Fish Oil Supplements are Just as Effective in Providing Omega-3s as Eating Fish

22/05/08 Don’t like seafood? You can still get your heart-healthy omega-3s. A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that, when it comes to providing omega-3 fatty acids, fish oil supplements are just as good as actually eating fish.

Experts tested a group of 23 women ages 21 to 49. Each participant ate either two servings of tuna and salmon each week or consumed the same amount of omega-3s in capsule form. After four months, the omega-3 blood levels – in all of the women – had risen by 40-50 percent in red blood cells and 60-80 percent in blood plasma. It didn’t make any difference whether the women had received the omega-3s from the seafood or the supplements.

Significant research indicates that the consumption of omega-3 fatty acids leads to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a reduction in fatal heart rhythms. Omega-3s also support lower blood pressure, healthy triglyceride and cholesterol levels, healthy brain and nervous system function, eye health, joint health and skin health.

In fact, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association suggest people prone to heart disease should consume at least one gram of omega-3s per day by eating fatty fish or by taking an omega-3 fish oil supplement. Other experts recommend even more: up to two to three grams per day. If you go the seafood route, this could mean consuming tuna or salmon more than once a day!

It could also mean environmental pollutants. Some fish store contaminants in their organs, posing serious health consequences for those who eat them – and particularly for women who are pregnant or nursing young children. The FDA and the EPA have issued an advisory on this matter, but the Institute of Medicine has reported that the benefits of eating fish generally outweigh potential risks.

Fish oil supplements, on the other hand, have been purified to remove harmful compounds. They’re harvested only from the fishes’ bodies – not the organs, where pollutants are stored. And for many, capsules are simply more convenient to consume.