Comments on: Science in Action: Omega-3 (flaxseed oil vs. olive oil)

by: anonTMI

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:44:04 +0000

Pardon the TMI, but I have tried using flaxseed oil a couple of times for SLD. I get a negative side effect in that my prostate enlargement gets worse. Has anyone else noticed this?

Details: Male (duh), 50 years old, taking 2T Flaxseed oil twice daily according to SLD rules (nose pinched shut, 1 hr before and after flavors).

by: Marcia

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 03:25:36 +0000

Hi Seth, this is a great site, so interesting. I started having ground flaxseed’s after I read in a book ‘The Gabriel Method’ (brilliant!) that to have ground flaxseeds are so much more affective than the oil, (even tho the oil is still great!) The only thing is, you have to grind them (in a coffee grinder) just before you consume them, they go rancid very easily so even buying them pre-ground isnt good enough. I have about 3 tbs ground with a few walnuts every morning with natural, fat-free yoghurt, crushed frozen blueberries and a trickle of honey, I really look forward to it everyday now, I dont feel way different but I dont get sick and I know I am eating healthy, Im sure long term will benefit me even more!! Thanks Seth, I will keep on reading.

by: seth

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:58:16 +0000

yes, I am still getting comments. You can read all my posts on omega-3 — including the ones since your last comments — by clicking on “omega-3″ in the category list.

by: Gill

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:36:32 +0000

Hi Seth, are you still getting comments /info about your research re flaxseed oil? I have not read anything since my last comments. Regards, Gill

by: seth

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 13:37:58 +0000

Thanks for the update.

by: Gill

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 07:04:37 +0000

Hello, I recently had another cholesterol test and my levels are now normal with my HDL being above optimum. I have made no changes whatsoever to my diet and lifestyle apart from increasing my dose of flaxseed oil so I would think that it must have contributed to my lower levels.

by: seth

Fri, 25 May 2007 22:28:33 +0000

Your comments about raising the dose are very interesting. I suspect many people taking flaxseed oil are taking a lower-than-optimal dose.

by: gill

Fri, 25 May 2007 18:51:58 +0000

Hello , I have read your comments with interest. I take 2000 mgs of flaxseed oil –in capsule form - daily. I tend to suffer from nervousness– I can get shaky if I am the centre of attention etc– but since upping my dose from 1500 mgs to 2000 mgs I have noticed a huge lessening of my nervousness. In fact, only this week I had a very high profile event to attend where I would be photographed and introduced to lots of people and I sailed through without any nervousness at all. But the main reason I started to take flaxseed oil is because I read that it can help combat high cholesterol-mine is slightly raised- I don’t know if any studies have been done on this. Also I am a vegetarian and so would not take cod liver or other fish oils.

by: seth

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 03:32:10 +0000

I like Andrew’s comments about this at his blog. Here is what I wrote in reply over there:

That’s a perfectly good suggestion except that the low-omega-3 oils take perhaps 5 days of exposure to have an easily-noticed effect, as my graph shows. Learning this time course is a very good reason to do the easier unblinded experiment first.

Yes, I should do such a blinded experiment, no doubt. But what experiment should I do next? That’s a harder question. This is much like our interest in sample size: Sure, a study with a larger n is always a good idea, in some sense. But which sample size should be used next? That’s a harder question. And a more practical one.

I think it is curious how little has been written to help scientists answer such questions, which all of them who gather data have to answer many times.

by: Andrew Gelman

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 23:45:27 +0000

Seth,

I suggest you try to do this experiment using a blind design, so you can do your measurements without being influenced by your knowledge about which oil you’re taking. See here for more thoughts on this:
http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~cook/movabletype/archives/2007/04/testing_omega3.html