Flax VS Fish

[Marretts]

I think Brian one main reason is that just this week in Australia 5 fish breeds were reported to have very high mercury levels which I and many others believe contribute to immune problems, by taking the fish oil most brands can say they have no mercury in their products and also most people know they should eat fish twice a week but its like drinking 8 glasses of water a day, I know I should but I don't, this way we are making sure our children are getting their Omega 3's.

[Claire]

Brian,

 

Many of our kids have metal/mercury toxicity and many fish have issues with this.

 

For me, the fish that have the Omega3's are unfortunately ones that my son won't eat!

 

Claire

[Chemar]

In addition to the very serious problem with fish toxicity, there is also the issue that, for children needing therapeutic doses of the Omega 3 EFAs, one would have to get a lot of fish into them!!!

 

My son loves salmon...but if I gave it to him every day.....he would soon grow to loathe it

[Jennifer]

efgh,

 

I think the fish oil is working better now because we supplemented for so long with the higher omega 6 flax oil and we are still using the flax oil along with the fish oil. In the past we did not do the two oils simultaneously.

 

From our experience with our son I would have to say that Dr. Kane's research has proven to be valid. In states of heavy metal toxicity the omega 6's are supressed and merely supplementing with fish oil-(higher omega 3's) makes the situation worse. Then there is the scenario of the person that has within range levels, but the body cannot utilize it's stores, pancreatic enzymes are recommended in this situation.

 

Jennifer

[Guest Brian]

Every food you eat has something that is not the greatest to have in your body.

 

Should we extract all the vitamin C from an orange because the orange might have other harmful compounds in it. We are then missing out on all of what the orange or any other 'whole food' has to offer.

 

I'm highly suspiscious of these mercury warnings; they seem designed to scare people away from consuming fish... or consuming much fish. Which my more cynical self tells me that such high consumption of fish would impinge on a wide range of drug company profits. Mercury and other toxic chemicals have alway been around. Many other horrible things are promoted and haven't been around such as Fast foods and heavily processed garbage, and legal drugs such as alcohol... yet where are the government warnings? A Governmental institutions first priority is to act in their own best interest and the health of the masses is a distant second. The government warnings are doled out by greedy and power hungry men who want MONEY at any cost and they'll hurt and kill anyone to get it. It's sad but true. It's all horrible deceit and trickery that harms peoples health.

 

Take a look at the Inuit Eskimoes ... do they suffer from depression, heart disease, and cancers? No the Inuit do not. The situation is much similar for the Japanese, Taiwanese, and Koreans. I'll bet within these cultures , neurological disorders are virtually non-existant compared to low fish consuming nations where the highest rates of behaviour troubles occurs such as America , Australia, New Zealand, and those land-locked countries, Germany, Austria, Belgium. I firmly believe that not eating fish because of mercury does FAR more harm than good. There is simply no other way you can reasonably gain access to the most nutritious substances on planet earth... SEA VEGETABLES.

 

Supplementation isn't something that should take the place of the whole food, but if you need extra of a particular substance than I can understand that.

 

But please tell me how,assuming you can eat or get your child to eat fish, can you not get "therapeutic levels" of any substance in fish. Supplements are by nature "unatural" and "processed." We, as a species, sure seemed to evolve just fine with shops touting all kinds of substances extracted from the foods we should be eating. The typical can of sardines has approximately 2 grams of omega 3. How much exactly are you suppose to get?

[Chemar]

Brian

I am assuming you are an adult and so I am sure you do very well eating the fish and the rest of the things that are good for you.

 

Children are very picky eaters and so , at least in my family, we maintain an excellently balanced, predominantly organic and very healthy diet AND we supplement those things that are necessary to help our son with TS/ADD/OCD/CAPD/SID etc. It has been a long, sometimes painful journey to get to the really good place that we are now in. We avoid junk food and processed, artificial foods and eat as much of the nourishing things as possible, However, because of my son's neurological disorders, he needs a lot more of certain substances than aeven a good diet provides. And so we use the supplements (the purest and most natural ones possible) that research has shown to be beneficial for his specific needs

 

As to reports on bad stuff in food...yes, i do take them very seriously....not to the point of fanatacism, but with a cautious awareness of the dangers in the food supply in this polluted and over processed world.

 

I am VERY satisfied with the system that we use and have seen near miraculous improvement in my son (who, btw HATES sardines!)

 

I think one of the best things about the community here at Latitudes is that we all fully understand and respect the fact that different people have different methods and opinions on how best to manage the wellness of their own families.

So we share our views and experiences, and learn so much from each other, while always realising that we each have our own personal situation to deal with as best we can.

[Guest roy]

I am curious as to what brands of fish oil produced the negative results. Also, are you using fish oil or cod liver oil? As you are probably aware, the bulk of the fish oil on the market is toxic, just like the bulk of the fish. It can be loaded with mercury and PCBs, both neurotoxins. So it is critical that the fish oil be from a manufacturer that tests and guarantees freedom from heavy metals and pesticides. Carlson Labs and Kirkman Labs sell clean fish oil. See http://www.kirkmanlabs.com and http://www.carlsonlabs.com. Having said all that, I fully appreciate that fish oil may not work for everyone, and a parent's judgment and observations are critically important.

[Guest Guest_efgh]

Jennifer,

 

Are you giving your son body bio flax oil and fish oil in combination now? what dosages?

Do you give any probiotics to your son? what make?

 

Claire

 

Great to see the progress that you are making. Has your doctor asked you to give evening primrose and fish oil in combination to your son? You never even thought your son had cow's milk allergy - right? Can't imagine that our kids can be allergic to so many things like sesame, onions etc etc..

[Guest Jeff]

Roy, I was using the Twin Labs, and I do believe it said Cod Liver Oil. The label indicated that it was free of mercury.

Jeff

[Beata J]

Did any of you used to give your children medication before switching to the alternatives? Who recommends all of these supplements because dosage also counts, right?

[Chemar]

Beata

my son was on Haldol. Luvox and Zyprexa as well as others....every one they tried him on just made things worse and brought a whole bundle of side effects that were horrible. We didnt want to medicate, but then were told by a doctor that we were "denying him a full quality of life" so, feeling guilty, we made the very bad decision to comply and ended up putting our son into the worst "quality of life" imaginable for a year........!!

 

He became a fat zombie, and lost his wonderful sense of humor and personality, and also became psychotic.

When he showed symptoms of tardive dyskinesia, and also some seriously dangerous cardiovascular reactions to the switch to zyprexa....we realised this madness had to end...and that we would rather live with all the tics etc than with the meds. our son begged us to let him stop them

 

We consulted with a local pediatrician who practises Integrative medicine(conventionally trained--holistic treatment) and were advised by her and a wonderful psychiatrist who also approved the alternative route...we slowly withdrew the meds so as to minimise the horrible withdrawal symptoms, and had specialised biofeedback/accupuncture to help, and then began the natural treatment with the supps.....also, once his system was strengthened, then had the tests run to detect and treat candida, heavy metal detox etc etc

 

the improvement has been remarkable and he finally does have real "quality of life" again

 

I run everything re the supps by our physician first, and follow the guidelines suggested by her, and by Bonnie's research in terms of doseage.

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/5207/ts_ma...bonnie_sup.html

 

 

HTH

[Guest ronna]

Beata J

 

We also went down a long road of doctors, tests and medications. My son stopped growing, gained weight and was a zombie. I found latitudes and braintalk and read everything I could find about supplements.

 

I have a supportive pediatrician and a naturopath doctor who I work well with. Our doctor was fully supportive of discontinuing my son's meds. It has been a slow process but the results for us have been amazing.

 

Ronna

[Guest Guest_efgh]

How many of you are giving flax seed oil for your child's tics and have seen success - just curious to find out..

[iladvocate]

And since this thread the anti-cholesterol medication Lovaza was developed from the exact mechanisms of fish oil and is used experimentally for bipolar. I don't know of if its been used in Tourrette's but perhaps a provider on this site could answer. Fish oil was helpful for me as a mood stabilizer as was flaxseed oil (basically as an adjunct to conventional mood stabilizers) but the more important question is Lovaza being able to control the same symptoms but in a clinically controlled and exact form might be more effective but research has to bear this out.