Fish Oil Side Effects You Should Know About

Why would you not use fish oil?

There are undoubted benefits to be had from a daily dose of fish oil. Click the links above to read about them.

But what about potential risks? You are interested in your health or the health of your child so is there anything you should be concerned about?

Thinning of the Blood

One possible side effect is a potential increase in bleeding. It is true that fish oil can thin the blood, which is incidentally one of its benefits. Can it become a problem?

If you are already taking a blood thinning medication it could be. In that case, it would certainly be wise to consult your doctor before using these supplements.

Obviously if you are pregnant, you will be asking about dietary requirements for the health of your baby so you could ask if you have any particular risk.

For the rest of us? There are those who believe that taking fish oil returns our blood to more like its natural consistency, lowering the risk of blood clots and strokes.

Can it be actually dangerous for a normal, healthy person? Remember how the benefits of fish oil for heart health were first discovered.

A population of Inuits were studied and they had a diet that was very rich in oily fish. In fact, their diet contained a massively higher proportion of fish than we are recommended to eat now.

They experienced very low rates of cardiac problems and I have never heard of problems from excessive bleeding.

Contamination Risk

In my opinion, the most serious possible side effect comes not from the fish oil itself, but what it may be contaminated with. Pollution of the oceans has led to a build up of toxins in the bodies of the fish that live in that environment.

Poor processing and quality control can lead to this making its way into the fish oil derived from them. Some leading brands have been found to contain varying levels of these contaminants, putting doubts into the minds of previously enthusiastic consumers.

This can be avoided by choosing a trusted supplier. One that sources its raw materials from the cleanest oceans and has procedures in place to remove any impurities that may have been picked up.

Fishy Burps

A more trivial problem is a fishy flavour. People of a certain age may have unpleasant memories of a daily dose of cod liver oil. Both its taste and texture made it an ordeal to take. Fish oil capsules have done much to alleviate this problem.

But it depends on which products you buy. If there is a long delay between the catching and processing of the fish, it can result in rancidity of the oil. This might cause those unpleasant fishy burps later on. But with a better quality, fresh product, this need not be an issue.

If you are looking for a supplement of outstanding quality and purity, this is the one that I use.