Fish Oil and Hematocrit ?

CoastWatcher · Dec 9, 2016

Vince Carter said:
If I can avoid some of this thick blood feeling I have I'd be open to that, fish oil and aspirin. I just got back from donating and they read my HGB @ 19.3...in the general kinda sorta HCT of multiplying that times three....HCT was 57.9...ugh

Wow...how long since last donation?

Vince Carter · Dec 9, 2016

60 days...but I've been pounding Iron twice per day since my Ferritin was twice in the teens.

Dr Justin Saya MD · Dec 9, 2016

Vince Carter said:
60 days...but I've been pounding Iron twice per day since my Ferritin was twice in the teens.

I'd stop the supplemental iron in this situation and just take some vitamin C around the time of iron-containing meals to enhance absorption.

Pranayama · Dec 9, 2016

I read the article, but I still do not see where it says that aspirin actually lowers hematocrit? Or does lessening the viscosity lower hematocrit?

Correction: It makes it less viscous, I meant to say on the earlier post. I also have been taking Vitamin C twice daily with food since June.

tjlab · Dec 10, 2016

You can order online as a guest...no membership!

Vince said:
There are no local Costco's by me, others have told me there's supplements are very good.

tjlab · Dec 10, 2016

I take very high doses of fish oil and it has done nothing for my hematocrit or hemoglobin. What is your test protocol?

Vince Carter said:
Id sure to be willing to try it if a few others can vouch for it.

tjlab · Dec 10, 2016

I can tell you this...it has dramatically helped my lipids and I have no heartburn or reflux.

captain said:
I read that you should never buy fish oil that is packaged in clear bottles. Costco fish oil is in clear bottles. It has something to do with light causing oxidation. I have used Costco fish oil and never had a problem with it.

Vince · Dec 11, 2016

tjlab said:
You can order online as a guest...no membership!

thanks for the information, I will check in to ordering online

Davet · Dec 12, 2016

I take the best grade I can afford...a pharmaceutical grade with added tochoperols to prevent deterioration once absorbed otherwise it can add to the toxic load on the body which s not good.
I always try and get the labs on products I take to make sure they are of the purist quality.
Any product in a clear container will speed up deterioration if light is getting to it.

madman · Dec 12, 2016

Davet said:
I take the best grade I can afford...a pharmaceutical grade with added tochoperols to prevent deterioration once absorbed otherwise it can add to the toxic load on the body which s not good.
I always try and get the labs on products I take to make sure they are of the purist quality.
Any product in a clear container will speed up deterioration if light is getting to it.

You could avoid all this and have better absorption if you eat fatty fish high in omega 3s DHA/EPA - wild salmon/sardines/mackerel/trout in natures perfectly designed package.

Also going gung ho on the omega 3 is not exactly healthy as being in a too anti-inflammatory state is not healthy let alone oxidization of too many polyunsaturated fats as in omega 3 not just omega 6.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de_KjyBZpLs

Vince Carter · Dec 12, 2016

I won't eat fish but it's pretty neat that that's the best way to get your Omega 3's

mike7 · Jan 13, 2017

Hematocrit can come down on it's own. I have not had any blood pulled other than for testing. I did start taking a fish oil supplement but can't remember exactly when, after the 2nd result and before the 3rd. This is what I've been taking: https://www.amazon.com/Viva-Natural...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XPGD2HK0FW0TYPWM847G

Vince · Jan 13, 2017

Mike, hematocrit may eventually decrease and stabilize in men on TRT. Looks like your one of them.

Gianluca Bonetti · Jan 24, 2017

lucky you, for me was the opposite, my first 10 months it was always about 47/48 after that it started going toward 49 now after a year I'm on 51

mike7 said:
Hematocrit can come down on it's own. I have not had any blood pulled other than for testing. I did start taking a fish oil supplement but can't remember exactly when, after the 2nd result and before the 3rd. This is what I've been taking: https://www.amazon.com/Viva-Natural...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XPGD2HK0FW0TYPWM847G

Gamnc · Jan 24, 2017

I use fish oil and have for ten years or more. I buy it at Costco and it is Hg (mercury) free, and not expensive. I still give blood, and my hemoglobin runs in the 16 to 17 range on days I give blood. I give double red to help keep it low.
I started it to lower blood lipids. It seems to have worked on that problem. I take one capsule in the morning, and a 2nd in the evening. My view is it can't hurt, and the only side effect if if you don't eat something after taking it you will taste the fish oil.

Re-Ride · Jan 24, 2017

madman said:
You could avoid all this and have better absorption if you eat fatty fish high in omega 3s DHA/EPA - wild salmon/sardines/mackerel/trout in natures perfectly designed package.

Also going gung ho on the omega 3 is not exactly healthy as being in a too anti-inflammatory state is not healthy let alone oxidization of too many polyunsaturated fats as in omega 3 not just omega 6.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de_KjyBZpLs

+50. Fish oil: A substitute lamp oil for kerosene in the event of EMP or apocalypse zombies. If you must have capsules at least buy purified EPA or DHA. A liter good rye cost about the same and will also thin the blood.

Vince · Jan 25, 2017

So far, just about every independent analysis of fish oil has failed to validate the extravagant claims made by manufacturers about purity.

Yet more validation was recently provided by another analysis of several dozen fish oil preparations by the wonderful Consumer Lab service (www.consumerlab.com), in which no fish oil preparation contained mercury, PCB's, dioxin, or other pesticide residues. (Mercury was assessed to a tolerance of 100 parts per billion.)

Re-Ride · Jan 25, 2017

That's great Vince. What did the test for viruses or oxidized compounds reveal? Is there new evidence on claimed therapeutic value? Any charts showing time to maceration and squeezing on the fish waste used by various encapsulators? One simple at home test is to break open capsules in to a cup of spring water. That only proves if deodorization was employed though.

Gianluca Bonetti · Jan 25, 2017

I use dr Sear fish oil, Omega RX expensive but not too much since with $48 a month I get 4gr of fish oil, I wanted to switch with Nordic Naturals but If I wanted to take 4gr it become expensive

Vince · Jan 25, 2017

The most popular way of arguing that fish oil will prevent heart disease is to show that it lowers blood lipids, continuing the old approach of the American Heart Association's "heart protective diet." Unfortunately for that argument, it's now known that the triglycerides in the blood are decreased because of the fish oil's toxic effects on the liver (Hagve and Christophersen, 1988; Ritskes-Hoitinga, et al., 1998)."
It nowhere says the effects were "toxic". It says omega-3 "probably" has depressing effect on VLDL secretion and triglyceride synthesis. On top of it, it was an experiment conducted on rats.

It is difficult to buy the argument that fish oil is liver-toxic, as mentioned in the article.