Flaxseed oil
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 10:36 pm
Has anyone else observed a relation between flaxseed oil and a reduction of snoring and/or RLS symptoms? Thought I should share this, maybe somebody else benefits. Something very curious happened to me. After starting to consume large quantities of flaxseed oil I virtually stopped snoring. Weird. And I do believe it also helps my RLS symptoms, a lot. Nice, of course, but still weird. Here is the story.
I started snoring heavily when I was put on an opioid about 6 years ago, and using an app (Android: SnoreClock) that tracks snoring I found that I would snore maybe 2/3rds of my sleeping time if I didn't use my CPAP mask. Going keto I lost 30 pounds last year and stopped using the mask. A sleep lab 2 months ago confirmed that I had no apneas to speak of but had obstructive snoring, about 1/3rd of my sleeping time (guess the weight loss helped). This was very consistent for 3 months (December to February), where my snoring would be between 25% and 35% almost every night.
About a month ago I started to supplement flaxseed oil. I do believe that we need to eat a lot more omega-3 fatty acids (a bit of discussion over here http://bb.rls.org/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10588#p100251) -- we know that we accumulate the "evil" counterpart omega-6 in our lipid cells, about 25% of our body fat is nowadays linoleic acid (omega-6) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26567191. As flaxseed oil contains about 60% omega-3 and only 20% omega-6, it's a prime candidate to shift the fat balance towards omega-3, even though the omega-3 is not in the bioactive form (alpha-linoleic acid and not DHA/EPA) as in fish oil supplements.
So I started to consume about 50ml of flaxseed oil per day, a month ago. I really like salad with flaxseed oil, even though it takes a bit getting used to. And my snoring dropped from 30% to under 10% of the sleeping time. The last 3 nights were 4%, 6% and 1%. I do believe it's the flaxseed oil: After leaving it out for 3 days (not really intentionally, I just didn't have any salad to put it on I think) my snoring went right up to over 20%, and back when I reintroduced the oil. And I guess after a month it's time to share it, because it doesn't seem to be a fluke. The measuring app SnoreClock appears reliable, it records the sounds and you can play it back, and it certainly seems to be on the numbers when detecting snoring or not. Can't see a placebo effect, because I certainly did not expect any effect. But started wondering why I didn't snore anymore. I do track the food I'm eating, and found retrospectively that the reduction in snoring really started shortly after the flaxseed oil experiment.
Also my RLS seems to be better. I take 2 doses of oxycodone a day, 10mg midday and 10-15mg in the evening: There are phases where I'm fine with 20mg, sometimes I need more. To cut a long story short, seems I was fine with 20mg last year when I consumed a lot of olive oil and flaxseed oil (both have a lot of polyphenols, and differ in this respect from most other oils) while I needed 25mg when I went carnivore for a couple of months and avoided veggie oils. Today I even fell asleep in the early afternoon, was sleepy for most of the remaining day, and realized in the evening that I forgot to take my midday Oxycodone. Wouldn't have thought this possible -- I rarely forget my medication, but it happens sometimes and I'll reliably get RLS symptoms whenever I rest in the afternoon. I'll try to go down to 20mg and maybe even to 15mg in the next weeks.
Notes:
1. I consume organic flaxseed oil fresh from an oil mill. A major issue with flaxseed oil is that it spoils really quick. Fresh flaxseed oil does not taste bitter but nutty. If you buy flaxseed oil that is bitter then it's already partly oxidized, which unfortunately is true for 99% of the flaxseed oil you get in stores (even oil that is just 2-3 months old, sometimes the production date is printed on the label). I'm not really sure if it loses all beneficial effects if it's gone a bit bitter, but would still recommend buying the fresh stuff (which tastes a lot better too). Over here in Europe I get a liter organic, fresh oil for about $22, which is not that much more expensive than organic flaxseed in stores. It will arrive at your home a few days after pressing, and stay fresh for a while if you keep it in the fridge.
2. If you want to try this, make sure that you strictly reduce omega-6 intake (corn oil, soy oil, canola and sunflower, basically all cheap vegetable oils). Avoid everything that is high in polyunsaturated fats. It's really harmful if we eat too much, and we eat way too much in our western diet. The problem is that omega-6 is very cheap and advertised as heart healthy, so a lot of people use omega-6 as their main oil source. As for vegetable oils, stick mainly to flaxseed oil, olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil. Butter and lard are fine, too.
3. I'm not sure if my diet influences the effect of flaxseed oil. I'm eating a fairly strict keto, and and avoid lectins and oxalates (plant-based antinutrients, that are high in nightshades, almonds, some berries, spinach and a few other veggies). I seem to have found something that really helps both my RLS and ME/CFS, and I do believe that everything starts and ends with the diet. Restricting sugar and carbs is a low price to pay for significantly improved health. Essentially I eat mostly what our ancestors ate, when we were hunters and gatherers, of course with full benefits from modern cooking and baking.
I started snoring heavily when I was put on an opioid about 6 years ago, and using an app (Android: SnoreClock) that tracks snoring I found that I would snore maybe 2/3rds of my sleeping time if I didn't use my CPAP mask. Going keto I lost 30 pounds last year and stopped using the mask. A sleep lab 2 months ago confirmed that I had no apneas to speak of but had obstructive snoring, about 1/3rd of my sleeping time (guess the weight loss helped). This was very consistent for 3 months (December to February), where my snoring would be between 25% and 35% almost every night.
About a month ago I started to supplement flaxseed oil. I do believe that we need to eat a lot more omega-3 fatty acids (a bit of discussion over here http://bb.rls.org/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10588#p100251) -- we know that we accumulate the "evil" counterpart omega-6 in our lipid cells, about 25% of our body fat is nowadays linoleic acid (omega-6) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26567191. As flaxseed oil contains about 60% omega-3 and only 20% omega-6, it's a prime candidate to shift the fat balance towards omega-3, even though the omega-3 is not in the bioactive form (alpha-linoleic acid and not DHA/EPA) as in fish oil supplements.
So I started to consume about 50ml of flaxseed oil per day, a month ago. I really like salad with flaxseed oil, even though it takes a bit getting used to. And my snoring dropped from 30% to under 10% of the sleeping time. The last 3 nights were 4%, 6% and 1%. I do believe it's the flaxseed oil: After leaving it out for 3 days (not really intentionally, I just didn't have any salad to put it on I think) my snoring went right up to over 20%, and back when I reintroduced the oil. And I guess after a month it's time to share it, because it doesn't seem to be a fluke. The measuring app SnoreClock appears reliable, it records the sounds and you can play it back, and it certainly seems to be on the numbers when detecting snoring or not. Can't see a placebo effect, because I certainly did not expect any effect. But started wondering why I didn't snore anymore. I do track the food I'm eating, and found retrospectively that the reduction in snoring really started shortly after the flaxseed oil experiment.
Also my RLS seems to be better. I take 2 doses of oxycodone a day, 10mg midday and 10-15mg in the evening: There are phases where I'm fine with 20mg, sometimes I need more. To cut a long story short, seems I was fine with 20mg last year when I consumed a lot of olive oil and flaxseed oil (both have a lot of polyphenols, and differ in this respect from most other oils) while I needed 25mg when I went carnivore for a couple of months and avoided veggie oils. Today I even fell asleep in the early afternoon, was sleepy for most of the remaining day, and realized in the evening that I forgot to take my midday Oxycodone. Wouldn't have thought this possible -- I rarely forget my medication, but it happens sometimes and I'll reliably get RLS symptoms whenever I rest in the afternoon. I'll try to go down to 20mg and maybe even to 15mg in the next weeks.
Notes:
1. I consume organic flaxseed oil fresh from an oil mill. A major issue with flaxseed oil is that it spoils really quick. Fresh flaxseed oil does not taste bitter but nutty. If you buy flaxseed oil that is bitter then it's already partly oxidized, which unfortunately is true for 99% of the flaxseed oil you get in stores (even oil that is just 2-3 months old, sometimes the production date is printed on the label). I'm not really sure if it loses all beneficial effects if it's gone a bit bitter, but would still recommend buying the fresh stuff (which tastes a lot better too). Over here in Europe I get a liter organic, fresh oil for about $22, which is not that much more expensive than organic flaxseed in stores. It will arrive at your home a few days after pressing, and stay fresh for a while if you keep it in the fridge.
2. If you want to try this, make sure that you strictly reduce omega-6 intake (corn oil, soy oil, canola and sunflower, basically all cheap vegetable oils). Avoid everything that is high in polyunsaturated fats. It's really harmful if we eat too much, and we eat way too much in our western diet. The problem is that omega-6 is very cheap and advertised as heart healthy, so a lot of people use omega-6 as their main oil source. As for vegetable oils, stick mainly to flaxseed oil, olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil. Butter and lard are fine, too.
3. I'm not sure if my diet influences the effect of flaxseed oil. I'm eating a fairly strict keto, and and avoid lectins and oxalates (plant-based antinutrients, that are high in nightshades, almonds, some berries, spinach and a few other veggies). I seem to have found something that really helps both my RLS and ME/CFS, and I do believe that everything starts and ends with the diet. Restricting sugar and carbs is a low price to pay for significantly improved health. Essentially I eat mostly what our ancestors ate, when we were hunters and gatherers, of course with full benefits from modern cooking and baking.