Omega-3s

[Guest guest]

Omega-3s

 

http://www.drsears.com/askdrsearsdetailopen.member?askDrSearsID=7022

 

Q. Dear Dr. Sears,

 

My diet consists of organic meat, local seafood, lots of raw veggies

and cooked veggies, olive oil, avocados, olives, some sprouted seeds,

coconut oil for cooking, fruit, very little grain. If I do eat

grain,it's basmati brown rice or hemp bread, which states that the

grains are sprouted. I supplement with a super food powder, full

spectrum vitamin E, vitamin C and a teaspoon of Carlson's Cod Liver

Oil. Just about everything that I eat is organic. I stay in the

Zone. I practice yoga daily. My health is very good. Everything is

very good. My question

concerns supplementing with omega-3s. I've read some negative stuff

about it, and I'm wondering what your feelings are about it. Is it

necessary to supplement with omega-3s if you have good eating

habits? If I stopped the Omega-3 supplement, just to see if there is

a change in my body and/or brain, how long would it take to notice a

difference? I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Most Sincerely, Martha O.

 

 

A. Dear Martha,

 

Your blood will tell whether or not you are consuming enough omega-3

fatty acids by the AA/EPA ratio. You are doing everything well,

except

using coconut oil (switch to extra-virgin olive oil) and taking the

cod liver oil. Although cod liver contains EPA and DHA, it is also

very contaminated with PCBs and dioxins.

 

I would switch to a much higher-purity product like OmegaRx.Stopping

fish oil consumption will generate a rise in the AA/EPA ratio within

four weeks. As that ratioincreases, so does your likelihood for

developing chronic disease at an earlier age.

 

------------------

 

 

Q. Dear Dr. Sears,

 

So many people are talking about coconut oil these days and all the

health benefits that go along with it. However, you haven't appeared

to be very impressed with it. Could you please share your thoughts on

this subject and whether you believe there is any benefit (or harm)

to include this oil in one's diet?

 

Thank you,

 

Leeanne

 

 

A. Dear Leeanne,

 

Although coconut oil is rich in tocotrienols, which have significant

anti- oxidative potential, it still is composed of saturated fats.

Many

of those saturated fats consist of short-chain fatty acids that go

directly to the liver via the portal vein and rapidly consume your

stores of liver glycogen. Without adequate levels of liver glycogen,

it

is difficult to replenish blood sugar levels for optimal brain

function nd satiety. You will get a far more powerful anti- oxidant

effect by

consumingextra-virgin olive oil as opposed to coconut oil.

http://www.drsears.com/askdrsearsdetailopen.member?askDrSearsID=2725

 

http://www.drsears.com/askdrsearsdetailopen.member?askDrSearsID=5059

 

-------------------

 

Q. Dear Dr. Sears,

 

I do not consume fish. I note that you endorse,highly, the use of

fish liver oil (FLO). What do you suggest as a

vegetarian substitute for FLO? Is virgin coconut oil or black

current oila good substitute?

 

Thanks, Rodney

 

 

A. Dear Rodney,

 

The best vegetarian substitute would be algae oils rich in DHA that

can beretro- converted to EPA. A less effective approach is large

doses

offlax seed oil.

Neither coconut oil nor black currant oil contains

anyomega-3 fatty acids.

 

 

Medium chain triglycerides

 

 

Q. I'm currently taking an R+ Lipoic Acid supplement, which contains

" medium chain triglycerides " (MCT's) to enhance the lipoic acid's

bioavailability. (The supplement contains 100 mg of R-lipoic acid,

whichis " stabilized in medium chain triglycerides " ). I take the

lipoic

acidin the morning on an empty stomach, along with Acetyl-L-

Carnitine. Ialso take pharmaceutical-grade fish oil daily, as per

yourrecommendations in the " OmegaRx Zone " . (Great book!!!) The

supplementmanufacturer describes MCT's as " fats that contain 6-12

carbon fattyacids .... which are found naturally in milk fat, palm

oil andcoconutoil. " (When I hear that MCT's come from these oils, I

get a bitconcerned.)

 

My main concern is whether MCT's are safe for long-term use at the

doses

likely to exist in one capsule of lipoic acid. I know that milk fat,

palm oil and coconut oil are not particularly healthy and best

avoided,

and I'm wondering then whether MCT's are part of what makes these

oilsunhealthy, or whether MCT's are inert, harmless components of

theseoils. Since this supplement works amazingly well, I'd like to

continuetaking it over the long term, but only if such levels of

MCT's arenotunhealthy for long-term use.

 

 

 

 

A. I believe that the inclusion of MCT's is for marketing purposes

only. The short- chain fatty acids (especially the C12 fatty acid

known

as lauric acid) can significantly increase cholesterol synthesis. I

would try to find a lipoic acid supplement that is free of MCT's.

 

http://www.drsears.com/askdrsearsdetailopen.member?askDrSearsID=4225

 

-------------------------

 

Clearing the Haze

 

Here's what Dr. Fuhrman has to say about the 'miraculous' properties

of coconut oil: 'I(Dr. Fuhrman) just went to www.nal.usda.gov our

government's web analysis tool and analyzed plain coconut oil for

you guys and added up the numbers including the fractions so it

would be exact.

 

100 grams of coconut oil contains 86.5 grams of saturated fat. It

contains 14.1 grams of 6-10 chain (medium chain) saturated fats and

5.8grams of monounsaturated fat. So it is most accurate to call it

(coconut

oil) about 14% of those less harmfull ('miraculous') MCT saturated

fats(a relatively small amount). . . [additionally] the extracted oil

contains less than one tenth of nature's valuable nutrients than the

same amount of calories obtained from the whole food (coconut).'

 

http://drfuhrman.com/library/bulletin/May_Recipe_Newsletter.html