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4,359
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15 y
Omega 3 and arthritis in the hands
I have had very sore hands due to arthritis for at least six or more years
and it has become progressively worse. I have tried hand exercises and
that did help a bit but nothing long-term. Then three months ago after
reading several books on the benefits of Omega 3 I began significant ingestion
of fish oil. I take 10 grams of fish oil a day, 5 with breakfast and 5
with dinner. This gets me to 3 grams of Omega 3 which is the minimum
amount that I've seen in any of the medical studies that have been done
regarding health benefits or mood/psychiatric benefits of this oil. The
studies have come from both directions.
My hands have become progressively more flexible and less sore over the past
three months and I now have more flexibility than I've had in at least 10
years. Soreness of any kind is almost completely gone. I truly
attribute the change to the Omega 3 that I've been taking. I buy the
Costco 400 capsules of 1000 mg with 300 mg of Omega 3 and that's a little better
than a month's supply at $10. They claim there is no mercury or other contaminants
in their Kirkland brand of fish oil. I keep my bottle in the refrigerator
because they say that either doing that or freezing it helps to prevent an after
taste. I rarely have had an after taste, even if taking it on an empty
stomach.
I intend to stay on this routine because after just a month of taking the
fish oil my lipid profile improved significantly as well. Triglycerides
down, LDL down, and HDL up. Also my PSA is back down to where it was two
or three years ago to .7 from about 1.6. (I'm a 16 year prostate cancer
survivor and refused prostate removal after the diagnosis.) There is also
a case for mood enhancement, but I can't really vouch for that.
The best over view of Omega 3 oil by far is "The Queen of Fats" by
Allport, 2006. She is a science writer and explains how Omega 3 was slowly
reduced/eliminated from our diet through mass produced chickens, feed lot
cattle, and other subtle changes over the past 100 years. For a
doctor who did several small studies in his psychiatric work "The Omega-3
Connection" by Stoll shows not only the emotional benefits from this fat,
but the many, many ancillary benefits as well. He uses Omega 3 almost
exclusively instead of prescription medication in his practice. The
benefits from taking this often do take a long time to manifest, they say
sometimes 4 to 6 months so I just kept at it.
There continues to be more and more research done on Omega 3 so I continue to
try and stay on top of the studies.
By the way, my age is 77.
Just thought I'd post my success.