What is the Right Fish Oil Dosage?
How Much Fish Oil Should You Be Taking?
Are you currently taking fish oil supplements or considering using them? If you are, you may be wondering what the proper fish oil dosage is?
Well, the truth is that there isn’t an authoritative answer. The FDA has published some thoughts about this over the last few years, but they are yet to firm up into an actual recommendation.
You can read what they have to say down below but I don’t think it is very helpful. They talk about levels of omega 3 but there are different types of omega 3.
What You Should Know
You need to make sure that your chosen supplement provides enough DHA, (the most essential component).
It also needs to be in a form that your body can use. The way some of these products are processed makes them less effective.
The one that I use is natural, pure and rich in DHA.
More from the FDA
In 2005, they suggested that a reasonable daily omega-3 intake was 1100mg for women and 1600mg for men, with a maximum of 3000mg. Of this, no more than 2000mg should come from supplements.
As of 2010, this is still not an official guideline.
Too much fish oil?
Since fish oil is a food supplement derived from naturally occurring sources, how concerned should we be about the proper dosage. If some of it is good, isn’t more even better?
It comes from oily fish such as sardines, herring, mackerel, salmon and many others. Are you worried about eating too much of these?
The fish themselves don’t produce omega-3s, the main beneficial ingredients of fish oils. Small fish acquire them from the micro-algae that they consume and they then make their way up the food chain.
It is a natural product from the ground up and a quality supplement should have nothing pharmaceutical added to it.
Although there are questions about how much omega-3 we need, there is no doubt that the western diet is generally deficient in this respect and we should all consider an increase.
Consumption guidelines
The American Heart Association (AHA) has issued its own guidelines on fish consumption, though it is not convinced of the need for supplementation.
The AHA generally recommends two servings of oily fish per week and it should be a variety of different fish. A serving is 3.5oz of cooked fish and you should avoid frying.
Those with a history of heart disease might consider a low dose supplement and if you have high triglyceride levels, a higher dose may be recommended. In either case, it should be under medical supervision. They make it sound like we are dealing with a dangerous drug!
An alternative point of view is provided by Dr Alex Richardson from the charity, Food and Behavior Research. She is a leading omega-3 researcher and she believes that we should supplement with 1000mg of DHA/EPA per day just to maintain healthy brain function.
She has reviewed some popular supplement brands and suggested that we should double their recommended dosage to get any benefit from them. This is in addition to whatever we might get from our diet.
Difference of opinion
So we have some differences of opinion on omega-3 and supplements. Everyone agrees that we need omega-3 but the AHA seems to be alone in its concern over supplements. As for the dosage, I think we can come to some kind of consensus.
Across all of these recommendations, 1000mg a day seems to be the minimum requirement. It needs to be rich in DHA since it is difficult to obtain this from sources other than fish. The other main requirement is EPA.
You should check your preferred supplement for the levels of these in their recommended dosage.
In light of the recent California lawsuit, we need to be sure that our chosen supplement contains these beneficial ingredients and nothing else. If you are convinced that what you are buying is pure and free from contamination, I can’t see any real reasons for concern.