I've been avoiding seed oils for about seven years, but I still eat plenty of seafood -- in addition to a couple of dinners a week on average, I also average three cans of sardines per week for breakfast -- I eat plenty of a wide variety of nuts, and I supplement fish oil nine days per two weeks.
I recently had an OmegaCheck lab (only includes a few of the OmegaQuant results) -- 'Normal range' from my lab and OmegaQuant 'Reference Range' in parentheses*:
EPA 3.1% (0.2 - 2.3%, 0.12 - 6.69%)
DHA 4.6% (1.4 - 5.1%, 0.45 - 6.37%)
DPA** 1.8% (0.8 - 1.8%, 0.38 - 2.98%)
Arachidonic 8.8% (8.6 - 15.6%, 4.83 - 21.00%)
Linoleic 23.5% (18.6 - 29.5%, 13.12 - 31.32%)
Omega-6 Total 34.4% (N/A, 26.20 - 43.50%)
Omega-3 Total 9.6% (N/A, 2.80 - 13.90%)
Omega-6 / Omega-3 3.6 (3.7 - 14.4, 2.1 - 13.6)
Arachidonic / EPA 2.8 (3.7 - 40.7, 1.3 - 59.9)
* The OmegaCheck 'normal range' is almost certainly a 95% band, while the OmegaQuant 'reference range' is a 99% band. That's why the OmegaQuant ranges are wider ... except for the high end of Omega-6 / Omega-3.
** Based on the test summary, I'm pretty sure the DPA is just 22:5n3 (i.e., does not include 22:5n6).
Because of my greater consumption of PUFAs, I've got a lot more Omega-3s, Omega-6s, and in particular EPA, DHA and linoleic than Mr. X.
My Omega-6 / Omega-3 is a tad lower than Mr. X's, which I think (hope) is a good thing (less inflammatory[?]).
Not sure why my DPA is a bit lower than his.
I'm really surprised how much lower my arachidonic is, and my AA/EPA is way lower. I'd like to understand whats going on, and whether this is something I need to fix, and if so, whether it's possible (would it help my cognitive function?).
So it could be that the way they measure/test these things is just different from test to test. You know, different sensitivity level on the machine, different method of drying it, who knows.
Basically, I wouldn't take any drastic action based on differences between these results and OQ results. If you care, you could do an OQ complete and compare, then it's apples to apples.
But if you feel fine... I mean maybe make sure the fish you're eating is wild-caught and not farmed? Cause farmed fish is very high in LA.
Personally, I'd also cut out all nuts/seeds and fish oil supplements, but then maybe you're happy health/weight wise and it works for you.
Since all but one of the OC 95% bands lie within the OQ 99% bands, and are reasonably well situated within those bands, I think they are at least fairly comparable. I'll bring up OQ at my next cardiology visit.
I feel quite good, although always looking to optimize cognitive and athletic performance.
I too am quite surprised at how high my LA is. All wild caught fish; most of my nut consumption is macadamia nuts (for example, about 2% LA compared to about 20% for cashews). I do eat a lot of eggs (from pasture raised chickens that aren't fed grain), and grass fed lamb. When I googled to find out the LA content of grass fed lamb, I came across this:
"Research indicates that grass-fed lamb is high in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA.) Even though CLA is considered an omega-6 fatty acid, something that isn’t considered healthy, CLA doesn’t have the same negative impact on the human body as other omega-6 fatty acids. In fact, consuming a moderate amount of CLA actually aids with weight loss and helps build stronger muscles."
Hm, maybe @ CLA? But it seems that most "ancestral" types have very low LA, even those consuming lots of wild fish.
I just don't know, tbh.
How many eggs is a lot? I think eggs can be high in PUFAs, especially if they're "high omega 3" as the flax seed they feed them also raises LA substantially (often totally reversing the ratio, so it's actually a detriment to the o3:o6 ratio lol).
I'd maaaybe expect this if you ate 6+ eggs every single day, but probably not below. But even that's just speculation.
The OmegaQuant Complete is not a test you need an Rx for, you can just order it off Amazon. So no need to talk to a cardiologist.
What was mr x diet?
For what it's worth, here's some more data.
I've been avoiding seed oils for about seven years, but I still eat plenty of seafood -- in addition to a couple of dinners a week on average, I also average three cans of sardines per week for breakfast -- I eat plenty of a wide variety of nuts, and I supplement fish oil nine days per two weeks.
I recently had an OmegaCheck lab (only includes a few of the OmegaQuant results) -- 'Normal range' from my lab and OmegaQuant 'Reference Range' in parentheses*:
EPA 3.1% (0.2 - 2.3%, 0.12 - 6.69%)
DHA 4.6% (1.4 - 5.1%, 0.45 - 6.37%)
DPA** 1.8% (0.8 - 1.8%, 0.38 - 2.98%)
Arachidonic 8.8% (8.6 - 15.6%, 4.83 - 21.00%)
Linoleic 23.5% (18.6 - 29.5%, 13.12 - 31.32%)
Omega-6 Total 34.4% (N/A, 26.20 - 43.50%)
Omega-3 Total 9.6% (N/A, 2.80 - 13.90%)
Omega-6 / Omega-3 3.6 (3.7 - 14.4, 2.1 - 13.6)
Arachidonic / EPA 2.8 (3.7 - 40.7, 1.3 - 59.9)
* The OmegaCheck 'normal range' is almost certainly a 95% band, while the OmegaQuant 'reference range' is a 99% band. That's why the OmegaQuant ranges are wider ... except for the high end of Omega-6 / Omega-3.
** Based on the test summary, I'm pretty sure the DPA is just 22:5n3 (i.e., does not include 22:5n6).
Because of my greater consumption of PUFAs, I've got a lot more Omega-3s, Omega-6s, and in particular EPA, DHA and linoleic than Mr. X.
My Omega-6 / Omega-3 is a tad lower than Mr. X's, which I think (hope) is a good thing (less inflammatory[?]).
Not sure why my DPA is a bit lower than his.
I'm really surprised how much lower my arachidonic is, and my AA/EPA is way lower. I'd like to understand whats going on, and whether this is something I need to fix, and if so, whether it's possible (would it help my cognitive function?).
Wow, your LA is super high.
Not sure if any of those are comparable with the OQ results - in a previous test from another brand, I had AA of 33% (!). On OQ, I'm <12% (see comparison here: https://exfatloss.com/p/bro-do-you-even-re-saturate-omegaquant)
So it could be that the way they measure/test these things is just different from test to test. You know, different sensitivity level on the machine, different method of drying it, who knows.
Basically, I wouldn't take any drastic action based on differences between these results and OQ results. If you care, you could do an OQ complete and compare, then it's apples to apples.
But if you feel fine... I mean maybe make sure the fish you're eating is wild-caught and not farmed? Cause farmed fish is very high in LA.
Personally, I'd also cut out all nuts/seeds and fish oil supplements, but then maybe you're happy health/weight wise and it works for you.
Since all but one of the OC 95% bands lie within the OQ 99% bands, and are reasonably well situated within those bands, I think they are at least fairly comparable. I'll bring up OQ at my next cardiology visit.
I feel quite good, although always looking to optimize cognitive and athletic performance.
I too am quite surprised at how high my LA is. All wild caught fish; most of my nut consumption is macadamia nuts (for example, about 2% LA compared to about 20% for cashews). I do eat a lot of eggs (from pasture raised chickens that aren't fed grain), and grass fed lamb. When I googled to find out the LA content of grass fed lamb, I came across this:
https://rafterwranch.net/grass-fed-lamb-family-better-life/
"Research indicates that grass-fed lamb is high in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA.) Even though CLA is considered an omega-6 fatty acid, something that isn’t considered healthy, CLA doesn’t have the same negative impact on the human body as other omega-6 fatty acids. In fact, consuming a moderate amount of CLA actually aids with weight loss and helps build stronger muscles."
So perhaps most of my LA is CLA?
Hm, maybe @ CLA? But it seems that most "ancestral" types have very low LA, even those consuming lots of wild fish.
I just don't know, tbh.
How many eggs is a lot? I think eggs can be high in PUFAs, especially if they're "high omega 3" as the flax seed they feed them also raises LA substantially (often totally reversing the ratio, so it's actually a detriment to the o3:o6 ratio lol).
I'd maaaybe expect this if you ate 6+ eggs every single day, but probably not below. But even that's just speculation.
The OmegaQuant Complete is not a test you need an Rx for, you can just order it off Amazon. So no need to talk to a cardiologist.
I got the OC fully covered by health insurance, so maybe OQ too?
Ah, that could be. It's $99 so definitely worth a try.
Do these "0% PUFA" diets then exclude chicken and pork?
Also, www.exfatloss.com doesn't resolve, only exfatloss.com - which is what your RSS feed forwards to.
Yea, they do.
Thanks for letting me know, I thought I set up a forward. I'll take a look.
Good work! I might get one after all now we have a baseline.