Flaxseed oil versus Fish Oil

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone:

 

I came across quite a few websites that tout the fact that flaxseed oil is not

as effective as the fish oil and also has a few adverse side effects. One such

website is http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art30385.asp. What I have known

all these years is that anything that is obtained from plant sources is likely

to be better for health than those that are obtained by killing animals. If you

look at the traditional food chart, fruits and veggies are always at the top. It

appears that the creator designed the world in such a way that we end up doing

least amount of harm to other beings to maintain good health.

 

Given that, I wonder if the claims made in these website are true. One claim is

that Flaxseed oil mostly supplies ALA, one of the Omega-3 fatty acids and not

all of them. The body has to generate the two others namely EFA and DHA -- and

that the body does that under ideal conditions. Could it be that our body does

not need as much of EFA and DHA -- making flaxseed stand better in front fish

oil in that case? Also, those with a balanced vegetarian diet and a properly

functioning liver are likely to provide the right environment for the production

of EFA and DHA from ALA.

 

I was wondering what Ayurveda says about flaxseed oil. Nowadays we buy cold

pressed flxseed oil and keep it refrigerated. In old days, there was no

refrigerator -- so, how did they preserve the flaxseed oil after being

generated, or, did they make fresh oil every time they had to take it? Or, that

they just used the seeds directly instead?

 

Regards,

Matt

[Guest guest]

I hope you are the Matt who has been writing about Schizophrenia.

I am happy to hear you are feeling better.

This is an illness that I have been working closely with - I am the wif e of a

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I would like to know more about the treatment you undertook - herbs etc.

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One of our dear family frineds is has the illness and we were required to

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I feel sad that so often these people live with a stigma of being crazy and

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met.

Mandakini

 

 

 

I came across quite a few websites that tout the fact that flaxseed oil is not

as effective as the fish oil and also has a few adverse side effects.

[Guest guest]

Interestingly enough, Vaidya Mishra, who I am studying with, does not

recommend flaxseed oil for human consumption. He says there is not a history

of humans using it. It's primarily used in industry and art (linseed oil)

and as animal fodder. I do not know when people started consumming it. I

would like to find out more, that link didn't immediatly have the article

you spoke of.

 

All Best,

Nancy

 

 

I came across quite a few websites that tout the fact that flaxseed oil is not

as effective as the fish oil and also has a few adverse side effects.

[Guest guest]

Yes - I still have a bottle of linseed oil in the cupboard from my oil

painting days, and the Flaxseed in the fridge for the dogs - they oil

cricket bats with it too don't they!

 

Jane

 

 

 

> Interestingly enough, Vaidya Mishra, who I am studying with, does not

> recommend flaxseed oil for human consumption. He says there is not a

> history

> of humans using it. It's primarily used in industry and art (linseed oil)

> and as animal fodder.

[Guest guest]

I do not believe there has been any use of flaxseed in Ayurveda. It

seems to me that the use of flaxseed oil for human consummation is

something that has been promoted pretty recently. However there are

some interesting studies coming out on its effectiveness.

 

Have a read of the first article in this journal:

 

http://www.prostateforum.com/september2001.pdf

 

Which links flaxseed oil with prostate cancer which 80% of males over 75

in New Zealand develop.

 

Regards

John

 

 

I came across quite a few websites that tout the fact that flaxseed oil

is not as effective as the fish oil and also has a few adverse side

effects.

[Guest guest]

Flaxseed (atasi) is routinely used along with basil (tulsi) in form of decoction

in cough and swellings of airways (bronchitis, tracheitis, pharyngitis).

Flaxseed has been in use as medicine rather than food according to Ayurvedic

references.

 

Dr.D.B.muzumdar

M.D.Ayurveda-Medicine(Mumbai-Indai)

[Guest guest]

Oh, now that is interesting. What Ayurveda references can I find this

information in?

 

Thanks,

John

 

Flaxseed has been in use as medicine rather than food according to Ayurvedic

references.

[Guest guest]

What I am curious then about is what then the sources of Omega-3 amino acids

were in those times. Obviously, there was no notion of amino acids back then,

but now that we have found a correlation between these acids and good health and

that lack of these acids causes diseases, even back then, there must be

something that supplied Omega-3's to the brain. Are the Omega-3's found in cow's

milk? My guess is that since milk is supposed to provide complete nutrition and

therefore must be supplying the Omega-3's directly or indirectly through the

liver generating them out of some other element present in the milk, is it that

people in the US or other western countries take flaxseed over milk as they

cannot find good milk or are allergic to it?

 

Matt

 

Flaxseed has been in use as medicine rather than food according to Ayurvedic

references.

[Guest guest]

Ayurvedic references point to Sesame oil(til oil), Cow's ghee( made from heating

butter procured from buttermilk), Vasaa(subcutaneous fat of animals along with

abdominal fat-mostly of goat) and Majja(marrow from bone cavities,including

brain and spinal tissue matter which is enclosed in bony skull and vertebral

column) as main types of fats(Sneha). I think a judicious use of any one or

combination of fat types, according to Prakruti and other factor assessment, can

be working towards balancing the requirements of Omega fractions.

More detailed observation and research will be more useful.

 

Dr.D.B.Muzumdar

M.D.Ayurveda-Medicine(Mumbai-India)

< dahpc >

 

 

 

What I am curious then about is what then the sources of Omega-3 amino acids

were in those times.