Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis

Hello,

glad to join this awesome community.

I'm about to start supplementing and bought a pack of 1000mg flaxseed oil caps (https://www.simplysupplements.co.uk/flaxseed-oil-1000mg), which seem to provide each: A-Linolenic Acid 530mg, Linoleic Acid 140mg, Oleic Acid 140mg.

Given that next I will skip caps and just buy and use pure flaxseed oil, I would still like to make good use of these caps I got... yet I'm not quite sure on how many of them should I take to get to the recommended daily level of Omega 3? Could anyone help on this, as I haven't quite understood how to convert.

Thank you

Hello and welcome!
A capsule of 1000 mg = 1 g flaxseed oil is probably equivalent to a little more than 1 ml flaxseed oil. (Were it water, 1 g would be 1 ml, but as oil is more lightweight than water, so probably just a little more than 1 ml flaxseed oil.)
The OMS program recommends the daily intake of 20–40 ml of flaxseed oil.
I would, therefore, think, that you should take 20–30 of these capsules per day.
Taking the flaxseed oil in form of capsules probably is a rather expensive way of getting your flaxseed oil. In addition, you have no way of knowing how old and perhaps rancid the oil in the capsules might be, because you do not taste it.
I would probably use the capsules up, but taking fresh flaxseed oil in liquid form is certainly the better (and less expensive) option.
Capsules can be convenient when traveling without the possibility of storing your flaxseed oil in a refrigerator at your destination. But in this case, I personally prefer algae-derived EPA and DHA (Eicosapentaenoic acid and Docosahexaenoic acid) capsules, in order not to have to take 20–30 capsules per day, but only about 8–10.
Hope this helps!
Best regards
Zoë

Zoe wrote: Hello and welcome!
A capsule of 1000 mg = 1 g flaxseed oil is probably equivalent to a little more than 1 ml flaxseed oil. (Were it water, 1 g would be 1 ml, but as oil is more lightweight than water, so probably just a little more than 1 ml flaxseed oil.)
The OMS program recommends the daily intake of 20–40 ml of flaxseed oil.
I would, therefore, think, that you should take 20–30 of these capsules per day.
Taking the flaxseed oil in form of capsules probably is a rather expensive way of getting your flaxseed oil. In addition, you have no way of knowing how old and perhaps rancid the oil in the capsules might be, because you do not taste it.
I would probably use the capsules up, but taking fresh flaxseed oil in liquid form is certainly the better (and less expensive) option.
Capsules can be convenient when traveling without the possibility of storing your flaxseed oil in a refrigerator at your destination. But in this case, I personally prefer algae-derived EPA and DHA (Eicosapentaenoic acid and Docosahexaenoic acid) capsules, in order not to have to take 20–30 capsules per day, but only about 8–10.
Hope this helps!
Best regards
Zoë

Hello Zoe! And thanks much for your advice

Wow, I would actually feel somehow bad to take 20-30 of such big capsules, every day! I thought they contained much more than 1 ml... and indeed it would be crazy expensive. Sounds like I started with a wrong purchase... but well... learning experience!

As per the oil itself, shall I always store it in the fridge? Or it's enough to simply protect it from light?

Best regards

Yes, always in the fridge! Those of us, who get a delivery of several bottles fresh from the oil mill, put the bottles even in the freezer, until they need them.
Keeping the oil safe from light is also (perhaps equally?) important. I therefore keep my bottle inside of its cardboard packaging, while storing it in the fridge.

Zoe wrote: Yes, always in the fridge! Those of us, who get a delivery of several bottles fresh from the oil mill, put the bottles even in the freezer, until they need them.
Keeping the oil safe from light is also (perhaps equally?) important. I therefore keep my bottle inside of its cardboard packaging, while storing it in the fridge.

Thanks much, will do so!

Hi Zoe,
Just wondering which brand of capsules you are referring to that allows you to only take 8-10 instead of 20-30.
Thank you!!

Hi Irene,
when traveling I take Omega-3 algae oil DHA + EPA vegan capsules of the Dutch company Testa with me. Their website is https://www.testa-omega3.com/en_eur . One capsule contains >450 mg Omega-3 oil from algae, of which >250 mg are pure DHA and >125 mg EPA, + about 350 mg sunflower oil, since the total fat content of one capsule are 0.8 g.
If I take 8 of these capsules per day, I get 8 x 0.375 g = 3 g DHA and EPA per day.
As about 30 ml or two tablespoons of flaxseed ffaoil are recommended by OMS (more precisely, if I remember correctly, 20–40 ml per day), but our body converts only about 10% of the Omega-3 alpha.–linolenic acid (ALA) of the flaxseed oil into EPA and DHA (see the old OMS-book of 2010, page 289), my thought was, that 3 g of pre-formed DHA and EPA per day should be as good as 30 ml flaxseed oil per day. Therefore, 8 capsules per day of these algae Omega 3 capsules is what I decided to take when I can’t take a bottle of flaxseed oil with me. With 8 capsules I also take in about 3 g of sunflower oil, which is rather unwelcome, since sunflower oil is mainly Omega 6 and better to be avoided (inflammatory!). But I decided, that these 3 g may be o.k. for a limited period of time and may be offset by the benefit of having a travel-friendly form of Omega 3.
I do not know, whether what I do is really a good solutionl, since I have no way of knowing, wether the oil within the capsules was being protected well enough from heat, light and oxidation, but I find them very convenient when traveling. They usually arrive with a “best before date” of 20–21 months to go, As soon as they arrive, I make sure, they are stored in a dark place and protected from heat by good insulation, but I do not put the in the fridge. I consume them in about 3 months time and do not order more than I need for the times of travel.
Best wishes
Zoë

Wow thank you Zoe for taking the time to give me all those details. Much appreciated.