Hemp oil

B

ben catania

New Member
[I left a similar post in the "supplements" forum a little while ago, but thought it would get more hits here.]
I recently bought a bottle of Hemp Oil from Protein Factory and wondered if anyone else here has used or even heard of the stuff.
check it out here: http://www.proteinfactory.com/in_hempoil.htm
apparently it has more benefits even than fish oil, but maybe someone smarter than me can elucidate. Pros? Cons?
The only con I can see is that I find the flavor less than appealing. My wife seems to think it tastes fine ("it tastes green, like grass") but to me the flavor is so overpowering I can't mix it with foods or shakes, and taking it straight I have to follow with a really strong chaser. Don't laugh, but pickle juice works the best!
tounge.gif
Maybe someone here has a good "masking" recipe for mixing with bad tasting stuff!!!
After all that, don't let me discourage any of you brave HST'ers from trying hemp oil. I really would like to know what others think. Maybe it's just a quirk of my own taste buds that has me turning green after swallowing a spoonful. You might like it like Mikey!
cheers
bc
 
Anything hemp oil provides (n-3 fats in particular) are precursors to what is supplied by fish oil. So if you want to raise the levels of the long chain fats, take fish oil, because hemp will not make a difference.
Hemp is advertised about being the best 'ratio' of fats for man, but in reality the ratio of the oil makes little difference, it would have to be the fatty acid ratio of the overall diet.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Hemp is advertised about being the best 'ratio' of fats for man, but in reality the ratio of the oil makes little difference, it would have to be the fatty acid ratio of the overall diet.
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That's a good point Aaron. It would be silly to worry about the EFA ratio of a single food if the rest of the diet is out of whack.

I think I need to learn more about fats in general - I don't understand how one type of EFA can be a precursor to the same EFA from another source. :confused: Can you explain a little more the difference between the n-3 fats in hemp and the long chain fats in fish oil? Or point me to a good source on the subject?

Thanks!
 
There are only 2 efas

Linoleic and alpha linolenic acid

They are classified as essential becuase the body cannot make them.
The longer chain fatty acids, (generally the only ones of interest) eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid (epa/dha) are elongated and desaturated dirivatives of these essentail fats (ie the body can make them, so they are not classified as essential)

Online resources, I cant remember any. I would guide you to 'fats that heal...fats that kill' by Udo Erasmus, but its a bit on the extreme side (in terms of blaming one thing for everything that ails people)
But it does give a reasonable explanation of the different fatty acids about.
 
I generally have

5 ml Cod liver oil
and
around 25 ml of soyabean oil (for cooking etc) daily.

Is that good enough omeg3-omega6 ratio?
 
don't use the soybean oil for high-heat cooking. it is less stable under heat than highly-monounsaturated oils or fully saturated fats, and can thus be damaged into trans-fatty like acids that are harmful to you.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (tai4ji2x @ April 18 2003,11:07)]don't use the soybean oil for high-heat cooking. it is less stable under heat than highly-monounsaturated oils or fully saturated fats, and can thus be damaged into trans-fatty like acids that are harmful to you.
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Do you realise how long this process actually takes. If you are frying for a short period, the actual amount changed is tiny. IF you are deep frying and reusing the oil, then there is a much increased risk of trans fat production.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I generally have

5 ml Cod liver oil
Click to expand...
1gr of fish oil (cod liver, salmon, etc) contains about 300mg of EPA + DHA. But 1gr of cod liver oil also contains at least 5000 IU of vitamin A when the RDA for vitamin A is 2500 IU /day. If you take 5gr of cod liver oil (which will give you the suggested dose of 1500mg EPA + DHA) you will be taking 25000 IU of vitamin A, 10 times the RDA. For this reason, I would suggest another fish oil supplement (which unfortunately will be more expensive).
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (micmic @ April 18 2003,10:08)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I generally have
5 ml Cod liver oil
Click to expand...
1gr of fish oil (cod liver, salmon, etc) contains about 300mg of EPA + DHA. But 1gr of cod liver oil also contains at least 5000 IU of vitamin A when the RDA for vitamin A is 2500 IU /day. If you take 5gr of cod liver oil (which will give you the suggested dose of 1500mg EPA + DHA) you will be taking 25000 IU of vitamin A, 10 times the RDA. For this reason, I would suggest another fish oil supplement (which unfortunately will be more expensive).
Click to expand...
My cod liver oil has 100 % of the RDA for vitamin A per 10 ml so 20 ml will give you 3 gr of combined EPA/DHA, with 200 % the RDA of vitamin A. So 3 tablespoons will give you around 7400 ug, or one fourth/third of the vitamin A dosage at which chronic toxicity might occur. I don't know if you're talking about some kind of vitamin A enriched cod liver oil (which would seem like a dumb thing to sell) of if you just got the numbers wrong. Cod liver oil is fine, I've been using it for a few years now with no problems.
 
Regular cod liver oil is that high in Vitamin A. Look for example here or here. Now, there are some purified cod liver oil supplements, where during the purification much vit. A has been destroyed. There are also emulsified preparations of cod liver oil that contain even less vit. A. I guess yours is one of the last two. But last time I looked, those purified supplements where as costly as salmon oil.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (micmic @ April 18 2003,5:20)]Regular cod liver oil is that high in Vitamin A. Look for example here or here. Now, there are some purified cod liver oil supplements, where during the purification much vit. A has been destroyed. There are also emulsified preparations of cod liver oil that contain even less vit. A. I guess yours is one of the last two. But last time I looked, those purified supplements where as costly as salmon oil.
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Well, it will still take you 60 ml per day of that cod liver oil (seven seas, which is the brand I'm using, by the way) to get to the 25 000 mcg at which toxicity is supposed to start to occur. Mine is even lower than that (800 IU per 10 ml) so there's nothing wrong with using one or two tablespoons per day to get up to 4-5 gr of omega 3 from it. And it still is much more cost effective than salmon oil, which are usually rancid oils which go trough some oxidation due to being bottled in plastic containers. Cod liver oil is still the right choice for me.
 
Since you take Seven Seas, your oil probably contains 800ug of vitamin A per 10ml and not 800iu. 1 ug (or RAE) = 3.33iu. So, 10ml of your oil contain 2500iu of vit A. (I assume you're taking this).

This oil (as you can see in the nutritional info) is "omega-3 enriched". If you take pure cod liver oil (like this one) and you want to take 1500mg of EPA + DHA, you would have to take 18 capsules = 14400 ug = 45000iu of Vitamin A = 18 times the RDA.

Salmon oil is sold in plastic as well in glass containers. Plastic containers are not necessarily bad (containers for pharmaceuticals was my thesis). There are plastics that will not allow air to enter the container and make the oil rancid.
 
I have a non-enriched cod liver oil, and it would take 1TB to reach 3g epa/dha and that would contain 19275 IU.
Chronic toxicity comes from intakes >~33000iu daily for about a month.
They must have weak cod livers up in the northern hemisphere :D Now pregnant women shouldnt consume it, but I dont think restless has a problem with that. :D
THe main reason for cod liver oil intake for me is one thing, cost. I can buy 500ml codliver for 15$NZ, but for salmon oil in capsules (the only way I can find) is >15$ for 100 caps (1g each)
 
You are correct, it's 800 mcg instead of UI. I'm spending too much time on the computer and I can't read small labels properly anymore. Still, it will take 90 ml to get to the 25 000mcg to reach toxicity.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Salmon oil is sold in plastic as well in glass containers. Plastic containers are not necessarily bad (containers for pharmaceuticals was my thesis). There are plastics that will not allow air to enter the container and make the oil rancid.
Click to expand...

I don't know about that, but fats like mono or polysaturates don't get along with air as you know. olive oil should always be stored in glass, and so should fish oils.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]They must have weak cod livers up in the northern hemisphere
Click to expand...

Depends on what you consider to be a good strength indicator for cods: EPA/DHA or Vitamin A :D

But I believe our cods must be stronger, since they also have to survive our mercury-fueled tunas :D
 
Your probably getting some of our salmon and tuna over there, seeing as the number of european fishing boats that hang around our waters.]
Our cod is faaaaaaaaanntastic
Tuna tastes bad, unless its in a can covered in a n-6/trans rich tikka sauce, mmmmmmmmmmm
 
Only fish oil I can get hold of in India is seacod(seven seas) cod liver oil. And they do not provide any information on Vitamin A content on the bottle.
I generally have 4-5 gms of cod oil on a daily basis. As I am not sure about the Vitamin A content in it, how do I know I am not having more than recommended doses of Vitamin A?
How do i know I am(if I am) suffering from toxicity?:confused: any symptoms?
 
From the Merck manual:

"Sparse coarse hair, alopecia of the eyebrows, dry rough skin, and cracked lips are early signs. Later, severe headache, pseudotumor cerebri, and generalized weakness are prominent. Cortical hyperostosis and arthralgia are common, especially in children. Hepatomegaly and splenomegaly may occur."

With just 4-5gr of cod oil you don't have to be afraid of vitamin A toxicity. You can't be sure however about the vitamin A content of your oil: the official page mentions some numbers but for the exact same product, the batch coming to Greece has double amount of vitamin A. I guess you can't be sure about the exact numbers unless you call the importer.
 
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