Omega-3s

[lgelb]

Usual disclaimers...when people eat what they want, many elements of their diet or other factors aren't recorded, so the correlation between omega-3 blood levels and rate of decline doesn't necessarily mean that one causes the other.

Still, for most people/diets, one of those "couldn't hurt" things so long as you don't overdo it, which could lead to bleeding or GI problems. So here's the study.

 

[KimT]

I've been taking both EPA and DHA for at least 10 years. On days I eat salmon or sardines, I skip it. I have a very high Omega 3/Omega 6 ratio and plan on keeping it that way.

The only two other oils I use are organic extra virgin olive oil (added after cooking) and avocado oil for cooking. I eat a lot of nuts, especially walnuts. I sprinkle flax seeds ( 1/4 cup) in my morning smoothie.

For dessert, I eat frozen berries and pineapple, topped with full-fat Greek Yogurt and nuts. It is so yummy. Giving up processed food has made everything taste so much better!!!!!!

 

[Megatron]

Omega-3 fatty acids linked with slower progression of ALS

Alpha-linolenic acid — an omega-3 fatty acid found in many nuts, seeds, and oils — showed the strongest link to slowing the progression and premature death of people living with ALS.

news.harvard.edu

This is the link to the Harvard-drafted summary of their findings regarding alpha-linolenic acids, including, e.g., flax and chia seeds, walnuts, etc. A doctor friend in his 40s, who has had ALS for 12 years, apprised me that ALA has been linked to prostate cancer. Indeed there is some older literature to that effect. Nevertheless, a quite recent article by NIH summarizing the literature appears to suggest there isn't a strong connection to cancer. This is the link to the NIH article:

Dietary intake and biomarkers of alpha linolenic acid and risk of all cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of cohort studies - PubMed

PROSPERO CRD42021229487.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

My own father died of prostate cancer complications in his late 80s. Barring a miracle, I won't likely make it that far, as I'm in my 60s. I just bought some ground flax seeds and chia seeds and baked some muffins last evening. Today we added some to our meatloaf. Delicious!

 

[steve613]

I obtained the manuscript and read the abstract. This was a retrospective study using frozen plasma from the EMPOWER trial of dexpramipexole. PALS with higher levels of PUFA had slower disease progression. This study supports the idea that PUFA supplementation may have an effect on slowing ALS progression, but may be confounded by the fact that PALS with better nutritional status and slower progression may have been identified in the analysis, and it's not the diet or supplements that caused the slower progression. Except for a slight bleeding risk, PUFA supplements are not likely risky, and probably do not impair other established treatments like riluzole, radicava, and relyvrio.