Thoughts on flaxseed oil?

Mark57 · 11-15-2007, 10:00 AM

I've been popping a couple flaxseed oil caps with my fish oil every morning for several years now. Not sure why I started, but it probably was something I read in an article from Berardi or some other expert on T-mag or Rugged or someplace.

I need to buy some more soon, so that got me wondering if it's worth it? Would I be better off just upping my fish oil intake and dropping the flaxseed oil? I'm sure I get plenty of n-6 in my normal diet anyway. Does the possible increased risk of prostate cancer out weigh any potential benefits?

Any thoughts or input appreciated.

Lost Dog · 11-15-2007, 10:43 AM

Why not drop the flaxseed oil and add in flaxseeds, themselves? With the whole seeds (which must be ground, however), you'll get plenty of good things, with the oil, all you get (basically), is the ALA. The conversion to EPA/DHA is not impressive, so it's not doing you a lot of good from an Omega-3 ratio perspective.

I thought that prostate cancer risk was decided to be nothing, after all. No?

Never try to get more Omega-6s. We all get way more than we need. Try to limit it. No soybean or corn oil, for instance.

OldGuy · 11-15-2007, 10:50 AM

I've read that the conversion of ALA in flax oil to EPA/DHA is not very good (less than 20%). You might be able to replace what is converted with 1 or 2 fish oil caps.

Mark57 · 11-15-2007, 11:31 AM

I've tried putting ground flax seeds in my shakes, but then that turns something delicious into something I can barely choke down.

It seems like what I read, and I'm going back a long ways here, was that the conversion wasn't very efficient, but that there was some other benefit of the conversion process itself maybe, or some other FA that you didn't get from just fish oil alone. Maybe that was junk science, or maybe further research as disproved it. I think I'll just drop it and go with additional fish oil anyway, one less jar in the medicine cabinet.

Thanks for the replies!