Help with Omega 3 dosage

I visited my local GNC store to purchase some Omega 3 Fish Oil supplement.  I bought the triple strength, and then asked while paying for it what was the normal dosage?  He and another employee said "1,000mg per day."  When I arrived home their "triple strength" is only 900 mg???  I have bought others that have always been 1,000mg and that is what I have been taking.  Can someone please help me with what is the proper dosage?
Thanks.

[gymdandee]

That depends if you're takeing them for a problem or just as a daily supplement

[mammo]

I want to take it for the health benefits, but also heard it helps with cholesterol.  I was on a statin and stop taking it due to all the negative things I've read and heard.  Any advice on this would also be appreciated.  Thanks.

[M4Y0U]

Hey there mammo good to see you again.

Don't take more than nessesary. I would take the recommended intake of fish oil and would take the advantage of other herbs to enhance the benefits.

Cooking-wise I would use a lot of garlic and curcumin.

Guggul is an herb you can look into. Drinking green tea is always a plus.

Look into CoQ10 and panthotenic.

If you want a good over-the-counter pharmaceutical I would look into piracetam and use choline with it. Piracetam is an excellent cognitive enhancer and will really help with cholesterol more than all the listed above.

Finally nothing will beat a daily healthy diet low in bad fats and exercise.

M4

[Paxiled]

Cooked garlic has no medicinal effect whatsoever -- it must be used raw.  And again, a recommendation has been made to use an unapproved pharmaceutical product, piracetam, that's illegal to sell in the US except by buying it illegally over the internet.  In fact, none of the supplements mentioned so far will help with cholesterol except guggul.  Now, shopping at GNC is your first no-no, mammo.  They sell crap, and their clerks are completely clueless, as you can see by the inability to answer your question.  If you buy their store brands, you're getting oil from contaminated fish.  Brand is important here.  Fish oil comes in different varieties -- some have higher levels of EPA, for example, for people with heart problems.  I would think you'd want the regular supplement to begin with, but there is no known dosage for it.  It doesn't reduce cholesterol, it raises the levels of HDL, the good cholesterol.  So does flax seed oil and hemp seed oil, but with different essential fats.  It also acts as a mild blood thinner.  What you want to do is start taking it and see on your next blood test if your HDL has gone up -- that means you're getting a good dose.  High HDL is much more beneficial than high LDL is harmful.  The best way to deal with cholesterol is exercise more, but you do exercise a fair amount already, and alter your diet.  Soluble fiber also helps control cholesterol, such as oat bran and the fiber that's in legumes.  Red yeast rice is a natural statin, much weaker than the isolated pharmaceutical version but may be helpful in combination with a cholesterol reducing program.  I'd say your best bet, given you were thought to have a significant enough problem to take a statin, is to see a holistic nutritionist.  Good luck.  

[Paxiled]

Oh, I forgot to say that the problem with cholesterol isn't the stuff itself, it's the oxidizing of it.  While tumeric is a good herb for the liver, artichoke is better for helping with the digestion of fat.  So a diet rich in antioxidants, you know, nice colored veggies and some fruits, vitamin E with the tocotrienols, and such help keep oxidation from occurring, and the good fats, the fish oil, keeps things flowing which also helps prevent oxidation.  There's a saying by a naturopath who's famous that there are two kinds of reactions when we take things in -- they stick or they don't.  Anything that sticks is bad, things that keep thing moving are good.  

[mammo]

Thanks for all the info, it's a lot to take in!  I do exercise every day and my diet has been excellent for the past 3 years, but the previous years had caught up with me.  I have been able to get off my BP medication due to exercise, change in diet, and weight loss. I have never had a good experience at GNC, I often know more than them, and I don't know much!

[M4Y0U]

'' In fact, none of the supplements mentioned so far will help with cholesterol except guggul.''

you contradicted yourself since i mentioned some antioxidants in the way and yes CoQ10 will help with panthothenic and yes I forgot to say that the garlic must be raw but they sell garlic supplements.

[M4Y0U]

your information is very helpful but It hurts when you bring down other people's well founded advices to promote yours. Say what you have to say but you don't have to be mean. What you said did hurt as if my post was completely useless when it,s not. And Piracetam is not illegal in the US. Piracetam is an uncontrolled sustance in the United States meaning it is legal to possess without a license or prescription.

[Paxiled]

I don't know Canadian law, but I did used to be a lawyer, so I do know US law.  You can't buy, sell, or recommend unapproved pharmaceuticals in the US.  It has nothing to do with being a controlled substance, it has to do with FDA approval.  Since this isn't a natural product it isn't subject to the exception for natural products.  Since it's a patented pharmaceutical product in Europe still searching after all these years for an approved use that meets scientific criteria, it's illegal in the US.  The only way to buy it here is over the internet from other countries, the same way people buy illegal steroids and HGH.  And look, I don't judge you if you want to take it or people at raves who think it'll make them smarter, that's your choice.  I just feel it's best if we don't recommend unapproved drugs here and stick to what's proven to work scientifically as best we can and natural remedies that at least we know the body recognizes.  And again, we've been through this before, if I say something that's incorrect I would hope you'd correct me for the benefit of the others here, and I'll do the same.  CoQ10 doesn't cut cholesterol, though it does provide energy to the heart and mitochondria and is a strong antioxidant for those purposes, but it doesn't really have a direct effect on cholesterol.  Not being mean, just trying to state what I believe to be correct.  It's up to the others to decide what to do, we just state our ideas.  Peace.

[M4Y0U]

Well for the laws on piracetam I think this is a good source - http://www.erowid.org/smarts/piracetam/piracetam_law.shtml

You said '' In fact, none of the supplements mentioned so far will help with cholesterol except guggul.'' while in fact they do help even tho the effect is not direct. The statement was mean and hurtful like my post was useless and you had it all figured out but you then contradicted your statement of none of the mentioned above was good by telling antioxidants were good...

[M4Y0U]

I don't want another war between us as it,s not helping anybody here but don't correct me when you don't need to and just say what you have to say without making my post lose it's value cause it was valuable information and you even explained why by yourself.

[gymdandee]

Try Nature's Plus Herbal Actives Red Yeast Rice, Natrol quintessence Standardized Pure
Garlic, and Barlean's Fish Oil these are all good products

[gymdandee]

P.S. 3 cups per day of Hibiscus tea can lower blood pressure

[mammo]

Thanks for the info!!

[gymdandee]

OMEGA-3 SUPPLEMENTS THAT FAILED! (TOTOX = RANCIDITY)
(TOTOX values above 26 indicate spoilage)
                      Softgels:
Master Omega-3 Natural Lemon Flavor (360 mg EPA and 240 mg DHA per softgel, 2 per day)
Freshness  (TOTOX value = 54.4)

Natural Factors RxOmega-3 Factors EPA 400mg/DHA 200 mg (400 mg EPA and 200 mg DHA per softgel, 1 to 3 per day) Found only 83.3% of claimed EPA
                                    
                                      Enteric-Coated Softgels:

Spring Valley Triple Strength Enteric Coated Fish Oil (647 mg EPA and 253 mg DHA per softgel, 1 per day)
NOT APPROVED Failed enteric coating testing: released ingredients too soon

                                                   Krill Oil:

NOW Neptune Krill Oil (75 mg EPA and 45 mg DHA per softgel, 2 per day)
Found only 79.1% of claimed EPA and 76.7% of claimed DHA
Also found only 78.4% of claimed total omega-3 fatty acids
Spoilage (TOTOX value = 57.4)
                                    
                                                      Children:
The Simpsons Berry Squirts (55 mg EPA and 35 mg DHA per softgel, 2 per day)
Found only 88.1% of claimed EPA Also found only 89% of claimed total omega-3 fatty acids and 83% of claimed total omega-7 fatty acids claimed

Wellements PharmaOmega learn (250 mg EPA and 100 mg DHA per softgel, 2 per day)
Spoilage (TOTOX value = 63.8)

                                                        Pet:
1-800-PetMeds Super Omega 3 for Cats and Dogs (180 mg EPA and 120 mg DHA per softgel, 1 per day)  Exceeded limit for dioxin-like PCBs (Found 3.14 pg/g)

[gymdandee]

Stroke and Fish Oil  -- An analysis of 38 studies concluded that eating fish regularly is associated with fewer strokes, but fish oil supplements do not seem to help. Interestingly, the type of fish and how it is prepared seem to make all the difference. For details, including what fish oil supplements can or cannot do, see the updated Fish Oil & Marine Oil (Omega-3) Supplements

http://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e6698