Did you know?
Fish Oil is taking the health, fitness, and medical industry by storm. If you haven’t heard about the benefits of taking a quality fish oil supplement, “you ain’t been paying attention”! Here are some quick and dirty guidelines for selecting the amount of fish-oil for your diet.
Quality – “Buy quality and you will cry once.” There are a myriad of brands and companies producing this hot selling supplement. You could stroll over to any grocer and pick up a bottle of XYZ fish-oil. But do you really know what you are getting? One thing to look for is a fish-oil supplement that is pharmaceutical grade. Pharmaceutical grade indicates, “A standard of purity suitable for use as a medicine.” In particular, the amount PCB’s (http://www.answers.com/topic/pcb), mercury, lead, etc. must fall below a certain “part per billion” threshold as a standard. If a bottle has “Pharmaceutical grade” printed on the label it is usually much more expensive than a bottle that doesn’t make the same claim. So make sure there is also a way to verify they are not… ummmm… exaggerating. Look for a website to visit or phone number to call that points to an independent third-party test that verifies the purity and content of the supplement. Speaking of which…
Content – The ingredients in fish-oil that have everyone in a tizzy are two lipid compounds called Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) and Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA). If the bottle of fish-oil does not list how many actual milligrams you are getting of each, don’t buy it. You simply don’t know what you are getting. EPA is used in a myriad of ways by the body. It impacts the production of hormones (that’s right, better libido and less crabbiness), especially hormones that counteract inflammation. The broader expression of the effects is seen in the relief from arthritis, asthma, and some cardiac issues. DHA on the other hand impacts neurological health. A critical application is seen in giving fish-oil supplements to pregnant or lactating mothers to aid in their child’s brain development and giving fish-oil supplements to children with ADHD, autism, etc.
Quantity – So now we come to the question EVERYONE has at one point or another. “How much should I take?” First, have to keep in mind that the numbers you want to deal with relate directly to the amount of EPA and DHA indicated per serving by the nutritional information on the bottle. That is different, and probably less than, the amount of total fish-oil you ingest per serving of the supplement. “So on with it, how much do I take?” Well, that depends on what you are after. To start with, you should consume 2.5 grams combined of the “active” ingredients (EPA and DHA) per day. That’s if you feel fine and dandy already. However, if you have achy joints, asthma, allergies, or some other sort of inflammation driven discomfort, you will want to try ramping up to 5.0 grams of EPA and DHA per day. The ratio of EPA to DHA should be somewhere around 1.5g EPA to 1g DHA up to and exceeding 2g EPA to every 1g DHA. However, if you are looking at some sort of neurological issue like nerve damage or foggy headedness, or lack of cognitive ability, you will want to flip the ratio and get a lot more DHA than EPA—as much as 5g DHA to 1g EPA. These suggestions are not hard and fast. In general, most fish-oil supplements will have a higher content of EPA than DHA. This may be a naturally occurring phenomenon or artificially created during the distilling and concentration process.
Consistency – The final thing you need to remember (well maybe not final… but final concerning this blurb) about fish-oil is that it doesn’t work like aspirin or even like antibiotics. Fish-oil consumption has to be consistent, and the benefits manifest themselves gradually. Change may not be felt or realized until after two weeks or more! So be patient. Also, downing enough fish-oil that contains 2.5g let alone 5g that fantastic EPA/DHA stuff right of the bat will not be comfortable. Start with about one-third of what you think you need and then move to two-thirds of a dose once you stop burping fishy burps. Once you can tolerate two-thirds of your selected dosage, try taking the full does you want to take. If that is not enough of a ramp up, try starting at a quarter of the dose you want to take and ramp up a quarter does at a time. If fishy burps (and other events) don’t bother you, then don’t worry about ramping up. Get after it!
Cautions – Inflammation is a natural and critical function your body needs for blood clotting, healing, and regulating blood pressure, regulation of the immune system, among other things. Unless you are experiencing some sort of discomfort due to inflammation or cognitive hindrance, start with trying to get 2.5g of EPA/DHA and ramp up from there.
Disclaimer – I hope this information is helpful to you, but understand that we are a group of fitness coaches, not medical professionals. So before you haul off and down a bunch fish-oil, check with your doctor or other medical professional. If you don’t, that’s your choice, but either way you are proceeding at you own risk. In other words, don’t sue me, I don’t know your body intimately and these are just suggestions; I am just trying to help.
