Flaxseed Oil Caps - For Al L

[LUVMyBirman]

Accompanied for a 3 x weekly workout (starting tomorrow)! Will be starting the Flaxseed Oil caps as recommended by my GP.

Figured this would be a good time to hop back on that horse and step up the physical activity since the Flaxseed may increase my INR....exercise usually lowers INR, so one can only hope they will cancel each other out.

Ok, here's the question. Inspected 3 different Flaseed oil capsule brands at Walgreen's. 1000MG each. They all had different recommendations on daily consumption. 1st bottle said 1 cap, the next, twice daily and another with each meal.

As I am sure you are well aware...there is not an RDA since this in not an FDA regulated item. Then ask myself....why would I want to mess with it? Can you comment? Or, do you know how much is enough?

If I can avoid the statin meds at my age (35) (main reason my GP would like me to try the Flaxseed) would be in my favor.

Making a long story short.... purchased one of the Walgreen brands that noted "take one 1000mg capsule daily".

Don't think I have it in me to be taking it 2-3 times a day. Nor, do I wish to use the liquid which needs to be refridgerated. Have a hard enough time lugging my meds around when travling.
Let's not worry about spilling a smelly bottle of Flaxseed!

Thanks!

 

[Guest]

I just went to the National Library of Medicine and requested a scan of all articles since January 2002, in English, and with abstracts.

The best evidence that I could find for flaxseed oil doing anything was that people who consumed diets high in flaxseed oil had better lipid profiles than people who consumed diets high in oilve oil.

There was nothing about flaxseed oil improving anything.

It looks like lowering lipids in a gigantic leap of faith.

 

[Nancy]

I can tell you that flaxseed oil helped to grow a little fur (not much) on my first Shih-Tzu, who had a skin condition that made him bald.

If that's of any comfort to you all.

 

[Guest]

Who, Gina or me?

 

[Nancy]

Whichever is a dog!!

 

[fyrfytr]

Hey Nancy,
Do you think it will grow hair for me?
Hey Gina, let me know if you start growing any hair!
Take Care

Dave
__________________________
Surgery: 4/21/03
Aortic Aneurysm Repair
AVR, with a St. Jude Mechanical

 

[Nancy]

What the heck--give it a try. Can't hurt you. Let's see, what color fur did it produce for Boggs-- I think a little brown with some black patches. Do you think that would do?

Nah- you look great the way you are, couldn't improve on that.

 

[LUVMyBirman]

Thanks AL for your response.

My doctor must feel it has value as I am sure she would not have recommended. She not one of those into 'natural alternatives. Anything beats prematurely compromising my liver function with a statin.

Anyway, nothing to lose as this point. Hopefully it will show some positive results.

 

[Guest]

You may recall that I also supervise a statin clinic.

We come equipped with a liver that is like a freight train when all we need is a tricycle. You can compromise a huge portion of your liver and still have more than enough. The list of benefits of statins are growing almost daily. I'm not sure I believe all of them but some have the list at about 30 conditions that are helped by statins.

There is a very simple, finger-stick test that monitors for liver damage. We run several every day. It is called the ALT. You test this once a month for the first 3 to 6 months after starting a statin and a month after any dosage change. The test has a normal range. If the results go up to greater than three times the upper limit of the normal range, it is time to consider changing or stopping the statin. The last time I checked was October 15th but up until that time we had not had one person go to that level yet this year.

I think that not taking a statin and taking flaxseed is similar to refusing warfarin and insisting on aspirin to protect your valve. You give up a huge amount of proven protection for a won't hurt and might help alternative.

 

[LUVMyBirman]

Thanks again for your opinions really appreciate it AL.

It's not that I am refusing the statins...both my cardio and GP do not want me on one just yet.

HDL is better than good. LDL is bit out of range. Bringing on a combined number of just over 210. Genetics in part is the culprit. I eat a very low fat diet. Always have. My total cholesterol was in the high 180's even when I was a strict vegetarian!

 

[Guest]

Yeah, the body seems to have a mind of its own.

The LDL is a strong predictor of heart disease, but still you have to look at the total picture. Smoking, weight, activity level, impaired glucose tolerance all come into play. If you run enough tests on someone, you are sure to find something that falls outside the normal range.

My guess is that you take pretty good care of yourself and many of your other risk factors are not problems.

I have some doubt about everyone jumping on the statin bandwagon. In the late 1980s there were statements made that every woman should be on some type of hormone therapy (birth control to Premarin) from the moment her period developed until death. Look where that got us. I'm sure that some shakeout is going occur because too many people were put on statins.

 

[warnerd]

Gina,
I know we discussed this on a previous thread, but I wanted to revisit.
Please make sure if you are on Coumadin, that the cardio knows you are going to take the flax oil. My personal experience did show an increase in blood thinness when I consumed something less than .4 gms in the form of ground flax seeds.

Here is my understanding of how Omega-3s affect you.
The primary ingredients for reducing lipid levels are Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) and Docosaphexaenoic Acid (DHA).

1 flax gel cap contains about .600 gms of alpha-linolenic acid.
1 fish gel cap contains about .180 gms EPA and .120 gms DHA.

If you take flaxseed oil and all enzymatic pathways are working correctly (which is not always the case, especially as we grow older), 25 to 33% of flaxseed oil is converted to EPA/DHA.

When I received my latest cholesterol results, I was taking the following amounts:
EPA 3.4 gms
DHA 2.2 gms
I had to take a concentrated liquid because as you can see from the math, this equates to over 18 fish gel caps.
I?ve since cut back to half this amount.

Just my $.02.

Dave

 

[LUVMyBirman]

Hi Dave,
Thank for for the 'warning' and concern! What is the confusing...is the number of Flaxseed products on the shelf. Some stated multi times a day dosing...another once a day at 1,000MG. Not even sure if it's going to be sufficient?

When I called my INR in on Friday, 2.7 which is low for my MVR. Started exercising...so only imagine my lower level was caused by increased activity.

Alerted the Coumadin nurse of my new program and the addition of the Flaxseed. She said she had no idea it was an herb and how it would effect me.

On that...she said stay where you are and call me in two weeks! I said...are you certain? Shouldn't I test myself sooner than that? Oh no she states.... give your body time to adjust.

WELL! *thinking to myself* have experienced a major bleed at the hands of inadequate regulation in the past. Hence the Coaguchek purchase. My control is as tight as can be. Thanking my lucky stars for home monitoring.

Plan to test myself on Friday! It's not her body on the table if a hemorrhage starts. Been there! Done that.