Fish Oil Q & A
I've recently participated in a inpromptu questions and answer session online regardings fish oil supplementation. Here are some of the highlights:
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Mike R: I just glanced through Charles Polquin's new article and I noticed a misleading/incorrect statement that is important to note:
"4. Fish oils diminish C-reactive proteins..."
There is an epidemilogical study that shows that people that eat more fish have lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) HOWEVER data from randomized clinical trials (the "gold standard" of research) show that EPA/DHA have no effect on CRP (I wish it did). Alpha linolenic acid (ALA) as found in flax does have powerful CRP reducing effects.
IK: Charles mentions consuming 45 grams a day. He mentions 3 tablespoons a day, instead of the 45 capsules you'd have to take.
That's a LOT. Mike, what do you think about that?
Mike R: The problem here is the same problem that I mentioned in my 27 Nutrition Facts article on T-Nation
2. I hate it when people give fish oil recommendations and talk in terms of capsules or grams of fish oil. Talk in terms of EPA and DHA! Otherwise it just confuses people! There is no standard concentration of fish oil so saying that you take 3 one gram capsules means crap. EPA and DHA is what matters.
Charles didn't specify EPA/DHA and if you go to his website and look at the liquid fish oil he sells you can't see the nutritional facts to see how pure it is. I would assume (it is a pretty safe assumption) that Charles' fish oil is 30% pure and thus 45 grams of fish oil is only 13.5g EPA/DHA. Thus he is recommending 9-13.5 grams of EPA/DHA. This isn't that outrageous in that studies have found that 25-30g EPA/DHA is well tolerated without adverse bleeding effets. But as Canadian_Bacon has pointed out "results may vary". I wouldn't recommend that you follow Charles' recommendations using a 30% pure fish oil supplement as your exposure to potential toxins will be greatly increased. But if you choose a higher purity/potency product, increase you dosages in a stepwise manner over time, and spread your intake out across the day (I wouldn't consume more than 5 grams at a time) I'm sure you would see a benefit....to what extent I'm not sure because the most I've ever consumed was 7 grams EPa/DHA per day......
Oh yeah just a CYA...check with your doctor first.
IK: So Mike, when you say "purity", you mean the percentage of EPA/DHA per gram?
If that's the case, then mine is 50% pure. (Vitamin World's Super Omega-3)
I had a discussion with Alan the other week on this, and he was of the opinion that, like so many other products, more isn't always better, including fish oil.
What I take now is 6 pills = 3g epa/dha.
Obviously you don't know my specifics, but would you say that if I slowly ramped up to say 6g epa/dha, that I would feel noticeable differences? Would those be largely joint related? I know there are myriad benefits to the stuff, but what would be noticeable to me in the short run (over 4-6 month period)?
(I'm mainly just curious, but my asthma has been "less than under control" recently, and I'm curious as to how supplements might help.)
Mike R: A rough inference of purity is potency (% of EPA/DHA per gram). 50% is not bad.
I agree that more is not alway better, even with my most loved fish oil. But if you are increasing the amount for a specific reason (e.g. improve asthma) then it can be warrented. If I were you would I move up to six grams EPA/DHA to see if it improved my asthma, yes.
The data with EPA/DHA and asthma is far from conclusive but it is suggestive (wow that was a vague statement!). You would notice the difference much sooner than 4-6 months. Red Blood cell levels of EPA/DHA can equilbrate in as little as 4 weeks (4-6wks is the range found in the literature). So I would imagine that if you were going to see a difference then you would see it by then.
Keep a journal so monitor the status of your asthma (inhaler use, frequency of chest tightness, response to exercise, etc) as that will be the marker of improvement in this situation.
Again...check with your doctor
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