the highest i saw but were more expensive, so i just took the cheaper 400/200 ones.
 
fish oils

you are probably already consuming adequate amounts of omega 6s in your diet

thank you
Coach Hale
www.maxcondition.com
 
Back
Top