Fatty acids, Omega 3-6-9

Michaelfloe wrote: »

Decided to take nutrition more seriously and add a fish oil supplement since I dont eat fish.

I noticed a lot of people talk about omega 3 in fitness, recomminding roughly 3g combined EPA and DHA, but not a lot of talk about omega 6 and omega 9, other than 6 is also essential, some mentioning a 5:1 ratio roughly between 3 and 6 for inflammation purposes.

Why is there only omega 3 in most fitness supplements? Do I really need to take 2 or 3 different ones?

It is difficult to find proper information - ideally I would find a reasonably priced good product with all that I need in terms of fatty acids.

Any pointer to proper info or inputs appreciated!!

Omega 3 is often supplemented because it is what is mostly lacking as a lot of people don't eat or don't eat enough fatty fish like salmon or tuna. Omega 6 and 9 are present in our day to day vegetable and seed cooking oils, as well as a variety of other foods and are far easier to come by with just a normal diet. If you want to emphasize them, eat your seeds and nuts and avocados and use cooking oils like olive oil and avocado oil.

Most people get plenty of Omega 6. The body also produces Omega 9. There really isn't much reason to supplement these which is why the emphasis is on Omega 3...most people are deficient.

Solid info from both wolfman and Ann.

I'll just add that quality is king in this regard and from what I've gleaned from the research almost 25% of all omega 3 supplements from fish are rancid, not a good thing.

I would suggest a good Krill oil as opposed to a fish oil, it's what I've been using for years. Krill are only found in Antarctic waters and have a very short life cycle which translates into less heavy metals and actually krill have pretty much none. They're also better absorbed by humans than fish oil because they have the addition of phospholipids which is the fatty acid chain that EPA and DHA are attached to and also have astaxanthin which is a powerful antioxidant and krill oil have a few fat soluble vitamins which are D,A and E. which fish oil doesn't contain for the most part unless added.

To check quality of that whatever you decide to purchase make sure it's been approved either by IFOS (international fish oil standards) or by IKOS (international krill oil standards) We really don't want to be consuming inferior or rancid fish oil considering it's one of the reasons why were taking omega 3's to begin with. Cheers

Michaelfloe wrote: »

Didnt expect any responses, thanks a lot! really enjoying being part of the community.

So I should be good without omega 6 and 9 supplements, got it.

Heard a bit about krill oil but it sounded like snake oil (no pun intended). Looked at it and it seems like it could be better. However all the products have terrible EPA and DHA contents ranging from 100-300mg per recommended daily dosis. This means I have to take at least 10x a day to get the recommended EPA+DHA dosis which seems crazy and super expensive. I realize it has a higher bioavailability but as far as I can understand it is nowhere near 10x higher and therefore regular fish oil seems like a much better choice.

Am I wrong here or what? Thoughts?

Where are you getting that EPA/DHA goal from? That seems really high - are you confusing it with a total 'fish oil' goal?

Results of a quick google search:

Yeah, most people think a 1000mg fish oil tablet is all fish oil. Cheers