I'm confused by the differing dosage amounts in Dr. Mercola's articles.
Many times he recommends one, 1,000 mg capsules per 10 pounds of body weight. He even specified in one article the dosage for a 160 lb adult - 8 capsules taken twice a day. That's 16 capsules per day!
In another article about trial to see the effects of fish oil on cancer patients, I believe, the patients were given eleven, 1,000 mg capsules per 10 pounds of body weight, and that was called a high dose. Even then some patients couldn't tolerate the high dose.
Then there's the recommended dose on the fish oil bottle, one 1080 mg capsule taken twice per day - that's only 2 total, regardless of weight.
So, I guess you can see why I'm confused. I understand that a higher dosage is recommended for sick people and a lower dosage for healthy people, but I don't know if I'm healthy or not. I'm overweight, and just starting to get serious about what I eat; so I guess i could assume I'm probably some form of "sick", but I don't want to take 15 capsules and have an adverse reaction. Should I just start with the minimum, and gradually add more?
Any help would be appreciated.
Without being followed by a health practitioner, a 'safe' range of fish oil capsules is between 2 to 4 grams, that's 2000-4000 mg. Any more than that and you can start affecting blood coagulation. Which may or may not be a good thing depending upon any other conditions that you may have.
In nature, cultures who eat lots of Omegas in their diet get MASSIVE amounts of them, but fish oil is not a food, but a concentrated supplement. Their is lots of evidence that 2 to 4 grams is safe and effective, but not a lot of literature on higher doses.
But you can also add in Chia Seeds as a fiber source and they have a large amount of Omega 3's as well and are a food source. You will also get more Omega 3's if you eat grass fed beef and RAW dairy from Grass fed cows. Raw butter, particularly, has lots of Omega 3's and is actually very good for you despite what 'they' say about butter.
Kerri Knox, RN
Functional Medicine Practitioner
http://www.easy-immune-health.com