FISH OIL TABLETS - How to Log Calories?

[Coutin-Eliyahu]

OK so, I am taking Omega 3 oil tablets.

I'm trying to take between 3-9 per day. I understand that Dr. Andrew Weil recommends megadoses of fish oil, and it's the current wisdom that the Western diet results in an Omega 6/Omega 3 imbalance. So we need to supplement oil intake with Omega 3 tablets to balance out our fatty acids. An overbalance of Omega 6 acids in the blood generally results in long term health problems. It seems to be a result of the high corn/corn byproduct content in the Western diet. Corn is a major source of Omega 6 fatty acids (the "bad" fatty acid). Nearly all Western food currently contains a corn byproduct, whether it's high-fructose corn syrup, or corn-fed beef, corn-fed salmon, or the like. Even salmon, if it's farm-raised on corn based feed, becomes high in Omega 6 fatty acid (the "bad" one).

Also, it's surprising that beef, fed on natural grass (by grazing in the fields) is high in Omega 3 fatty acid (the "good" acid). Almost all beef and chicken is just fed a combination of corn products in contemporary times. That's what results in the high Omega 6 content - according to what nutritionists are saying. Almost no beef or chicken is "free range," which results in the higher Omega 3 / Omega 6 balance in their meat. That's a reason that "free range" livestock results in a higher quality product.

So, I am taking the Omega 3 supplements, to balance out my fatty acid intake.

But we have our Fitbits, and we have to log in every calorie we take in. Someone pointed out to me that he won't take fish oil tablets because it's basically just eating fat, and it's making people fat when they take in more fat. Which, I have to admit, makes sense.

So since my supplements of Omega 3 softgels do not list a calorie rating, how do I log them into my Fitbit Dashboard? I may be taking as much as 30,000 mg per day on occasion. This seems like a lot of fat!!

Discuss. Serious answers only please. Thanks in advance. Keliyahu - B'H.

[USAF-Larry]

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@Coutin-Eliyahu wrote:

Someone pointed out to me that he won't take fish oil tablets because it's basically just eating fat, and it's making people fat when they take in more fat. Which, I have to admit, makes sense.

So since my supplements of Omega 3 softgels do not list a calorie rating, how do I log them into my Fitbit Dashboard? I may be taking as much as 30,000 mg per day on occasion. This seems like a lot of fat!!

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This is not totally correct. First, there are good fats, and there are bad fats. What makes people fat is consuming more calories than they burn, and that is regardless of whether the calories come from fats, carbs, or protein. The balance of fats, carbs, and proteins is very important, and total calorie consumption is also very important.

I checked the web site for the company that makes my 1000mg Omega 3 capsules, and it says each capsule is 10 calories, with 1g Saturated Fat and no Carbs. So, I consume a total of 30 calories a day from them.  You might want to check the web site for your brand of capsules to determine the nutrition content.

[Dominique]

I don’t log my intake, but I take the real thing (the actual oil), which makes it easier to get calories. I take a tablespoon, which is 8 grams. So this is 8 x 9 = 72 calories.

On the bottle, they express the Omega-3 per 5 ml:

Omega-3: 1200 mg

of which:

DHA: 600 mg

EPA: 400 mg

From their site in English:

5 ml of fish oil is 4.61 grams (used this site for the conversion), which makes sense since oil has a slightly lower density than water (the beauty of the metric system: 5 ml of water = 5 grams).

So my tablespoon of 8 grams is 8.68 ml, which means I’m getting 2083 mg of Omega-3 (DHA: 1042 mg, EPA: 694 mg).

30,000 mg sounds enormous: that would be 15 times my daily tablespoon!

PS: the taste isn’t that bad (and after all, it’s only a tablespoon) and it’s probably a lot cheaper than softgels.

[Dominique]

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@Coutin-Eliyahu wrote:

I understand that Dr. Andrew Weil recommends megadoses of fish oil

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I don’t know who that good doctor is, but the health benefits of fish oil were known ages ago and they are extremely well researched. Even my maternal grand-parents, poor Polish immigrants who quit school at 14, knew about them and force-fed their kids with it. My mother kept telling us how lucky we were not to be forced to eat the stuff. Well, I now wish she had fed us fish oil instead of stupid Kellogg’s . However, better late than never.

Anyway, what are "megadoses", according to the doc?

[Coutin-Eliyahu]

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@Dominique wrote:
...  30,000 mg sounds enormous: that would be   ... a lot cheaper ...

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Yes, agreed it seems like an enormous dose. My softgels are 3000mg each, so if I take ten of them: 10x3000mg = 30,000mg. Correct? Which would be 30 grams, which is two tablespoons, according to the fluid conversion I found. If we went  by your conversion of 8 grams per tablespoon, then it would be nearly four tablespoons.

These softgels appear to be large enough to be 1/5th of a tablespoon, or even 1/3rd of a tablespoon (according to your scale). It's a bit difficult to gauge without the proper measuring equipment. But either measurement is within a general margin.

Here's the content of my softgels:

Fish Oil ---------------------------- 3000 mg

EPA ---------------------------------- 900 mg

DHA --------------------------------- 600 mg

DPA ----------------------------------- 90 mg

Other Omega 3 ------------------ 270 mg

Total Omega 3 Fatty Acids --- 1860 mg

Thanks for your replies! B'H.

[USAF-Larry]

Not being a follower of Dr. Weil, I went to his web page to see what he recommends for Omega-3:

How much, and what kind, does an adult need?
Dr. Weil recommends eating oily fleshed, wild caught, cold water fish 2-3 times per week. If you use fish oil capsules, he recommends taking a product that provides 700 to 1,000 mg of EPA and 200 to 500 mg of DHA daily in the smallest number of pills. If you use liquid fish oil, find one that provides these amounts in the fewest teaspoons.

[Dominique]

OK, it looks like a single softgel would meet these requirements for @Coutin-Eliyahu, and my tablespoon would also meet them. So I would say no need for "megadoses", or another case where more isn’t better.

[Coutin-Eliyahu]

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@Dominique wrote:

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@Coutin-Eliyahu wrote:

I understand that Dr. Andrew Weil recommends megadoses of fish oil

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I don’t know who that good doctor is ... "megadoses", according to the doc?

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Thanks for the reply. Dr. Andrew Weil has a page devoted to him on Wikipedia. I am saying "megadoses" since most recommendations for fish oil and Omega 3 supplements only suggest taking a fraction of the amounts that most people are seemingly taking nowadays.

Thanks in advance, B''H

[USAF-Larry]

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@Dominique wrote:

I don’t know who that good doctor is,

Anyway, what are "megadoses", according to the doc?

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@Dominique, Dr. Andrew Weil is a Holistic or Alternative Medicine doctor who has published a number of books on alternative healing & health, and he sells supplements, vitamins, and herbs to accomplish what he proposes.  Here is one of his articles on recommendations for Fish Oil supplements:

https://www.drweil.com/vitamins-supplements-herbs/vitamins/too-much-omega-3/

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@Dominique wrote:

My mother kept telling us how lucky we were not to be forced to eat the stuff. Well, I now wish she had fed us fish oil instead of stupid Kellogg’s . However, better late than never.

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I guess we were lucky. We were raised on a farm, and only ate what we grew or raised. Nothing but fresh fruit & vegetables and meat, or what was preserved for the winter.  I never knew what "store bought" bread, cereal, etc., was until I was drafted into the military and found out the other half of the world lived.    Strange thing is, that all these years later we still grow all of our own vegetables & fruit, and can or freeze them for the winter...