Supplements You Should Be Taking: Fish Oil

If you’re not taking fish oil by now, get on the bandwagon.

Fish oil offers a ton of health benefits and contains important Omega-3 fatty acids. Whether through supplements or just eating more fish, it should be a staple for ConFITdent men. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at some of the research with fish oil and Omega-3 supplementation.

Heart Health

In 2002, researchers in Italy found that supplementing with just 1 gram of Omega-3 fatty acids per day reduced the risk of death by 40% in just 3 months in people who suffered from a heart attack.

Another study found that “dietary supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids significantly reduced the risk of cardiovascular deaths, sudden cardiac death, all-cause mortality, and nonfatal cardiovascular events.”

Japanese researchers also found that “in patients with a history of coronary artery disease who were given EPA treatment [which is found in Omega-3 fatty acids], major coronary events were reduced by 19%.”

Side note: Greek researchers recently concluded that Omega-3 supplementation “was not associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, cardiac death, sudden death, myocardial infarction, or stroke based on relative and absolute measures of association.” Closer inspection of the data, however, suggests that Omega-3 supplementation actually trended towards those benefits; it just wasn’t statistically significant.

Cancer Risk

In 2002, The Journal of Nutrition suggested that the “consumption of omega-3 fatty acids might slow or stop the growth of metastatic cancer cells, increase longevity of cancer patients and improve their quality of life.” Supplementing with fish oil has also been shown to reduce the rate of cancer symptoms in cancer patients.

Joint Health

Fish oil can even alleviate joint inflammation, making it a safer alternative to anti-inflammatories. One study found that fish oil can help relieve symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, and a second study also noted an improvement in arthritis and added that it helped in irritable bowel syndrome.

Fat Loss

So fish oil can help you stay healthier — it can also help you with looks, too.

Combined with aerobic exercise, fish oil reduced body fat and improved body composition, while increasing HDL cholesterol numbers (the good kind). Another study suggested an improvement in aerobic metabolism with aerobic exercise. Fish oil supplementation also improved fat oxidation.

In 2010, researchers determined that, “6 weeks of supplementation with fish oil significantly increased lean mass and decreased fat mass.” A separate study also found that 6 grams a day of fish oil for three weeks led to a 1.94 lb reduction in fat mass.

The Bottom Line

If you eat a lot of fish daily, don’t worry about supplementing with fish oil — you’re probably getting enough Omega-3 fatty acids. For the less-fishy men, however, start taking some fish oil supplements.

A word of caution, though: Omega-3 dosages aren’t regulated by the FDA, and some fish oil products on the market contain higher levels of PCB, mercury, or are rancid. And while you probably won’t overdose on fish oil, too much can be bad.