Fish Sticks
Fish Oil is a pretty large topic, we’re going to give you a fast and furious run down and provide some resources to some experts on the topic. Omega 3′s are all the rage these days and if you’ve ever asked yourself “If fish oil capsules are so essential, then how did Paleo man ever survive without enteric coated fish oil pills” (What you’ve never asked yourself that?) Omega 3′s are a fatty acid which benefits the brain, reduces inflammation, skin, hair, eyesight, pretty much anything and everything. Here’s the theory. Early human’s brain development outpaced that of other hominids (Neanderthals, Homo Erectus, etc) largely due to living near coastal areas and intaking a large amount of Omega 3′s from seafood and animal fats. Omega 3′s are largely present in seafood and grass-fed, free range beef. Omega 6′s are the evil twin which CAUSE deleterious effects to our health. Omega 6′s are much more prevalent in the factory farmed meats we eat and in processed foods. (All the more reason to eat organic, grass-fed meat! Factory farmed bacon is “Paleo” but not necessarily good for you) Ideally Omega 3 and 6 ratios should be close to 1:1 most Americans have closer to a 9:1 or 12:1 ratio of Omega 6′s to Omega 3′s. Way too high!
Now, since there have been few long term studies on fish oil supplementation and nutritional studies are very difficult to do with human populations due to the complexity of our bodies and the ethical implications of human research so experts tend to disagree on dosage, etc. and since we aren’t doctors we won’t give you dose recommendations, however Here are what the experts do agree on:
- Omega 3′s are AWESOME
- Omega 6′s are horrible
- Regardless of supplementation, focusing on reducing Omega 6′s will have significant positive health indications
- Natural foods are the best way to get Omega 3′s, supplements should be secondary. So eat more fish, like this tasty little guy
Dinner!
- Flax and other plant based Omega 3′s are not the right type. You need EPA and DHA which comes from animal sources
- EPA and DHA should be labeled on your fish oil, many companies use filler oil and very little EPA and DHA ie 1200mg tablet with only 300mg of EPA and 200mg of DHA has 700mg of filler.
Here are some helpful tips on Fish Oil
Put your fish oil in the freezer, if a few days later its cloudy, you have low quality fish oil
The brand we sell at the box, PurePharma is a great brand. Robb Wolf recommends Kirkland from Costco and Chris Kresser recommends Jarrow Brand Max DHA from Vitacost
Some helpful links
Mark’s Daily Apple Definitive Guide to Fish Oil
Chris Kresser (AKA The Healthy Skeptic) Fish Oil/Omega 3 Series, Including his buyer’s guide
5/10/12 WOD
HSPU Practice, OHS Practice
4 Rounds
15 SDHP 95/65
15 Med Ball Cleans 20/16
30 Double Unders
Snatchsquatch
Great read.
CrossFit Invoke
Thanks! Great username.
George
If you guys are interested in local, grassfed beef, chicken and pork you should check out Lucky 3 Farms. They are in Louisburg and deliver to Raleigh!! They do a CSA membership monthly. I am a member there since I moved here and I went to check out the farm to see the condition of their animals myself. I am actually going there again this Saturday. They are great people. Here’s the link to their site: http://www.lucky3farm.com/
John Goodie
Great article on the omega 3s and thanks for the tip George!
Will be checking them out !
Gema
Well,for safety prsuopes, the FDA recommends no more than 3 grams of combined EPA and DHA per day. For most brands, 1 serving = 2 capsules 2 servings (4 capsules) being a good maximum amount,saftey wise, but I’s stick with 2 pills per dayGood luck!
Jason Feinstein
I’m gonna have to take today off.. my hands were killing me last night during the push presses. Going to go for a jog tonight instead. I’ll be in tomorrow and saturday though
Andy
Good article, but for the sake of discussion, the research on Omega-6 still seems to be evolving. O-6 polyunsaturated fat has had a confusing path through research (O-6 fat dominating many of the vegetable oils such as corn oil as well as nut oils). Years ago, O-6 fat was “good” because substituted for saturated fat it clearly lowers LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. Then it was “bad” because it seemed to lead to pro-inflammatory compounds, in contrast to the anti-inflammatory compounds derived from O-3 fat (such as oil in fatty fish). However, recent research has found that Omega-6 fat also leads to formation of other compounds that are in fact, anti-inflammatory, and clinical studies don’t show the increase in inflammation markers that would have been expected under the O-6 is “bad” theory.
See http://bit.ly/zPzsfX.
Recent research on liver fat percentages looks promising with respect to understanding the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar and cholesterol, both of which play key roles in inflammation.