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Noseer's avatar

Thanks, Jennifer for assiduously predigesting Chris MasterJohn's work for us. I've read him before and he gets to be exhaustively deep into the subject. And yet, anyone researching on Omega 3 before, and on DHA, knows this is a difficult subject to ever feel one has mastered. There's always more turning up from further studies.

In the last 8 years I've tried to NOT supplement to obtain a sufficient amount of parent omega 3, or of the derivatives DHA and EPA, often the major components of "fish/krill oil" capsules. This is due to the ease with which omega-3 oils oxidize, which is fully more than 3 times as quickly as omega-6 oils, which already have a horrible reputation for being in a damaging state by the time they are consumed as a "vegetable oil". I'm just afraid that capsules containing the omega-3 oils may deliver only oxidized oils which will be worse than having no omega-3 content in the capsules at all. I do believe that with intake of quite fresh fish, meats, and yes, even vegetables, an adequate level of alpha-linolenic acid may be ingested and the body may derive the DHA and EPA from that parent oil, providing, as you advise, the minerals, vitamins and enzymes are on hand to aid in the task. Our bodies really do not need massive doses of these oils. Actually, I probably get enough just from eating 2 or 3 cans of sardines each week, provided the canning process preserved the oils sufficiently.

Regarding the hormone DHEA which you briefly mention as an aside: "And some dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) for anyone over age 35 may be helpful for health too", I must mention that I had a scary exposure to this DHEA after reading some positive statements about it being just another one of the endogenously manufactured substances that appears in lower and lower quantities as we age, until it is non-existent at about the time of death from old age. From that recommendation, at about the age of 65, I began taking 25 mg/ day. After about a hear, I noticed a swelling in one breast, not normal for any male human. After a lot of research I decided it must be due to the DHEA, and commenced taking some things (progesterone and passion flower for two) and totally stopped the DHEA which I found out can be quite hormone disruptive in doses over 10 mg. I don't want your readers to be mislead by what you said without doing additional research on this DHEA. Now, Progesterone turned out to fix the problem and I stopped using it after about a year, but have also recently gone on it again due to self diagnosed high levels of estrogens from plant foods I'm fond of. Progesterone, in just 10 mg doses, seems to be quite safe for mature males, much safer than any doses of Testosterone or DHEA, but any hormone manipulation of course should be done with care or even under the care of a professional that can test and advise, such as you may do.

Thanks again for your insightful articles which I read often, and with great anticipation for additional perspectives on subjects that often are of great interest to me.

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Samantha Gluck's avatar

Excellent information, Nutrition Goddess! Thank you!

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