Tony Barnes

?? You can't say that 90% of the omega 3 is lost because it's not EPA or DHA!!! The whole point about returning the ratios to closer to 1:1 is that the fatty acids compete for enzyme space down the whole elongation pathway. LNA (or ALA - sorry, different acronyms) is therefore plenty suitable to do the job. You are not altering the balance unfavourably by using flax or udos, by definition it pushes it closer to 1:1.

As for the other sources of omega 6 you've mentioned, as i've stated before, the whole point is to try and cut those out. Cooking oils, margarines, shortenings, etc, have all had the living crap kicked out of them by something like 9 different processing techniques. They are no longer healthy, and instead, give your body crap loads of damaged molecules that it now has to sort out. These damaged molecules screw up the conversion of EFAs by getting in the way of enzyme space - as you'll know enzyme inhibition is complicated, but the crux is that when molecules that are almost the right shape get in the way, things go to ****.

So once you've taken out the poor sources of omega 6 (cooking oils, "chips", cakes, biscuits, deep fried food), you are left with little in your diet. People who eat a lot of seeds and nuts will be different, and so long as they are eating raw ones, flax would make a more sensible addition to Udos, as they won't have as much a need for the omega 6..

I'm not sure how you've worked out the ratio bits - your numbers are off. 60ml of Udos will provide about 15g of omega 6, and about 30g of omega 3 (for simplicity I'm using 2:1:1 omega 3:6:9 ratios, otherwise head would be hurting this time in the morning...) - not 3g of omega 3 + 35g of omega 6.

Yes, Udo's is a seed oil, a very carefully made one at that. Expeller pressed in an light and oxygen free environment, below 50C. In these conditions the oils are bottled in nitrogen flushed amber glass that's then put in cardboard boxes and refrigerated. It is a million miles away from the cooking oils that you get on the shelf.

If people want to do as you do and source all their oils their own way, i applaud them - it's a good way to do things, but it is also more complicated. There is also the matters of whether people like the taste, are allergic, etc. It's akin to moaning if people want to use whey protein - IMO gold top milk is a better alternative with it's vitamins, fat, and caesin. Or vegans who use pea/soy/rice protein.

The inuits have actually been eating fish oils alone for so long, their entire physiology has changed. They don't have the enzymes required to process LNA to EPA/DHA, and their entire body is set up to work differently.

I agree that algal oils can be very good - Martec have a bonafide cold extraction process for their Life DHA - which is a good product. It's also fabulously expensive!

Regarding oestrogen effect - I reckon if it did this, then the guys we sponsor would have already said a thing or two. Rob Feesey gets down to crazy low BF, 3-4%, and he's never mentioned any oestrogenic effects.

It's something that needs researching, as it's very interesting, but from what I've seen in practice, it's not an issue. If you say it does trigger gyno in some men, I'd love to see this, as I have not come across it.

Final point - there was mention about the calories contained in flax. We always recommend that Udo's/flax is put in as an addition to daily calories. i.e. ignore it. The net result - the majority of people lose fat (there's always exceptions to any rule...). You can't just consider calories from EFAs as calories and nothing more when they have distinct metabolic effects. How much energy they give off when burned in a calorimeter is irrelevant.