anybody know their supplements? Am confused re: essentail oils, evening primrose oil, omega 3, 6, 9, etc

[BBBee]

I think I really benefit when I take evening primrose oil. I did take fish oil for a while but it smelt so I stopped. I went to chemist yesterday and came out with nothing but confusion!

1 - does evening primrose oil contain omega oils? if so which ones.

2 - can i get fish oil benefits from something else? (flaxseed?)

3- what shoudl I be lookin to take and why?

thank you

[WellOiled]

The best way of getting fish oils is from milking a fish. You do this with special equipment available from all good fish oil extraction specialists. It doesn't hurt them, but once they've been oiled you need to feed them oil so they fill back up. You can get this from Numark, in capsule form.

1. Evening primrose doesn't contain any oil, it's a mat paint made by Dulux. You can also get it in gloss, which is oilier. The main benefits are a nice neutral look. Good for brightening up a dark room or covering over tatty paintwork.

1. Fish don't get benefits. They're exempt. Unless they're unemployed and claiming JSA. But now that fish can get work getting oiled they doing usually have much luck with their claims. Or 'clams' as they're often called.

1. You should take fish oils because it gives you glossy teeth and means your hair becomes non - stick. Many people also find that it helps with your ability to hold a note for a long time without becoming bored.

Good luck.

[BBBee]

lol - erm, thanks!

[WowOoo]

I would take Evening P oil as I quite liked it too. Am sure my hair and nails went better....may well have been placebo effect but I didn't think so!

I also take fish oils in capsule. You can get some from healthspan.com (they do free postage too) that has orange in it if yoiu really can't stand fishiness repeating on you!!

Best thing is to eat oily fish though. Sure that flaxseed, linseed etc all contain omega oils too.

mmmm.

[WowOoo]

..nails went better...Think I mean improved. God, my English has gone downhill...

[SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore]

flaxseed capsules have omega 3, 6 and 9 in them. i didnt think evening primrose had any fish oils in at all but i could be wrong.

best to eat 2 portions of oily fish a week though. so sardines on toast for supper twice a week. will be cheaper than supplements too.

afaik you need them because they are good for joints/skin/hair/nails and brain health.

according to some weightloss i once read omega 6 and 9 are good at boosting metabolism and aiding weightloss but im not sure at how accurate that is.

psml at milking fish.

[misi]

flaxseed does not contain omega 3, it contains ALA, alpha linioleic acid which is a pre cursor of omega 3 and needs an enzyme in your gut to convert it to omega 3.
if you see flaxseed capsules that say O3,6 and 9 then they are lying or have fish oil in them too. O7 is has been recognised as being important too now which doesn't come from fish or flax

EPO contains omega 6.

fish oil will not contain O6 or O9 only O3

omega 6 will help you pile on the weight not loose it.

healthspan?

BBBee, what do you want from taking the EPO?

O3, 6 and 9 have different effects in the body and are quite different although inter dependant on each other. if you give me more info I can maybe suggest what I have recommended for others

[BBBee]

oh misi - thank you!

Well the reason that I am worried about my omega is that my diet is very low in oily fish and I hardly eat any meat. I heard how more and more benefits are being discovered from fatty acids and I am concenred abotu not having them in my diet.

I started taking evening primrose oil because it was on offer and I get PMT. I noticed that my skin got better and less dry.

I wondered if the others might have similar benefits - esp. as I only stumbled across EPO.

I have bad hair, mood swings and am over wieght.

[cornsilk]

well oiled you can have a gold star for that one.

[Overmydeadbody]

pmsl wellOiled, bravo!

[misi]

www.holistichealthtools.com/essential-fats.html

www.natural-health-information-cent re.com/essential-fatty-acids.html

a couple of sites to be getting on with, haven't got time at the moment as my son is calling but will write some more later

[BBBee]

thnk you very much - those sites are really good.

[Boco]

Yes but my advice was the best wasn't it?

[BBBee]

oh so you have outed yourself then 'well-oiled'! You did make me laugh.

And you will laugh too when I present you with some sardine sandwiches and prawn cocktail crips.

I am taking this seriously you know.

Now go away and stop making a mockery of my 'proper' thread with your 'comedy'.

[poshtottie]

I have just started using Udos oil, contains all the omegas, evening primose, flaxseed. You can buy it from a health food shop.

[misi]

udos choice is great although needs refrigerating but is my preferred choice of the more expensive varieties.
natures aid complete EFA in capsules is good too and is used by many of my clients.

BBBee, a few questions if I may?
have you got transverse grooves in your finger nails? are they thin and brittle?
mood swings but any unexplained depression too? what was your skin like? rough, with scaly type patches? your hair, dry coarse and brittle? any hair loss? menstrual probs? feeling the heat excessively now or feeling cold too much? lots more questions but thats enough for now

[BBBee]

thanks again I really appreciate all of this.

I have googled udos and that looks like exactly what i am after.

have you got transverse grooves in your finger nails?

-no (if that means going across the nails, I have them going down from tip to cuticle)

are they thin and brittle?

-no, nails have always been strong

mood swings but any unexplained depression too?

• yes

what was your skin like? rough, with scaly type patches?

• generally dry with some very dry areas

your hair, dry coarse and brittle?

-yes, have had brittle damaged hiar from puberty

any hair loss?

-yes, very thin hair, again from puberty

menstrual probs?

-pmt, but toherwise regular

feeling the heat excessively now or feeling cold too much?

-no
wow, this is like a consulataion - thanks for taking such an interst.

[aliasdictus]

Hi there, it's all to do with Fatty Acids which are essential for most mammals, they have to come from the diet as the body is unable to manufacture them. Primrose oil appears to be of use in PMS and some aspects of breast disease, Cod liver oil is particularly of use in Arthritis and Heart/Cardiovascular disease. By and large fish oils are better absorbed than vegatable forms such as Flax/Linseed/Hemp but a few people, such as yourself do find that Cod Liver oil is, for them, quite unpleasant. There is not much difference overall between Cod Liver Oil and the generic fish oil, bearing in mind that cod stocks are dwindling it is probably best to go for the cheapest decent dose capsule that you can find. Extra added vitamins will cost a lot more and are of little value, this is assuming you are not pregnant.
Raising your protective HDL Cholesterol is particularly important as you get older but remember your husband needs as much protection as he can get now as he is NOT protected by hormones, so a bit of fish oil and a bit of exercise three times a week will probably extend his life considerably more than yours!

[misi]

there is quite a difference between cod liver oil and fish oils.
firstly, cod liver oil roughly contains 60mg EPA and 40mg DHA per 1000mg capsule. a 1000mg fish oil capsule contains on average 180mg EPA and 120mg DHA, so you would need 3 CLO pills to one fish oil pill. secondly, the liver of any animal inc fish is the main detox organ of the body. as toxins in the sea rise to much higher levels than normal, to get rid of the toxins in the liver when it is pressed for oil requires an awful lot of filtration and processing whereas the toxin level in the flesh used for fish oil is much lower to start with. also CLO is obviously made from the livers of cod. as in humans the liver is the main storehouse for all the fat soluable vits like A, D and E.
If a woman came to me, I would not let her buy cod liver oil if she was trying to conceive, pregnant or breastfeeding and certainly no child under 5 would I sell vit supps too if they contained more than 50% RDA (preferably no more than 25%RDA though). Vit A builds up in the liver quite quickly but in children the liver cannot cope with excess amounts and can become quite toxic. fish oil contains no vit a and any good omega 3 supp should not have added vits in anyway. I am not sure why HDL levels are not so important in older males, my near 5 years of training has certainly told me the opposite and many studies say the opposite too. as we get older, HDL is more important as the body slows down and finds it harder to process and eliminate LDL and VLDL meaning that HDL comes into its own even more by preventing oxidisation of LDL by transposing itself in the gut.
you can certainly overdose on cod liver oil because of its Vit A content but not so much with fish oil as fish oil contains little else (that you need think about)other than the two main omega 3 constituenmts that are EPA and DHA

[misi]

BBBee, it does sound like a hormonal imbalance of some kind but whether that is female hormones or thyroid hormones I cannot say with the info you have given (not that I could anyway, the law etc). there are many questions someone like me would need to ask to narrow the possibilities down and it depends on your age, when you had your last child amongst other things.
there are 2 avenues to go down from here I think. firstly, go to your GP and ask for a thyroid test and or a female hormone test (this also depends on your age as to how easy this will be to ask) secondly, you could seek out a qualified herbalist in your area and go for a consultation. if you consider this, look up the NIMH.org.uk (national institute of medical herbalists). on here you can enter your postcode and a list of herbalists with NIMH accredditation will appear. or you can e mail them direct to ask if there is a herbalist that has specific experience with hormones.
hope this helps but if you want more help from me (but not a diagnosis or treatment plan ) I will attempt to reset the CAT on here if you want to e mail direct. (I have no idea how but will have a look in a minute!!)