May 18, 2007

Omega 3's and Fish Oil: More Exciting Research!


Okay, maybe not so not exciting. In fact: Zzzzzz. But every now and then Crabby likes to make reference to a study or two just so people think she Keeps Up On Things.

And we were recently discussing some of the benefits of omega 3's (like reducing risks of alzheimers, and other bad things like cardiac problems and arthritis. However we noted that if you don't like to eat oily fish or drink disgusting adulterated orange juice, omega 3's can be hard to come by. There are some vegetable sources like flax and walnuts, and some processed foods that are starting to add it, but it's still kind of a challenge.

Crabby's confession: she also resorts to popping fish oil pills (the enteric kind that minimize fish burps) in addition to occasionally eating some salmon. But since supplements are almost never as good as the real thing, she hasn't been entirely sure this was a legitimate approach.

And there's still no Definitive Answer on that, but there's some hope for fish-avoiders. At least one recent study seemed to show good results with fish oil supplements, making Crabby feel somewhat vindicated. Some Australian scientists found that taking fish oil supplements in combination with aerobic exercise improved cardiovascular and metabolic health. Hooray!

Now just in case readers missed part of that last bit: in combination with aerobic exercise. Still got ta shake that booty.

And since no one can really pretend to give much of a crap about fish oil, lets talk about something else below. Anyone got fun plans for the weekend? Anything piss you off in the news today? How's everyone doing?

15 comments:

  1. I used to pop fish oil pills but then I stopped. No real reason -- just slipped my mind. ;) I really ought to start again, though. And I do love eating fish. LOL@ "fish burps"! Nothin' quite like 'em.

    I've been really busy and I've gotten behind on my blogging activities. And I'm impressed by your regular and frequent posting! :) Alas, I've had a bit of blogger's block lately, ACK!

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  2. Ugh! Fish burps! I hate 'em! :-P

    I never knew they were so common. I thought I was the only one!

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  3. Just so you know you are not alone, Crabby, I saw a jug of the adulterated orange juice the other day. Eeeeewww.

    I eat flax. I like it in bread and on oatmeal and in granola. I don't eat it every day unless I've added it to the bread, though.
    To get to your questions. Blogger has annoyed me today. The new autosave feature broke the comments link and when I tried to ask about it, I wasn't recognized.
    Steam ensued. Got that sorted out and then Had An Idea.
    I tried a test post without saving anything myself and then posted directly.
    It worked so well that I deleted the two posts I'd made today and redid them without saving as a draft first.
    So, long story short, fresh posts at TGLP and Prozac Palace. Although comments link is up, a test is always a Good Idea. Not that I'm hintin' or nuthin'.

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  4. I just bought some flax seeds at the store. I grind them up and add them to foods randomly. Funny part is, I somehow missed that they were a good source of omega 3's, (i had just heard they were good for weight loss)

    Bonus!

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  5. Hi thomma lyn!

    See when you post, you do these insanely informative, thoughtful, articulate posts. There's your problem right there. Fish burps. Much easier.

    Holly--aren't they gross? Even the enteric kind of capsule doesn't get rid of them entirely. Blechh. So no, not just you.

    Leah--so did you try the fishy orange juice? Please tell me you did so I never in my life have to.

    So last time I was at your blog (maybe half an hour ago) I couldn't comment--will have to try again. I also had to publish this post twice to get the comment thingy to appear. I'd thought i'd accidentally hit something, but maybe it was the new autosave?

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  6. oops, sorry Katieo, we must have posted about the same time.

    So you were alrealdy eating flax without even knowing about omegas? That's indeed a bonus. The grinding thing sounds like a bit of a pain, but it does sound like a more natural way to go about getting flax than swallowing burpy capsules.

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  7. I like to take my omega threes in "candy" type format. Well I like all of my vitamins that way. I take my omega threes from a packet that tastes like lime slime. Sounds gross but, it is really quite tasty. I find with vitamins, if it is tasty I am more like to actually take it.

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  8. Crabby, coffee grinder for the flax. SUPER easy.

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  9. I didn't try the liquid Orange Roughy, Crabby. I wasn't going to. Ever. But now I'm intrigued. I might actually do it if I find a small enough container or see it on sale.
    I've eaten Muktuk just for the experience. Awful as orange fishy sounds, it might not be too bad.
    I'll let you know.

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  10. Zzzzzz is right. Aren't grilled salmon and a love of sushi enough to cover the fish oil front? And what a tightly focused group we are. No one doing anything but thinking about fitness and health. Those of you in the San Francisco area have until May 28 to catch the Picasso and American Art exhibit at MoMA. It's a great, revelatory show about Picasso's influence on American painters like Arshile Gorky, Frank Stella, and Jasper Johns. And here's a book recommendation: The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri. Compulsively readable novel about the second-generation immigrant experience in America, in this case the child of Bengali parents. Have a great weekend!

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  11. By the way, according to Environmental Defense (oceansalive.org), orange roughy is one of the worst eco-choices of fish to eat, because of mercury, PCBs, dioxins, or pesticides. Other baddies are rock cod/rockfish, farmed or Atlantic salmon, swordfish, and bluefin tuna. And of course you never want to eat "wild" caviar because you are contributing to the depletion of sturgeon. Chances are, the caviar you eat was likely farmed outside of Sacramento anyway, and that is acceptable. Chilean seabass and Atlantic cod are other overfished species. Best eco-choices? Clams/mussels/oysters, crab, halibut, mackerel, mahimahi, wild Alaskan salmon, sardines, farmed scallops, shrimp, striped bass, tilapia. Yes, it gets tiresome to ask the waiter, "Is the salmon farmed or wild?" but sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet. Or the fish hook. Whatever.

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  12. Thanks Katieo! Coffee grinder. Duh.

    And Leah, I triple dog dare you on the orange juice. Maybe it's not even that bad.

    Don't know what muktuk is--a fish of some sort? It sounds exotic and challenging and Crabby suspects she wouldn't like it unless it's drenched in some sort of garlicky buttery sauce. Unless it's a dessert of some sort, then cancel the garlic.

    And Appleton! Don't worry, most of the commenters here really truly don't give a shit about fish oil or sit ups or anything else Crabby writes about. They're just being nice to come to her blog and humor her. Click on some of their links and you'll find they have lots more intersting things on their minds than fish oil. It is Crabby who chose to have a narrowly focussed blog topic, but she ignores it half the time anyway.

    But you make some interesting points about all the ways one can screw up trying to get fish without causing more harm to the environment. Crabby is starting to think seriously about drinking adulterated orange juice after all.

    (And not to reveal Crabby's geographical location, but that Picasso exhibit sounds fantastic. Should Crabby just happen to find herself in the SF Bay area in the next week or so, she'll try to check it out).

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  13. Good morning, Crabby.

    You just triple dog dared a Dog Year. I now feel compelled to give it a go.
    Muktuk is raw whale blubber, a traditional food of the Inuit people. Mike and I were in Inuvik, NWT nine years ago and wound up at a feast at the local Native Friendship Centre on June 21. Plenty of traditional foods to chose from. I took a square of said blubber. It's very chewy and tastes of sea water.
    I'm not sure there's enough garlic in the world.
    And I had the feeling I was chowing down on a highly intelligent creature.

    Good info, Appleton. I'm very fond of shrimp. Glad it's a good choice.

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  14. Choose. Not "to chose from" but to choose from.
    I even previewed.

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  15. Hi Leah--
    Wow, whale blubber. I am impressed.

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