Tools to Support Holistic Health and Nutrition: Fish Oil, Flax Oil, and Flaxseeds
As a naturopathic doctor I often hear the question: What is the difference between Fish oil and Flaxseed oil? And, patients also want to know the difference between Flaxseed oil, Ground Flaxseeds and Whole flaxseeds? In Holistic Nutrition for the Kitchen: Confused About Oils Part III I discussed Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. Fish and flax are both excellent sources of these, in particular Omega 3 Fatty Acids. Omega 3?s are important in heart health, skin health, depression, inflammation, and a myriad of other health benefits. These fatty acids are ?essential? meaning our body requires them for survival. It is because of these many health benefits that your doctor might tell you to eat more cold-water fish, or that your cereal now advertises ?with flax!?
How Fish Oil and Flaxseed Oil Support Natural Health
Fish oil and Flaxseed oil are both excellent sources of Omega 3 fatty acids. They both come in liquid or capsules, and are easy to take. The difference between fish oil and eating a piece of fish is that the oil is highly-concentrated, allowing you to get your daily dose of Omega-3s in a few capsules or a teaspoon of oil versus eating a lot of fish.
Which one is best? We often recommend Fish oil above Flaxseed oil as a daily supplement for a biochemical reason. Both fish and flaxseed oils are converted in the body to the same end product, an anti-inflammatory molecule that is thought to explain all the health benefits. However, to get to the final molecule and be used by the body, flaxseed oil has to go through several more steps than fish oil. Fish oil is very close to the end goal, and works beautifully in most people.
Holistic Nutrition for Vegetarians and Vegans
Vegetarians or vegans who prefer to avoid animal products should elect for flaxseed oil, a perfectly fine option for getting those Omegas. If you have an allergy to fish, obviously stay away from the highly concentrated fish oil. In the real world, I often recommend taking Fish oil for a daily supplement and using flaxseed oil with your salad dressings or as a condiment. Supplementing with Flaxseed oil is an acceptable alternative.
Recommended Products from Naturopathic Doctors
Fish and Flaxseed oils are concentrated so it is very important to take high quality products. Many inexpensive, poor-quality fish oils that you find at stores or over the Internet may have toxic levels of mercury and PCBs in them. When it comes to concentrated fish oil, it is VERY important that you only consume high quality, third-party tested, purity guaranteed fish oil.
Choosing between flaxseeds and flaxseed oil is similar to the difference between eating an orange versus drinking orange juice. The whole fruit has some juice as well as a lot of the fibrous pulp. The juice is just liquid made from the juice of quite a number of whole oranges. When you take flaxseeds you have the whole orange. When you use the flaxseed oil, you are taking the squeezed out juice (i.e. omega-rich oil) of a bunch of flaxseeds. Both are beneficial, both are important, but you take the different forms for different reasons and to get different natural health benefits.
Flaxseed oil: Source of high-potency Omega-3 fatty acid source.
Ground flaxseeds: Flaxseeds alone are not recommended as a source of Omega-3?s; flaxseed oil or fish oil are much better sources. Ground flaxseeds have many additional holistic health benefits and are one of my favorite nutritional supplements! Ground flaxseeds are an excellent source of fiber, will bind to excess cholesterol that your body is trying to clear which may result in lowered cholesterol levels, and can be a miracle worker when it comes to balancing female hormones.
Whole flaxseeds: There is a lot of misleading marketing in many of those ?Now With Flax!? products. If you look in your bread, cereal, etc. that advertises ?with flax? and see an actual whole seed, you are most likely not getting any of the benefits we?ve talked about. It?s like swallowing a whole walnut; you need to crack open the shell first to get to the good stuff inside. The best way to grind flaxseed is with a coffee grinder or you can sometimes find it pre-ground at health food stores. We recommend grinding it yourself to ensure that it?s still fresh (due to the oil content, ground flaxseeds will eventually turn rancid) but if you prefer the convenience of pre-ground, then store in the fridge.
Dr. Kristina Taylor Lewis, ND
Author Bio
Lewis Family Natural Health is a husband and wife team of naturopathic physicians in Asheville, North Carolina. Drs. Kristina and Eric Lewis specialize in holistic women's health, homeopathy, herbal medicine, nutritional counseling, all natural weight loss and healthy lifestyle coaching. For more information visit http://www.LewisNaturalHealth.com.
