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How to Best Tolerate Fish Oil

Messages
67
I know I am extremely deficient in omega 3 fatty acids, and yet I stuggle to correct this because I have very poor tolerance to fish oils.

I have found that I tolerate them much better with some digestive enzymes ( if they have adequate lipase) tho this has also been difficult because my tolerance to enzymes is also limited.

I have also read studies that say absoprtion of fish oil is much better with a high fat meal.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how to tolerate the fish oil? Or as a larger question, why would I apparently need lipase in the first place?

Regards,
Viking

( My brief history.. severe leaky gut and food allergies following massive amounts of antibiotics, and a history of yeast, and parasites )
 
Messages
67
@Gondwanaland Interesting, Which minerals get depleted from antibiotics?

@adreno Eating fish.. Yes, I hope to be able to incorporate more of that as my gut heals. So far i havent tolerated oily fish that well.

Regards
Viking
 
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Messages
67
One odd thing is that I tolerate some fats, like butter, without difficulty.
Oils, like fish oil, or seeds like flax or chia, I tolerate very poorly.
Are there differences in how oils are digested vs how solid fats like butter are digested?
 
Messages
4
Location
Brookfield, Wisconsin
I also cannot tolerate fish oils, flax oils, or any other polyunsaturated fat it seems, despite being very deficient. Right now my best guess is that for some reason these oils are being quickly oxidized once in the body (lipid peroxidation), at which point they would cause more harm than benefit. I may try to mix vitamin E in with the oil to offset this issue.
 
Messages
67
@Scarvacii
Can you tell me if you had a history of digestive problems? Parasties? Yeast?
In my case a parastitic infection started it all.
I do know that if i use a digestive enzyme with lipase, I am able to tolerate the oils much better. so for me I think its a digestion issue.
Also you said you were very deficient What sort of test did you have?
Can you tolerate other fats ok? Butter for instance?
 
Messages
4
Location
Brookfield, Wisconsin
Yes I've had digestive issues for about 10 years or so. I'm intolerant to many foods and feel anxiety/pounding heart when the wrong foods are eaten as well as a mysterious burning sensation in my brain that I'm still trying to figure out (possibly multiple causes like ammonia/lactate buildup). There are too many factors to know what originally caused these things but it was a slow and gradual decline. I have not had tests to determine if I'm deficient in omegas. However, since I cant seem to eat fish (or any meat without ammonia issues) and don't seem to tolerate the oils without a very stimulating uncomfortable reaction, I'm just making the assumption I'm probably low. Clarified butter and coconut oil I tolerate sometimes but the butter usually sits in my stomach for long periods of time without digestion.
There might be a lack of bile or a pancreatic enzyme insufficiency going on with me which I'm going to get tested with the Genova stool analysis.
I'm not sure how you can digest butter but not the polyunsaturated fats you mentioned. Thats sort of a puzzle. Both need adequate bile and lipase to emulsify and neither have any real quantity of easily absorbable medium chain triglycerides like coconut oil does.
I've also tried taking ox bile along with lipase (I use Integrative Therapeutics brand which is just two forms of lipase and nothing else) when I consume any fats and this seems to help with digestion.
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,092
@Scarvacii we have several topics here with the word "ammonia" in the title that you can look at. I personally experienced a jam in the cascade ammonia / uric acid which led to salicylate intolerance and extremely acidic urine (I keep pH strips at home and it was 4.5). Addressing acidity helps with both ammonia and uric acid build up. An easy way to gauge for it is swishing sodium bicarbonate in your mouth (1/8 tsp in half glass of water). More here.
 
Messages
67
@Scarvacii It will be interesting to see what the Genova stool test shows. Increased heart rate is a common indicator of food allergy.
I often puzzled over why I would have such benefit from lipase. Far as I know, there is nothing wrong with my pancreas, all my issues were in the small intestine. However, there is a signalling system from the small intestine to the pancreas. If the intestinal lining is damaged, the pancreas does not get signalled properly to release its enzymes.
Perhaps that was the case with me. Also, depending on what source you read, there is also some lipase produced right in the gut lining.

I did have a fatty acid profile done, which showed severe omega 3 deficiency.. Now there are even some finger prick home tests you can do and mail off for analysis. About 100 US$ for a full analysis of fatty acid levels.
As with so many people, extensive antibiotics were the entry point for me into all these problems.
 
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67
@Little Bluestem Hello, the fatty acid profile, which shows the levels about about 30 fatty acids, was from
http://www.vitalchoice.com/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=1421

Cost 99 $ and as recall the turn around time was about 3 weeks.
Typically what most people are looking for is the ratio between Omega 3s, (fish , flax etc ) and omega 6s (grains, most nuts and seeds ) Too much omega 6 can be inflammatory.

Here is a sample report from their web site...
http://www.vitalchoice.com/shop/pc/catalog/Jane-Doe-11222011.pdf
 
Messages
4
Location
Brookfield, Wisconsin
@Gondwanaland Im also having problems with salicylates. I tested my urine with ph strips and I'm under a 5 (thats as low as the strip goes) so maybe I'm dealing with the same issue here. Taking a tsp of sodium bicarbonate seems to help a little. How did you figure out that it was the uric acid that was lowering body ph? A test? Also, you mention magnesium oxide helped you. When I read into this form of magnesium people mentioned how it was a strong laxative and was poorly absorbed in the gut so I've avoided taking it in the past. Do you have any ideas as to why oxide is working for you more effectively than other forms? I actually have some lying around my house because Im trying a new cocktail where you add the mag oxide to carbonated spring water (and quickly cap) to create magnesium bicarbonate. In the process of testing this now in small doses.
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,092
@Scarvacii this is perhaps off topic here but here it goes:
I know about the magnesium bicarb water but never tried it because you don't want to get too alkaline to avoid candida overgrowth. I would say that a urine pH of 6 is safe. I went for transdermal sodium bicarb rather than oral supplementation (foot soaks, baths and shower scrubs).

Other forms of magnesium, especially glycinate, favor ammonia formation and also uric acid. A total of 600mg of MgO was my bowel tolerance dose, and I took it divided in 3 times during the day away from meals for 4-5 weeks. You've got to watch for induced potassium and calcium deficiency. As my intolereances went away, I always made sure to eat high potassium and high calcium foods.

I have always tested highsh for serum uric acid and urea, my father had gout once, and I had painful crystals that felt like glass shatters between the bones of my feet and the joints of my fingers and hand palms. In the end it doesn't matter what makes your urine too acidic, the solution is a neutralizing protocol...

To keep it on the safe side, start low and increase gradually the MgO oral supplementation and the bicarb baths (start with a foot soak, go for a shower scrub, then 1/2 cup in the tub).

I wish you luck. Please report back (under a salicylate thread).
 
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Star-Anise

Senior Member
Messages
218
Hi everyone! This is an old thread, but I too, am having problems with fish oils :(
Fish oils basically = RAGE for me (excitotoxicity?)
I've been told I need the omegas, don't tolerate flax seed oil (it does something hormonally for me).
Any suggestions?

@Gondwanaland you said: "It is a cascade, mainly magnesium."
I read this as: more magnesium may help. Am I interpreting this correctly? If this is the case, I agree, & I'm going to work on upping my mag.

Thanks in advance for any info that can be shared. I have tried various types of fish oils. This is now the Metagenic brand name.

Star:heart:
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,092
Fish oils basically = RAGE for me (excitotoxicity?)
I've been told I need the omegas, don't tolerate flax seed oil (it does something hormonally for me)
I haven't properly researched rage yet, but I get it when something activates the estrogen receptors and I suppose estrogen gets bound, there is less estrogen and consequently less serotonin is produced. Perhaps addind high tryptophan foods would help? Mustard (with whole seeds) & parsley is what works best for me when I need more TRP for sleep.
I could be completely wrong, though.
 

Hajnalka

Senior Member
Messages
910
Location
Germany
Any suggestions?
Hi Star-Anise,

If you don't tolerate fish oils and flax seed, maybe algae alternatives might be worth a try? I can't take fish oil and take Opti3 instead (but there are other brands as well). It states that oily fish are rich sources of omega-3 EPA & DHA because of their diet of algae. I can at least recommend it from my personal perspective, had my levels tested. :)