Need EFA's in small capsules

"Steve Freides" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've finally convinced my 80-something father that he and my mother
would likely benefit from taking an essential oils (EFA-type)
supplement, e.g., Udo's, but we have a couple of issues: he has a benign
palsy, which means pouring oil into a spoon isn't an option, and he also
has difficulty swallowing in general (apparently just a small opening at
the base of the esophagus which he used to get opened regularly but no
longer bothers, and it didn't do that much for that long, anyway) and
cannot swallow things the size of many of the capsules I see for EFA's -
most are 1000 mgs and pretty hefty. Pills of normal size are OK,
though.

I'd appreciate hearing about essential oils solutions that might work
for my parents. Things like buying flax seed and grinding it or even
adding it to their food are out of the question - at the moment, they're
living on their own in an apartment near my home but not by a great
deal. They hardly cook for themselves any more and exercise for them is
walking a few blocks every few days.

If anyone has a mail-order source for these things in pills and/or
smaller capsules, I'd appreciate a link.

What about flax seed oil? Then add it to a beverage. The dosage doesn't have
to be exact, so if a little extra gets into the drink, so be it.

"John" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"Steve Freides" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've finally convinced my 80-something father that he and my mother
would likely benefit from taking an essential oils (EFA-type)
supplement, e.g., Udo's, but we have a couple of issues: he has a benign
palsy, which means pouring oil into a spoon isn't an option, and he also
has difficulty swallowing in general (apparently just a small opening at
the base of the esophagus which he used to get opened regularly but no
longer bothers, and it didn't do that much for that long, anyway) and
cannot swallow things the size of many of the capsules I see for EFA's -
most are 1000 mgs and pretty hefty. Pills of normal size are OK,
though.

I'd appreciate hearing about essential oils solutions that might work
for my parents. Things like buying flax seed and grinding it or even
adding it to their food are out of the question - at the moment, they're
living on their own in an apartment near my home but not by a great
deal. They hardly cook for themselves any more and exercise for them is
walking a few blocks every few days.

If anyone has a mail-order source for these things in pills and/or
smaller capsules, I'd appreciate a link.

What about flax seed oil? Then add it to a beverage. The dosage doesn't
have
to be exact, so if a little extra gets into the drink, so be it.

Indeed. A very thick once-a-day protein shake, with lots of good stuff
added, would be 1) good for health, and 2) easy enough to swallow.

Personally, my add-to-the-shake list would include chocolate whey protein,
flax seed oil, fish oil, Life Extension Foundation's LE Mix, a little
creatine, a little glutamine, some greens powder.

David

Steve Freides said:

I've finally convinced my 80-something father that he and my mother
would likely benefit from taking an essential oils (EFA-type)
supplement, e.g., Udo's, but we have a couple of issues: he has a benign
palsy, which means pouring oil into a spoon isn't an option, and he also
has difficulty swallowing in general (apparently just a small opening at
the base of the esophagus which he used to get opened regularly but no
longer bothers, and it didn't do that much for that long, anyway) and
cannot swallow things the size of many of the capsules I see for EFA's -
most are 1000 mgs and pretty hefty. Pills of normal size are OK,
though.

I'd appreciate hearing about essential oils solutions that might work
for my parents. Things like buying flax seed and grinding it or even
adding it to their food are out of the question - at the moment, they're
living on their own in an apartment near my home but not by a great
deal. They hardly cook for themselves any more and exercise for them is
walking a few blocks every few days.

If anyone has a mail-order source for these things in pills and/or
smaller capsules, I'd appreciate a link.

First, stubborn insistence on safety of Arnold Press, now this? Are
you trying to weed out some people? :-)

The conversion rate for even much younger men to DHA is only 0.04:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12908891

At least your father will need to consume over 25g of flax seed oil to
get 1g of DHA a day. Why don't you buy them some fish oil?

David Cohen said:

"John" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"Steve Freides" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've finally convinced my 80-something father that he and my mother
would likely benefit from taking an essential oils (EFA-type)
supplement, e.g., Udo's, but we have a couple of issues: he has a benign
palsy, which means pouring oil into a spoon isn't an option, and he also
has difficulty swallowing in general (apparently just a small opening at
the base of the esophagus which he used to get opened regularly but no
longer bothers, and it didn't do that much for that long, anyway) and
cannot swallow things the size of many of the capsules I see for EFA's -
most are 1000 mgs and pretty hefty. Pills of normal size are OK,
though.

I'd appreciate hearing about essential oils solutions that might work
for my parents. Things like buying flax seed and grinding it or even
adding it to their food are out of the question - at the moment, they're
living on their own in an apartment near my home but not by a great
deal. They hardly cook for themselves any more and exercise for them is
walking a few blocks every few days.

If anyone has a mail-order source for these things in pills and/or
smaller capsules, I'd appreciate a link.

What about flax seed oil? Then add it to a beverage. The dosage doesn't
have
to be exact, so if a little extra gets into the drink, so be it.

Indeed. A very thick once-a-day protein shake, with lots of good stuff
added, would be 1) good for health, and 2) easy enough to swallow.

Personally, my add-to-the-shake list would include chocolate whey protein,
flax seed oil, fish oil, Life Extension Foundation's LE Mix, a little
creatine, a little glutamine, some greens powder.

I think he's looking for something that won't activate his father's
gag reflex.

"JMW" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

David Cohen said:

"John" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"Steve Freides" <[email hidden]> wrote
> I've finally convinced my 80-something father that he and my mother
> would likely benefit from taking an essential oils (EFA-type)
> supplement, e.g., Udo's, but we have a couple of issues: he has a
> benign
> palsy, which means pouring oil into a spoon isn't an option, and he
> also
> has difficulty swallowing in general (apparently just a small opening
> at
> the base of the esophagus which he used to get opened regularly but no
> longer bothers, and it didn't do that much for that long, anyway) and
> cannot swallow things the size of many of the capsules I see for
> EFA's -
> most are 1000 mgs and pretty hefty. Pills of normal size are OK,
> though.
>
> I'd appreciate hearing about essential oils solutions that might work
> for my parents. Things like buying flax seed and grinding it or even
> adding it to their food are out of the question - at the moment,
> they're
> living on their own in an apartment near my home but not by a great
> deal. They hardly cook for themselves any more and exercise for them
> is
> walking a few blocks every few days.
>
> If anyone has a mail-order source for these things in pills and/or
> smaller capsules, I'd appreciate a link.

What about flax seed oil? Then add it to a beverage. The dosage doesn't
have
to be exact, so if a little extra gets into the drink, so be it.

Indeed. A very thick once-a-day protein shake, with lots of good stuff
added, would be 1) good for health, and 2) easy enough to swallow.

Personally, my add-to-the-shake list would include chocolate whey protein,
flax seed oil, fish oil, Life Extension Foundation's LE Mix, a little
creatine, a little glutamine, some greens powder.

I think he's looking for something that won't activate his father's
gag reflex.

Yeah. That's why I specified "very thick". Infants and children with various
feeding problems involving reflux are often managed with a very thickened
liquid diet. Seems to go down and stay down better than thin liquids.

Sort of amazing how life is circular. If you live long enough, you end up
back at the diaper and thickened formula. Steve has my empathy and best
wishes in this. It's a difficult thing.

David

David Cohen said:

"John" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"Steve Freides" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've finally convinced my 80-something father that he and my mother
would likely benefit from taking an essential oils (EFA-type)
supplement, e.g., Udo's, but we have a couple of issues: he has a benign

Indeed. A very thick once-a-day protein shake, with lots of good stuff
added, would be 1) good for health, and 2) easy enough to swallow.

Personally, my add-to-the-shake list would include chocolate whey protein,
flax seed oil, fish oil, Life Extension Foundation's LE Mix, a little
creatine, a little glutamine, some greens powder.

David

A stupid suggestion. Not just for an elderly man but anybody.

Steve Freides said:

I've finally convinced my 80-something father that he and my mother
would likely benefit from taking an essential oils (EFA-type)
supplement, e.g., Udo's, but we have a couple of issues: he has a benign
palsy, which means pouring oil into a spoon isn't an option, and he also
has difficulty swallowing in general (apparently just a small opening at
the base of the esophagus which he used to get opened regularly but no
longer bothers, and it didn't do that much for that long, anyway) and
cannot swallow things the size of many of the capsules I see for EFA's -
most are 1000 mgs and pretty hefty. Pills of normal size are OK,
though.

I'd appreciate hearing about essential oils solutions that might work
for my parents. Things like buying flax seed and grinding it or even
adding it to their food are out of the question - at the moment, they're
living on their own in an apartment near my home but not by a great
deal. They hardly cook for themselves any more and exercise for them is
walking a few blocks every few days.

If anyone has a mail-order source for these things in pills and/or
smaller capsules, I'd appreciate a link.

Thanks in advance.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

How about this? A meal of salmon and mixed vegetables with a tablespoon
of olive oil/canola oil OR a salad with an olive oil/vinegar dressing.

David Cohen said:

"JMW" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

David Cohen said:

"John" <[email hidden]> wrote
> "Steve Freides" <[email hidden]> wrote
>> I've finally convinced my 80-something father that he and my mother
>> would likely benefit from taking an essential oils (EFA-type)
>> supplement, e.g., Udo's, but we have a couple of issues: he has a
>> benign
>> palsy, which means pouring oil into a spoon isn't an option, and he
>> also
>> has difficulty swallowing in general (apparently just a small opening
>> at
>> the base of the esophagus which he used to get opened regularly but no
>> longer bothers, and it didn't do that much for that long, anyway) and
>> cannot swallow things the size of many of the capsules I see for
>> EFA's -
>> most are 1000 mgs and pretty hefty. Pills of normal size are OK,
>> though.
>>
>> I'd appreciate hearing about essential oils solutions that might work
>> for my parents. Things like buying flax seed and grinding it or even
>> adding it to their food are out of the question - at the moment,
>> they're
>> living on their own in an apartment near my home but not by a great
>> deal. They hardly cook for themselves any more and exercise for them
>> is
>> walking a few blocks every few days.
>>
>> If anyone has a mail-order source for these things in pills and/or
>> smaller capsules, I'd appreciate a link.
>
> What about flax seed oil? Then add it to a beverage. The dosage doesn't
> have
> to be exact, so if a little extra gets into the drink, so be it.

Indeed. A very thick once-a-day protein shake, with lots of good stuff
added, would be 1) good for health, and 2) easy enough to swallow.

Personally, my add-to-the-shake list would include chocolate whey protein,
flax seed oil, fish oil, Life Extension Foundation's LE Mix, a little
creatine, a little glutamine, some greens powder.

I think he's looking for something that won't activate his father's
gag reflex.

Yeah. That's why I specified "very thick". Infants and children with various
feeding problems involving reflux are often managed with a very thickened
liquid diet. Seems to go down and stay down better than thin liquids.

Sort of amazing how life is circular. If you live long enough, you end up
back at the diaper and thickened formula. Steve has my empathy and best
wishes in this. It's a difficult thing.

Actually, I was referring to the taste of the preparation you
described. Steve will have a lot better chance of getting his dad to
consume something if it doesn't taste like ass.

Right now, I'm working on a creating a hot cereal suitable for a PSMF
diet. I've used something in the past called Carb Sense, which is
fairly palatable if you add a scoop of vanilla whey and about 4-6
packets of Splenda. Kinda bitter, probably due to the flaxseed meal
content. I want to come up with some something that combines wheat
bran, maybe oat bran, soy flour, and flaxseed meal, along with the
vanilla whey and Splenda, that will be filling, high-protein,
high-fiber, fairly low carbohydrate, AND reasonably edible.
Nutritional content doesn't mean [censored] if people won't eat it.

"JMW" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

David Cohen said:

"JMW" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"David Cohen" <[email hidden]> wrote:
>"John" <[email hidden]> wrote
>> "Steve Freides" <[email hidden]> wrote
>>> I've finally convinced my 80-something father that he and my mother
>>> would likely benefit from taking an essential oils (EFA-type)
>>> supplement, e.g., Udo's, but we have a couple of issues: he has a
>>> benign
>>> palsy, which means pouring oil into a spoon isn't an option, and he
>>> also
>>> has difficulty swallowing in general (apparently just a small opening
>>> at
>>> the base of the esophagus which he used to get opened regularly but
>>> no
>>> longer bothers, and it didn't do that much for that long, anyway) and
>>> cannot swallow things the size of many of the capsules I see for
>>> EFA's -
>>> most are 1000 mgs and pretty hefty. Pills of normal size are OK,
>>> though.
>>>
>>> I'd appreciate hearing about essential oils solutions that might work
>>> for my parents. Things like buying flax seed and grinding it or even
>>> adding it to their food are out of the question - at the moment,
>>> they're
>>> living on their own in an apartment near my home but not by a great
>>> deal. They hardly cook for themselves any more and exercise for them
>>> is
>>> walking a few blocks every few days.
>>>
>>> If anyone has a mail-order source for these things in pills and/or
>>> smaller capsules, I'd appreciate a link.
>>
>> What about flax seed oil? Then add it to a beverage. The dosage
>> doesn't
>> have
>> to be exact, so if a little extra gets into the drink, so be it.
>
>Indeed. A very thick once-a-day protein shake, with lots of good stuff
>added, would be 1) good for health, and 2) easy enough to swallow.
>
>Personally, my add-to-the-shake list would include chocolate whey
>protein,
>flax seed oil, fish oil, Life Extension Foundation's LE Mix, a little
>creatine, a little glutamine, some greens powder.

I think he's looking for something that won't activate his father's
gag reflex.

Yeah. That's why I specified "very thick". Infants and children with
various
feeding problems involving reflux are often managed with a very thickened
liquid diet. Seems to go down and stay down better than thin liquids.

Sort of amazing how life is circular. If you live long enough, you end up
back at the diaper and thickened formula. Steve has my empathy and best
wishes in this. It's a difficult thing.

Actually, I was referring to the taste of the preparation you
described. Steve will have a lot better chance of getting his dad to
consume something if it doesn't taste like ass.

Ah. Well, yes. But he could flavor it a lot, rely on the decrease in taste
reception in old people, and have Dad use a straw to bypass the taste bud
rich anterior tongue.

Quoted message said:

Right now, I'm working on a creating a hot cereal suitable for a PSMF
diet. I've used something in the past called Carb Sense, which is
fairly palatable if you add a scoop of vanilla whey and about 4-6
packets of Splenda. Kinda bitter, probably due to the flaxseed meal
content. I want to come up with some something that combines wheat
bran, maybe oat bran, soy flour, and flaxseed meal, along with the
vanilla whey and Splenda, that will be filling, high-protein,
high-fiber, fairly low carbohydrate, AND reasonably edible.
Nutritional content doesn't mean [censored] if people won't eat it.

Send me the recipe when you finish it, and I'll be a guinea pig.

David

JMW said:

The articles in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals on the
benefits of fish oil are abundant.

that's odd that you should mention those articles...wait, actually it's
not 'cause you always scream and yell about peer-reviewed articles.
maybe you've not been paying attention to the news recently, but just
last week a major study concluded that the effects of supplemental
omega-3's don't really do anything for heart health at all.

"Pez D Spencer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

JMW said:

The articles in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals on the
benefits of fish oil are abundant.

that's odd that you should mention those articles...wait, actually it's
not 'cause you always scream and yell about peer-reviewed articles.
maybe you've not been paying attention to the news recently, but just
last week a major study concluded that the effects of supplemental
omega-3's don't really do anything for heart health at all.

The way science works, we don't jump off the bridge when one study (no
matter how big) gets published.
In science, it is the bulk of the evidence that carries the day.
1 study is interesting
2 studies deserves a good look
3 studies and you may be on to something
4 studies and it is on its way to being accepted
5 studies and you should start changing your lifestyle

Course all of that is predicated on the studies being solid, good work, and
actually saying what the news media says it says (that! almost never happens
by the way).

Or you can flip-flop and spend yourself broke jumping on every shiny new
study that comes along.
--

Dr. Dickie
Skepticult member in good standing #394-00596-438
Poking kooks with a pointy stick
Repeal the 17th amendment; let's reinstate the proper checks and balances
and end mob rule in my lifetime!

"DZ" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Steve Freides said:

I've finally convinced my 80-something father that he and my mother
would likely benefit from taking an essential oils (EFA-type)
supplement, e.g., Udo's, but we have a couple of issues: he has a
benign
palsy, which means pouring oil into a spoon isn't an option, and he
also
has difficulty swallowing in general (apparently just a small opening
at
the base of the esophagus which he used to get opened regularly but
no
longer bothers, and it didn't do that much for that long, anyway) and
cannot swallow things the size of many of the capsules I see for
EFA's -
most are 1000 mgs and pretty hefty. Pills of normal size are OK,
though.

I'd appreciate hearing about essential oils solutions that might work
for my parents. Things like buying flax seed and grinding it or even
adding it to their food are out of the question - at the moment,
they're
living on their own in an apartment near my home but not by a great
deal. They hardly cook for themselves any more and exercise for them
is
walking a few blocks every few days.

If anyone has a mail-order source for these things in pills and/or
smaller capsules, I'd appreciate a link.

First, stubborn insistence on safety of Arnold Press, now this? Are
you trying to weed out some people? :-)

The conversion rate for even much younger men to DHA is only 0.04:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12908891

At least your father will need to consume over 25g of flax seed oil to
get 1g of DHA a day. Why don't you buy them some fish oil?

[one response to everyone here]

DZ, there is literature all over the place suggesting EFA and/or
specifically Omega 3's as beneficial with regard to memory loss and/or
dementia in the elderly - this is my mother's issue and frankly the most
pressing issue between the two of them. My father has gotten to that
stage of life where keeping weight on, not off, is difficult, so my
thinking is that such a supplement has potential benefit for them both.

David, I mentioned making a shake but the answer was that it's just too
much for them to be bothered with cleaning the blender every day. I
know, I know ... They want another pill to add to their pile of pills.
They've been in their new apartment for just shy of a year and my mother
can't, and probably never will, remember which cabinet the blender's in.

JMW, it's not a gag reflex, at least not as I understand it. If he
swallows something to large, it seems to just sit at the bottom of his
esophagus without passing through to his stomach due to its size. Often
the solution involves him drinking lots of very hot water and also lots
of jumping - quite the site to see your 80+ father standing on the step
stool and jumping off in order to dislodge what's stuck at the bottom of
his throat - needless to say, it's a situation we try to avoid and one
day soon it will mean a trip to the ER, or worse, instead of him hopping
around. I don't know that the particulars make a difference but there
you have them. So, more of a "got something stuck in your throat" sort
of thing than a gag reflex.

And my mother isn't very good at taking pills, either, although this is
a life-long thing with her <sigh> but she manages and it doesn't seem to
be getting worse.

Overall, it sounds like fish oil, if I have a choice, might be better
than flax oil.

My father like Puritan's Pride to order from, and I found this on their
web site which is also in his printed catalogue:

http://www.puritan.com/pages/file.asp?xs=89B8392C65854E988C37C79C45E80F5A&PID=516&CID=128

http://tinyurl.com/rwnbn (same as above)

They're 500 mg capsules, which I'm hoping means they're smaller than
1000 mg and maybe will work for him. They're inexpensive enough that,
at the moment, they're what's at the top of the list.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

Pez D Spencer said:

JMW said:

The articles in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals on the
benefits of fish oil are abundant.

that's odd that you should mention those articles...wait, actually it's
not 'cause you always scream and yell about peer-reviewed articles.
maybe you've not been paying attention to the news recently, but just
last week a major study concluded that the effects of supplemental
omega-3's don't really do anything for heart health at all.

Perhaps you could cite that study ... was it in your Weekly Reader?

Here are excerpts from one equally recent abstract:

"A cardioprotective effect for omega3 fatty acids is supported by
prospective studies demonstrating an inverse association between fish
intake and coronary heart disease mortality. Data from secondary
prevention trials support a reduction in ventricular fibrillation as a
primary mechanism for the decreased incidence of myocardial
infarction. Clinical trials and experimental studies have shown that
omega3 fatty acids have many other potentially important
antiatherogenic and antithrombotic effects. Omega-3 fatty acids lower
blood pressure and heart rate, improve dyslipidaemia, reduce
inflammation, and improve vascular and platelet function. These
favourable effects have until recently been primarily attributed to
the omega3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid, which is present in large
amounts in fish oil. Controlled studies in humans now demonstrate that
docosahexaenoic acid, although often present in lower quantities, has
equally important anti-arrhythmic, anti-thrombotic and
anti-atherogenic effects." Mori TA, Woodman RJ. The independent
effects of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid on
cardiovascular risk factors in humans. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care.
2006 Mar;9(2):95-104.

However, I was thinking more in terms of the anti-inflammatory
effects, which have been established is so many studies that they're
much too numerous to mention. As as to Steve's concerns about his
parents' memory, DHA has a well-established role in the intergrity of
neural function. Bazan NG. Neuroprotectin D1 (NPD1): a DHA-derived
mediator that protects brain and retina against cell injury-induced
oxidative stress. Brain Pathol. 2005 Apr;15(2):159-66.

But you go ahead and stick to your simplistic "apple a day" wisdom,
Pezboy.

Steve Freides said:

DZ said:

Steve Freides said:

I've finally convinced my 80-something father that he and my mother
would likely benefit from taking an essential oils (EFA-type)
supplement, e.g., Udo's [...]

First, stubborn insistence on safety of Arnold Press, now this? Are
you trying to weed out some people? :-)

The conversion rate for even much younger men to DHA is only 0.04:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12908891

At least your father will need to consume over 25g of flax seed oil to
get 1g of DHA a day. Why don't you buy them some fish oil?

[one response to everyone here]

DZ, there is literature all over the place suggesting EFA and/or
specifically Omega 3's as beneficial with regard to memory loss and/or
dementia in the elderly

That's good. So, you're reading my response as suggesting that EFA are
detrimental?

Omega-3 in vegetable oils e.g. flax seed oil (mainly ALA) are not
EFA. They are EFA precursors. The conversion rate from these
precursors to actual EFA decreases as people age and it is especially
low in males. That is what the abstract says, not that you should stay
away from EFA.

Omegas from plants can be temporarily incorporated among lipids in
tissues, but the essential phospholipids in cell membranes of the
brain are not based on these precursors.

Or you'd be blooming this spring like the evening primrose!

"DZ" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Steve Freides said:

DZ said:

Steve Freides <[email hidden]> wrote:
> I've finally convinced my 80-something father that he and my mother
> would likely benefit from taking an essential oils (EFA-type)
> supplement, e.g., Udo's [...]
First, stubborn insistence on safety of Arnold Press, now this? Are
you trying to weed out some people? :-)

The conversion rate for even much younger men to DHA is only 0.04:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12908891

At least your father will need to consume over 25g of flax seed oil to
get 1g of DHA a day. Why don't you buy them some fish oil?

[one response to everyone here]

DZ, there is literature all over the place suggesting EFA and/or
specifically Omega 3's as beneficial with regard to memory loss and/or
dementia in the elderly

That's good. So, you're reading my response as suggesting that EFA are
detrimental?

No, just relatively useless.

Quoted message said:

Omega-3 in vegetable oils e.g. flax seed oil (mainly ALA) are not
EFA. They are EFA precursors. The conversion rate from these
precursors to actual EFA decreases as people age and it is especially
low in males. That is what the abstract says, not that you should stay
away from EFA.

Omegas from plants can be temporarily incorporated among lipids in
tissues, but the essential phospholipids in cell membranes of the
brain are not based on these precursors.

Or you'd be blooming this spring like the evening primrose!

We are interested in taking nutritional steps to improve my parents' health,
especially my mother's memory. What might you suggest? Fish oil, as in
what I linked to? (he said, dangling his participle...)

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

Pez D Spencer said:

"Following a review of 89 studies published online by the British
Medical Journal (BMJ), doubts have been over the general scientific
and public consensus that omega-3 oils can help protect against
cardiovascular disease and cancer. Upon pooling the results,
researchers from the University of East Anglia and eight other
institutions found "no strong evidence" that omega-3 fats have an
effect on total mortality or combined cardiovascular events."

http://www.food-business-review.com/article_feature.asp?guid=3E5095B1-E147-4BF1-8C1B-CEF82EEDB5AC

First of all Pez, that wasn't multiple studies, but rather multiple
articles about the same study. In point of fact, the "study" wasn't
really a study at all, but was instead a review of 89 other studies.
The first article that you quoted even gives a hint about a likely
reason that when taken in the aggregate this review found "no strong
evidence" that omega-3 fats have an effect on the total mortality.

While some studies have found that omega-3 fats decrease
mortality, one of the most important pieces of evidence
throwing the benefits of omega-3 under question resulted from a
trial involving 3,114 angina patients in 2003. It was
discovered that patients who were given large amounts of oils
were at a higher risk of heart attack. The conclusion of the
study thus led the researchers to argue that it is probably not
appropriate to recommend a high intake of omega-3 fat for
people who have angina.

When you add in 3,114 angina patients who had a higher risk of heart
attack when they were given large amounts of oils it shouldn't
surprise you that the overall results were skewed towards "no strong
evidence of benefit." Heck, if you are suffering from angina there is
clear evidence that large amounts of fish oil aren't a good idea.

Now, without the actual study, it's hard to say how this "review"
actually worked, but you shouldn't start believing that this is new
research. These particular researchers didn't carry out a study, they
simply crunched the numbers from previous studies, most of which
concluded that there were cardiovascular benefits from taking fish
oil.

It's also important to note that these findings don't say anything
about the other health benefits of omega-3 oils.

Jason

Quoted message said:

We are interested in taking nutritional steps to improve my parents' health,
especially my mother's memory. What might you suggest? Fish oil, as in
what I linked to? (he said, dangling his participle...)

the product Ensure from Ross Labs would be a good place to start if
they're having difficulty consuming enough nutrients in their diet.
ensure is usually well tolerated and a solid product.

as for your mother's memory, you may get some the odd suggestion to use
DMAE or phosphatidyl choline, but i would look into using prescription
Hydergine first. i believe hydergine is still available in the united
states as a prescription. it's not mentioned much anymore, but the
"life extensionists" wrote about it endlessly in the 80's about what
great effects it had on memory.

when researching smart drugs, some people suggest a teaspoon or two per
day of fresh lecithin for the choline and phosphatidyl choline content.

as for the fish oil, i don't see any reason why you should be
supplementing your parents' diet with it.

whoops! i mean "semantics."

On 28 Mar 2006 14:03:46 -0800, "Pez D Spencer" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

the product Ensure from Ross Labs would be a good place to start if
they're having difficulty consuming enough nutrients in their diet.
ensure is usually well tolerated and a solid product.

Especially "solid" when the old codgers [censored] in their diapers, because
it's like a stone when you have to change them. Much easier cleanup.