There are a variety of oils on the market to choose from. As you know, we need these fats for healthy hair, skin, hormones, joints, etc. These oils are from either a vegetable source such as flax, olive, borage, blackcurrant oil, or an animal source such as cod liver oil or EPA/DHA (from fish liver).
The liquid form of these oils is usually much more economical than the capsule form. One tablespoon of oil is equivalent to approximately 10-12 capsules of the same product. You can mix liquid flax oil into salad dressings, protein shakes, onto cottage cheese, etc.
Because of its distinct taste, fish oil is best consumed by taking it by the tablespoon right into the mouth! Some of the fish oils are emulsified so they are more easily digested.
After opening, please keep all liquid oils refrigerated!
Olive oil is excellent for cooking and salad dressings.
Another way of getting your essential fatty acids is to use flaxseed oil. Flaxseed oil contains more than twice as much omega-3 fatty acids as fish, and is also a good source of omega-6 (GLA). Flaxseed oil also contains omega-9 fatty acids. In addition, flaxseed oil may offer other benefits that fish oil and GLA products do not. It is also much less expensive, Make sure that it is organic.
Flaxseed Oil is an excellent "vegetable" source of omega-3 fatty acids. Dr. Johanna Budwig, author of Flax Oil As a True Aid Against Arthtitis, Heart Infarction, Cancer and Other Diseases, feels that mixing or blending flax seed oil into good protein (like cultured, low-fat milk) will nourish the body better. She has repeatedly observed that the flax seed oil and protein combination form special lipoprotein compounds that are easily digested, and the body will use them to build new tissues. She and other doctors in Europe use flax seed oil mixed with non-fat yogurt or cottage cheese as an essential part of their successful dietary therapies for many modern maladies.
It can be used in salad dressing, poured over vegetables or cottage cheese. Do not cook with this oil! One or two tablespoons a day would be excellent addition to the daily diet. Be sure to use only the organic flax found in dark bottles, refrigerated at your nutrition store.
Gamma-Linolenic Acid (GLA), part of the omega-6 family, is essential to good health. The body needs it to make a family of hormone-like compounds that control virtually every organ in the body, These compounds especially affect the heart and circulation, skin, immunity, and inflammation. The members of this vital family of compounds are called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are so important to good health that the 1982 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine was awarded to three researchers instrumental in the discovery of prostaglandins and their funcion in the body.
Evening primrose oil, borage oil, and black currant oil are the richest sources of GLA. Since both EPA and GLA act as anti-inflammatory agents, and their mechanisms are slightly different, they work well together-each making the other more effective.
According to a study reported in the Lancet, GLA-rich evening primrose oil was found effective in controlling rheumatoid arthritis in a substantial number of patients. Some 90 percent of patients who took evening primrose oil felt better within two to four months, and more than 80 percent either stopped taking their anti-inflammatory drugs or were able to reduce the amount of drugs they were taking.
In another study, rheumatoid arthritis patients were given 540 mg GLA and 240 mg EPA. After a year, those who received this dosage had reduced their amount of anti-inflammatory medicine significantly.
