I don’t have a clue as to how the krill oil could be the cause of it. The only way to know for sure is to wait until the pain completely subsides, then try the krill oil again. Some of the most frustrating dilemmas in medicine come from coincidental situations such as this. For example, let’s say a patient is about to get appendicitis, but has no symptoms yet. The patient comes to the doctor for treatment for a sore throat. The doctor gives the patient amoxicillin, then one day later the patient develops appendicitis. As a doctor you will have real trouble trying to convince that patient that the amoxicillin didn’t cause the appendicitis.

MRE

Hi LMR–

Krill oil has a more fishy odor than does fresh fish oil.  I wouldn’t worry about it.

Best–

MRE 

Interestingly I have noticed that my symptoms worsen significantly if I miss a day or two of the pills, even though it took several weeks in the beginning to see the initial improvement. Have you ever noticed this?

I will definitely try krill oil soon and see if there’s any additional benefit for me.

Hi Raina–

Give the krill oil a try to see how it works.  As with the other stuff it takes a couple of weeks to see major differences.

One other recommendation I might make is that if you’re following a low-carb diet, you might want to cut back on the borage oil a little.  When there is no insulin stimulation the GLA in borage oil is sometimes driven down an inflammatory pathway that ends up causing inflammation instead of preventing it.  If you’re on a regular, i.e. higher carb diet, it probably doesn’t matter as much.

Keep me posted.

Cheers–

MRE 

I use a form of AK (applied kinesiology) in my office (many scoff at this but the proof is in the pudding). I have tested a lot of EFA’s and krill has not usually tested very good for me. What has tested very good for me (and my patients) is the Nordic Naturals ProEPA. I love that stuff. But I take an extra vitamin E, the Unique E is the best I have ever used. I was talking to a friend in the supplement industry the other day and was commenting on increased need for Vit E when taking EFA’s (this varies obviously from brand and type ie: krill and salmon having astaxanthin and other intrinsic antioxidants). He commented that when they have wanted to induce a vit E deficiency in the past for the purpose of study, they would feed the participants polyunsaturated oils. Hmmmm, wonder how many of us are running to Sams or Costco and wolfing down handfuls of fish oils in hope of eternal life and are loading up on lipid peroxides?! Also I have noticed when people experience digestive distress from fish oils, often there is some gall bladder stress or they just may have a bad product. Thats the majority, there could be other reasons. Adding a decent digestive enzyme with lipase or bile salts or both seems to help this in both.  Here’s a link for those who would like to read a review by Vitamin E experts on that ridiculous study a few years back saying it might be dangerous.

Hi Robert–

Thanks for reporting your experience.

Best–

MRE 

REC

Duly passed along.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cardiores.2006.08.019

In brief Von Schacky and Harris propose the “omega-3 index” – defined as the percentage of EPA plus DHA in red blood cell membranes, relative to all other fatty acids.

Using data from the scientific literature, they claim that an omega-3 index value of eight per cent or above is associated with a 90 per cent reduction in the risk of sudden cardiac death, compared to a value of four per cent or less.

Could this be more useful than the unsaturated index and perhaps indicate the value and actual impact of supplementation?

Cheers,

Malcolm

Hi Malcolm–

Much safer ground indeed.

I read the article, and basically we’re talking about two different things in discussing red blood cell EPA/DHA content and the mitochondrial unsaturation index.  EPA/DHA do indeed prevent sudden cardiac death.  No one is absolutely sure how, but it probably has to do with arrhythmia prevention, at least that would be my bet.  I think the Omega-3 index would be a valuable diagnostic tool.  I would hope that my index would be above 8% because of the krill oil and fish oil I take daily.

But, red blood cell membrane content of EPA/DHA is a different animal than the unsaturation index of mitochondrial membranes.  What were concerned about with the mitochondrial membranes is free radical damage, which is more likely if the unsaturation index his high.  If the mitochondrial membrane sustains enough damage, then the mitochondria don’t work as well, and ultimately will not provide enough energy for proper function of the cell.  Red blood cells work a little differently.  They have a finite life and get replaced regularly.  And they pass through the spleen where any damaged ones get plucked out.

Consuming a few grams of EPA/DHA because of the differential in its allocation will increase red blood cell membrane content and increase the level s in cardiac cells without much influencing the overall mitochondrial membrane content and significantly increasing the unsaturation index.  At least that’s how I would call it based on the reading I have done.

Best–

MRE 

Btw, I went against the doctor’s suggestioned diet (have you seen what they want cancer patients to eat?!) and put my husband on a strict low carb diet, no processed foods, lots of eggs and meat and bone broth. He had only one round of chemo so far, and very little nausea. His weight has been stable throughout. This is good, since he has never been overweight. Fingers crossed.

Marilyn

Hi Marilyn–

I wouldn’t worry about getting vitamin D from krill oil or CLO when it is so readily available in supplement form.  Make sure you get vitamin D3–that’s the only kind to take.  Take at least 1000 units per day.  I generally take 2000-3000 units per day when I travel to the North and get little sun.

Best–

MRE 

Porter

Hi Porter–

Thanks for the info.

Cheers–

MRE 

Hi athelstan–

Yep, they are pretty much worthless to raise the unsaturation index, as if you’d want to.  But, they do moderate the various inflammatory cascades, increase lipolysis, and play a number of roles in various metabolic processes.

Cheers–

MRE 

Hi Neal–

Shouldn’t be a problem.

MRE