I've had an odd turn of events over the last few months and I'm curious if this has happened to anyone else. I've taken flax oil and borage oil for years (with occasional stretches where I didn't take ANY vitamins or oils). I've been taking them pretty faithfully over the last year, though. Several months ago I started getting sick off and on to the point of actually vomiting after taking vitamins. I always take them after eating, so it wasn't a matter of an empty stomach, although it was more likely to happen if I waited more than 1/2 hour after eating. I thought I probably had a bad batch of something and eventually narrowed the culprit down to the borage oil I was taking. I tried a different brand, even checking on the manufacturing location (US vs Canada), but I still had trouble, so I stopped the borage oil. It happened again after I replaced them with fish oil caps, so I stopped that, too. Then it was happening with just flax oil caps. In all cases, these were softgel capsules, and I wondered if there was a new ingredient being used in the manufacturing of the gel capsules themselves, but, as I said, these were all from different places and sometimes even different countries. At this point, the only softgels I take are my multiviamins. I've always been partial to gelcaps at the recommendation of my doctor because they aren't full of waxy fillers. For the last 2-3 weeks, I've had no problems with the vitamins, so it must be something to do with the concentrations of essential fatty acids. Has this happened to anyone else here? I tolerate my flax cereal (made from fresh ground flaxseeds) just fine. It just seems so strange for it to suddenly start happening after taking them for so many years without any problems.
How many capsules are you taking of the EFA's? I've read that excess EFA's can give those symptoms. But I think you'd have to be taking several capsules at one time for this to happen. I don't use EFA capsules at all any more because they're just not a good way to get the nutrients. I only use freshly ground flax seeds and flax oil now.
Saffire said:
I've had an odd turn of events over the last few months and I'm curious if this has happened to anyone else. I've taken flax oil and borage oil for years (with occasional stretches where I didn't take ANY vitamins or oils). I've been taking them pretty faithfully over the last year, though. Several months ago I started getting sick off and on to the point of actually vomiting after taking vitamins. I always take them after eating, so it wasn't a matter of an empty stomach, although it was more likely to happen if I waited more than 1/2 hour after eating. I thought I probably had a bad batch of something and eventually narrowed the culprit down to the borage oil I was taking. I tried a different brand, even checking on the manufacturing location (US vs Canada), but I still had trouble, so I stopped the borage oil. It happened again after I replaced them with fish oil caps, so I stopped that, too. Then it was happening with just flax oil caps. In all cases, these were softgel capsules, and I wondered if there was a new ingredient being used in the manufacturing of the gel capsules themselves, but, as I said, these were all from different places and sometimes even different countries. At this point, the only softgels I take are my multiviamins. I've always been partial to gelcaps at the recommendation of my doctor because they aren't full of waxy fillers. For the last 2-3 weeks, I've had no problems with the vitamins, so it must be something to do with the concentrations of essential fatty acids. Has this happened to anyone else here? I tolerate my flax cereal (made from fresh ground flaxseeds) just fine. It just seems so strange for it to suddenly start happening after taking them for so many years without any problems.
In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...
Quoted message said:
How many capsules are you taking of the EFA's? I've read that excess EFA's can give those symptoms. But I think you'd have to be taking several capsules at one time for this to happen. I don't use EFA capsules at all any more because they're just not a good way to get the nutrients. I only use freshly ground flax seeds and flax oil now.
I WAS taking 2 flax and 2 borage at the same time, then just 2 flax, then 2 flax and 1 fish oil, then just 2 flax again, now none at all :-)
Now I'm confused...you eat flax cereal, take something called vitamin mix (what exactly is that?), then a couple of capsules of EFA's and get sick?
I grind 1/4 cup flax seeds and mix them in my cereal or smoothie (only use 2 Tbsp if eating a flax cereal, which I normally don't). Then I thin 1/2 cup yogurt with 1/2 cup water and add 2 Tbsp of flax oil to that. Mix the liquid with the cereal. This combination gives me about 2.4g Omega-3 plus the proper proportions of Omega-6 and Omega-9 daily. And the yogurt is required in order for your body to absorb them all. I use the flax seeds to give me fibre. I suppose you could use all flax oil if you wanted.
Saffire said:
No, although I usually take the vitamin mix right after eating the flax cereal (contains about 2 tbl of ground flaxseed).
In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...
Quoted message said:
Now I'm confused...you eat flax cereal, take something called vitamin mix (what exactly is that?), then a couple of capsules of EFA's and get sick?
I take multi-viatamins, anti-oxidants, calcium, magnesium, zinc and a couple of others all at the same time. For YEARS I took flaxseed oil supplements and borage supplements, but now they make me sick. I DO tend to take them after eating my morning flax/hazelnut cereal, which is something I only started doing over this last year. I suppose since I usually eat the cereal, I can pass on the flax supplements now :-)
Ditch the flax supplements and add at least a couple of tablespoons of freshly ground flax seeds to the cereal. Neither the cereal nor the supplements are giving you enough EFA's to be of much benefit. And the flax in the cereal has been pre-ground so anything that might have been there has been lost by sitting on a shelf. The EFA's in flax don't survive more than a few days at room temperature.
Saffire said:
I take multi-viatamins, anti-oxidants, calcium, magnesium, zinc and a couple of others all at the same time. For YEARS I took flaxseed oil supplements and borage supplements, but now they make me sick. I DO tend to take them after eating my morning flax/hazelnut cereal, which is something I only started doing over this last year. I suppose since I usually eat the cereal, I can pass on the flax supplements now :-)
In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...
Quoted message said:
Ditch the flax supplements and add at least a couple of tablespoons of freshly ground flax seeds to the cereal. Neither the cereal nor the supplements are giving you enough EFA's to be of much benefit. And the flax in the cereal has been pre-ground so anything that might have been there has been lost by sitting on a shelf. The EFA's in flax don't survive more than a few days at room temperature.
I make the flax cereal myself. I usually make up a batch of about 18 servings from whole flaxseeds that I only grind at the time I make the cereal (I use 2-2/3 cup of ground flaxseed, 2-2/3 cup hazelnut meal, 1-1/2 cup protein powder and some other stuff, using 1/3 cup of the mixture per serving). I refrigerate the cereal as soon as I make up a batch, so it hasn't been sitting around for very long before I eat them.
Sounds good! Then you don't need to add any extra EFA's by taking the capsules. And I know I haven't answered your original question, but I just can't think of any other reason why you'd react that way. Sorry.
Saffire said:
I make the flax cereal myself. I usually make up a batch of about 18 servings from whole flaxseeds that I only grind at the time I make the cereal (I use 2-2/3 cup of ground flaxseed, 2-2/3 cup hazelnut meal, 1-1/2 cup protein powder and some other stuff, using 1/3 cup of the mixture per serving). I refrigerate the cereal as soon as I make up a batch, so it hasn't been sitting around for very long before I eat them.
