Type 2 Trust Me I'm a Doctor programme - omega 3 fish supplements

carina62 said:

Did anyone watch this the other week where they did the study on supplements for Omega 3? The results came out very well for the group taking the supplements. Does anyone on here take these? Also as a diabetic which are the best supplements to take as there are so many and could get expensive, I just want to know the essential ones for T2's. Thanks

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Supplements probably not necessary if you eat oily fish a couple of times a week, for example mackerel, salmon, sardines, kippers, tuna etc. I'm not generally a big fan of government dietary advice, but this one seems pretty good.

The only supplement I take is a multivitamin. Just Boots own brand. Not because I feel I need it but as a "just in case" I'm missing anything on LCHF

I had a quite a few blood tests a few months apart and as a little experiment I stopped taking my (expensive) omega 3 fish oil capsules. My first blood test I was taking them and eating oily fish twice a week, my hdl, ldl and trigs were good.
So then I stopped taking my fish oil capsules and just eat the oily fish twice a week, my next blood test the fats were not as good, trigs up, hdl down and ldl up. So I started taking my fish capsules again, next test everything returned to the original better levels.
Obviously this is not scientific proof, but I like to continue with my capsules as a belt and braces approach.

The bbc programme said having high blood levels of omega 3 was very good for health.

carina62 said:

I just want to know the essential ones for T2's. Thanks

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There aren't any essential supplements for T2's unless you have reason to believe you have a deficiency. I don't take any.

I get plenty of Omega 3 from my diet as I eat oily fish 3 or 4 times a week (tinned salmon in my case). It is also found in walnuts, seeds, rapeseed oil, soya and soya products and green leafy veggies. Plus other foods I can't recall at the moment.

I don't eat as much oily fish as I should, despite good intentions. I do take supplements including Omega-3 capsules, partly because it is also supposed to be good for depression. I take these, which I buy on Amazon. They are a bit dear at £30 for 180 capsules, but that is 6 months supply. They were recommended by someone on this forum, and have good reviews:

I take 3 grams per day for the chronic headache I get from ME/CFS. The trick is to get high EPA/DHA capsules to make sure it has a good Omega 3 content. Fish liver oil isn't a good alternative, despite being cheaper, due to causing Vitamin A toxicity.

I must start to take these again - I took some before when my memory was not very good and it did help - now my memory is totally shot, after statins, but one can always hope.
I keep forgetting to take my thyroxine - sometimes for days on end. It could be something to worry about - except I forget I'm doing it. I will put the capsules with the tablets, double whammy.

Old age, sack and sugar - they can creep up on you - Shakespeare was right.

I think.

EEPA, or Vascepa, is a prescription omega 3 drug for hypertriglyceridemia, but I don't think one can injest the amount they prescribe by eating fish. By hypertriglyceridemia I mean levels of >1000mg/dl and up, not the 300-500 stuff. I take no supplements, not even vitamins. But I eat a pretty good diet IMHO.

TheBigNewt said:

EEPA, or Vascepa, is a prescription omega 3 drug for hypertriglyceridemia, but I don't think one can injest the amount they prescribe by eating fish. By hypertriglyceridemia I mean levels of >1000mg/dl and up, not the 300-500 stuff. I take no supplements, not even vitamins. But I eat a pretty good diet IMHO.

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May I ask if you are a doctor? I've seen some of your other posts and got the impression you might be.

Hi,

I was off all supplements, and trying to eat a healthy diet, when I was diagnosed with T2 a month ago. I also have Bipolar Type 2, which I have been trying to treat with medications for over 10 years. I decided a few months ago to get off these medications (many of which lead to major weight gain and blood sugar and cholesterol problems) as they haven't worked at all on my anxiety and depression, and have caused me to gain a lot of weight and have a multitude of side effects. The doctor grudgingly accepted my plan. I've started on just a multivitamin, the omega 3 fish oils (good for brain and cholesterol, maybe diabetes too?), and also probiotics for women (so many infections which led me to find out about my diabetes). I'm also doing a whole foods Low Carb High Fat diet, and I go to water exercise and yoga 3 times a week. This seems to have brought my sugar readings down and is keeping my very bad depression and anxiety at bay. Now if only I could lose some major weight! I think I need to lose about 80 lbs. We'll see at my 3 month check up if all this has improved my test results I guess. I REALLY do not want to end up on medications for this. I am sick to death of the physical damage that has been done to my body so I'm trying hard to avoid medications of all kinds now. Now that I'm 51, I feel a strong need to protect my longevity!

ME_Valentijn said:

I take 3 grams per day for the chronic headache I get from ME/CFS. The trick is to get high EPA/DHA capsules to make sure it has a good Omega 3 content. Fish liver oil isn't a good alternative, despite being cheaper, due to causing Vitamin A toxicity.

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I thought it was cod liver oil that had the extra D and A in it??
I take fish oil and not cod liver oil for that reason.

I have loads of vit A in diet from bnut squash and I cannot have anything in with vit D in it. My levels are very high of vit D.

Perhaps I better check seems you've said the opposite to what I thought...

There was also a programme on recently that differentiated between plant onega 3 and fish omega 3.

Cant remember though what the difference was...

As I eat all veg, nuts and flax and seeds I just continue with the fish oil as I've gone off oily fish since I cant eat a decent salad with it...

donnellysdogs said:

I thought it was cod liver oil that had the extra D and A in it??

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All fish liver oil has too much Vitamin A to be taken in the doses needed to get an effect from the Omega 3. Cod liver oil is one type of fish oil, and the same thing applies to it.

ME_Valentijn said:

All fish liver oil has too much Vitamin A to be taken in the doses needed to get an effect from the Omega 3. Cod liver oil is one type of fish oil, and the same thing applies to it.

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Why isnt the vit A and vit D qtys listed on the packaging of fish oil when it is on the cod liver oil?

This in itsslf for me is really bad. I'm told to avoid vit D and take fish oil as it isnt listed on the packaging....

As high vit D can be indicative of other health problems if its out of sync with calcium levels its really important to know.

Media always states that their is a percentage of the population low in vit D, but they dont state that there is also a percentage high!! Gggrrrrrr.....

donnellysdogs said:

Why isnt the vit A and vit D qtys listed on the packaging of fish oil when it is on the cod liver oil?

This in itsslf for me is really bad. I'm told to avoid vit D and take fish oil as it isnt listed on the packaging....

As high vit D can be indicative of other health problems if its out of sync with calcium levels its really important to know.

Media always states that their is a percentage of the population low in vit D, but they dont state that there is also a percentage high!! Gggrrrrrr.....

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It's fish liver oils that contain vits A and D, not fish oils. Fish liver oils and fish oils aren't the same thing.

https://nccih.nih.gov/health/omega3/introduction.htm

Thank you @Bluetit1802... I can now carry on taking my fish oils!!!! Phhhewww!!

carina62 said:

That's interesting, thanks. Yes I was quite interested in the outcome of the study. I suppose I could try it out for myself and see what my next blood result tests will be. I am keen to get my trigs level down because I was found to have fatty liver in 2015 and of course am keen to get this rectified. I do try and eat oily fish at least twice a week but after watching the programme I feel I want to 'experiment' and see what the supplements will do for me - I can only try it and see if it makes any difference. The study group all had a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes and once they starting eating the oily fish and another group took supplements, it increased all the benefits for them and they had a 90% chance of not getting heart attacks or strokes so it was quite an eye opener of a study I thought so anyway.

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Not sure whether you like them or not but you can get all your omega 3 requirements from about 10g or so of walnuts, probably easier than whipping up a salmon mousse or preferable to supplements.

Does it matter whether its plant or fish oil for omega 3?

I'm sure I saw something that said there was a difference. Not well at the time with my brain being so fogged up... sure I've heard there is a difference..