maintaining question

[kh]

Hi Chris!

I've been following week 1 guidelines for almost three and a half months (except for margaritas in Mexico and a couple of glasses of wine a week) and thanks to your wonderful advice have been LOVING the results. Things just get better and better! I have no cravings for grains, dairy-not even chocolate!! I haven't even wanted to take a cheat meal because I love the healthy food I eat so much and feel fantastic. I tell everyone about your book and refuse to loan my copy out; I make them buy their own!

Okay, don't get mad, my question is about calories. I have no idea how many I have been consuming for the past three months but know I have been eating about the same quantity of food daily. I went off the pill about a month ago and (not sure if it's related) noticed some negative side effects with my complexion. I decided to double up on fish oil to try to fix this but after reading the archives discovered that I'd never even been taking the amount you recommend. I'd known that I had quality fish oil but hadn't noticed that I would have to take 8 capsules to reach the 2400mg mark. The most I ever took was 6 (and I had thought I had been doubling up then!). Now I'm thinking about taking 16 (to reach 4800g) but I noticed that would add 200 calories a day to my diet. I really don't count calories but have always read that even adding an extra 100 calories a day can cause weight gain. I don't want to gain back any pounds I worked so hard to lose! I know I'm sounding quite crazy but just need your reassurance that:

a) doubling up on fish oil could help skin issues
b) won't cause me to gain weight

Thank you for everything you do- you are amazing! Also, congrats on your baby to be!

kh

[Site Administrator]

Hi KH!

Thank you so much for that glowing review! I am so happy to hear about your great success with the program! And thank you, especially, for promoting the book within your circle of friends!

Onto your question...

First-- you have nothing to worry about from fish oil calories. As you know, I totally discourage keeping track of calories in the first place-- restricting food intake below satiety levels ALWAYS leads to sluggish metabolism. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it's the QUALITY of the food-- not the quantity of the calories-- that ultimately determines body compositon.

And second, by combatting chronic inflammation, the fish oil GREATLY augments your body's ability to access fat stores as an energy source. In short, there is no way that the added calories will ever "spill over" and add to existing fat stores. And yes!!! The extra fish oil can work wonders for your hair and skin.

However, according to my calculations, if you need to take eight pills to reach 2400 mg of EPA+DHA, and the eight pills contain a total of about a hundred calories, that would mean that the concentration of DHA+EPA in your fish oil is slightly less than 30%... this is not really a high quality product. 30% concentration means the raw fish oil has not undergone any ultrafiltration process; it's the (expensive!) ultrafiltration that not only concentrates the fish oil-- it also eliminates heavy metals and other toxins commonly found in sealife.

Once you've finished with your current batch of fish oil, consider finding another brand with a higher concentration of EPA+DHA. (Anything over 50% is good-- 60% is excellent.)

Have a terrific day!
Chris

[kh]

Hi Chris!

Thank you so much for all of your help. I knew I was being crazy about the calories but after hearing the opposite about them for so many years I just needed a little reassurance.

Now I have a new question: I thought my fish oil was good because it matches up exactly with this one (from a post in the archives):

Omega 3 Fish Oil, 1000 mg/EPA 360 mg, DHA 240 mg
OK, so, according to these numbers, there is a total of 1000 mg of oil in each pill (or serving-- if they are 500 mg pills, that would be 2 pills), and of that 1000 mg of oil, 60% of it is EPA+DHA.

This is a quality product-- it has gone through at lease two rounds of molecular distillation to yield a 60% concentration and you can be sure there are no toxins. Unfortunately, if these are only 500 mg pills, you will be choking down 16 per day, and you will be paying extra for all those gel caps. A better solution might be to find a product with the same stats (60% concentration) but in a 1000 mg gel cap. It's a bigger pill, but gel caps go down pretty smoothly, and you'd only have to take 8 per day. Plus, you'd be saving a little on the cost of the gel cap.

I'm confused as it appears that my oil has a 60% concentration. Am I wrong?

Thank you again!! kh

[Site Administrator]

Hi K!

No-- if your fish oil matches these stats:

Omega 3 Fish Oil, 1000 mg/EPA 360 mg, DHA 240 mg

then it's a good product. I was confused because you mentioned in the previous e-mail that, according to your calculations, you would have to take 8 pills to reach 2400 mg. (Since 240+360 = 600 mg, you would only need to take 4 pills (4 x 600) to reach 2400 mg, or 8 pills if you wanted to double up.)

Hope this clarifies!
Chris