I was reading the various "Zone" books by Dr. Barry Sears, and found them interesting. I was just wondering if anyone here has been trying the Zone diet, and more to the point, if anyone has been taking large doses of "pharmaceutical quality fish oil", as he calls it. Large doses would be anywhere from 5-25g/day. If you've been doing this for several months or more, I'm just curious about your findings... Have you found it super helpful? Have you had lab tests every six months to view your TG/HDL levels, as he recommends in his books? I just found it interesting, that's all, and would like to hear others' opinions! Thanks, +-*/ Math_Wiz
I take fish oil, but not real high doses or anything. And my diet currently consists of high protein, high carb, high calories, and lots of water. Trying to pack on some weight! lol
No idea of their definition of pharm grade. Many countries use the oceans as their toilet and industrial waste sewer. Mercury is the big bugaboo with fish. Northern Pacific wild salmon are the least contaminated and source of the cleanest oil. There are various methods of distilling/purifying it. Research the sources and how they refine it.
Read this post and decide for yourself : http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/06/fish-not-fish-oil-capsules/ I have been following this diet for almost 7 months now and it was the best thing I ever did. Good Luck
I stopped eating grains and all processed foods a couple of years ago. I'm on a diet very similar to what's described in your link. It vastly improved my health.
Fish and fish-oil takers, but no Zone dieters, eh? Hmmm. Well, that's ok. Your links and responses are helpful anyways, so that I can expand my knowledge in this area of my health. FCX-- I want your problem, lol. Banjo said, "No idea of their definition of pharm grade" I respond with, "I found this on their website... http://www.zonediet.com/omega-3-fish-oil#the-industry-leader Begin Quote>>> More than 2400mg of EPA & DHA per serving No detectable levels of lead or mercury when tested down to 10ppb Independent 3rd party testing on every lot - view our most recent report Proprietary validation and testing processes to achieve pharmaceutical-grade quality Contains only wild fish from pristine waters and never farmed fish Delivers 8 times more omega-3s per serving than typical retail fish oil supplements . <<<End Quote I don't know how much that helps you Banjo, but just take it for whatever it's worth. RESPONSE TO Sezwhat: I'm going to read that book (from my library). I should get to it next month. It looks very similar to the Zone diet books. I'm still in the process of reading all the Zone diet books written by Dr. Barry Sears. My current favorite of his is called "The Anti-Inflammation Zone" http://www.amazon.com/The-Anti-Infl...UTF8&qid=1363397857&sr=8-6&keywords=zone+diet Or the bitly version is here: http://amzn.to/12Xy4B9 RESPONSE TO Tomdavis... I've significantly reduced grains in my diet as well, and have felt an improvement in my health, most notably greater energy, less fatigue, more mental clarity and focus, and less eczema on my hands. Thanks for your posts guys. I am subscribed to this thread of course, and I will post more from time to time if I see there is an interest. +-*/ Math_Wiz
What is it you are trying to achieve? He goes after one aspect of inflammation which causes aging, auto-immune disease, cancer, etc...o3/o6/o9 mct/lct/sct is something humans have truly messed up in the past 100 years, but its only part of the problem. Another problem with fixing your o3/o6 ratio is that when weight loss occurs the fat cells release o-6 into the blood stream which is a good thing, but messes up blood tests.
I assume you want to know the effect of fish oil on tryg and cholesterol levels? I took normal fish oil (only 1-2 pills) and Niacin (again, low dose) before my blood test for 2 weeks and it did effect it positively, pushing LDL levels and Tryg down by 25%. Now when you talk pharmaceutical fish oil, I think there are only 2, Lovaza by GSK, and Vascepa. Lovaza is the cleanest fish oil available, and I got a subscription for it and taking 1 pill per day. I assume it is also quite expensive, I get a discount. Its protection has just ran out, so technically others could make it, but I heard the cost of making it is rather high, so I am not sure about copycat fish oil. Anyhow your mentioned dosage seems incredibly high. Who can take 15-25 pills of it a day and what would be the purpose? If you don't get positive effects with 5g/day, tripling it won't help, IMHO. And again, the good quality fish oil is rather expensive... If cholesterol control is your goal, I would suggest to take a combination of other pills like Niacin (you need the flushing kind) instead of taking too much of fish oil... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovaza "Recently in July 2012, Amarin Corporation received FDA marketing approval for Vascepa, also referred to as AMR-101.[5] Vascepa will undoubtedly become a major competitor for Lovaza.[6] In clinicial trials, Vascepa was shown to lower triglycerides; while Lovaza also lowers the triglyceride concentration, Vascepa also lowers LDL-C; Lovaza does not. Lovaza was approved to treat people with very high triglyceride levels (>500 mg/dl), Vascepa is also approved for this market; however the company has also demonstrated that the drug can impact levels in people with high triglyceride (> 200 mg/dl and < 500 mg/dl) levels and will file an sNDA for this indication late in 2012" Relevant article on both: http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthew...oil-backlash-wash-out-amarin-pharmaceuticals/ "The idea that some drugs may improve laboratory values without helping patients is now popular among cardiologists. It has not only hurt prescription niacin, sold by Abbott, but also older triglyceride-lowering drugs called fibrates, also sold by Abbott. And it resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of prescriptions for Merckâs blockbuster cholesterol pills Zetia and Vytorin, which contain an ingredient that lowers âbad cholesterolâ very differently from the better proven statin drugs like Lipitor, Crestor, and Zocor, which Vytorin also contains."
How much is " Too much of a good thing? " It looks like the poison is in the dose! http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2011/04/omega-3s-angiogenesis-and-cancer-part-ii/
I believe that there is only one source for Fish Oil that comes with traceability documentation and that is available from Dr. Whitaker. Any manufacturer can claim "pharmaceutical quality" but are they really maintaining the records with oversight and are their suppliers maintaining records with oversight? Fat chance..