Posted on
August 25, 2009 by
Peter Clark
by Peter Bertonich
What is the right fish oil dosage? I constantly see questions about how much fish oil should I take.
That’s a good question, what is the right fish oil dosage. For example should you take more fish oil supplements if you already have heart disease?
The first place to look is the website of the American Heart Association. They recognize the heart benefits of Omega 3 fatty acids, and they deal with the question of what is the proper dosage of fish oil for both people with no preexisting heart problems, and for those who do have preexisting heart conditions.
Lets see what they suggest.
Firstly though, lets consider the source of the fish oil. Now of course you could get your fish oil from eating fish. That’s fine, but be aware that there are some problems associated with this, (apart from the fact that fish is very expensive and its cheaper to buy fish oil supplements).
The first problem is that fish can have nasty contaminants in it. The FDA tell us to limit how much fish we eat for this reason.
This doesn’t apply to the best fish oil supplements, they go through a rigorous process to ensure that they are free from contaminants. Note that not all fish oil supplements are free from contaminants.
And there are also differences in the amount of Omega 3 polyunsaturated fats you get from different fish types, the best being oily fish. How do you know how much you’re getting?
The AHA recommendations for people with no known heart health problems is for a minimum of 2 fish meals a week (of the right types of fish). Now of course as stated that doesn’t make it easy. What if you want to take fish oil capsules because fish is too expensive?
The AHA recommendation also includes the statement that evidence from prospective secondary prevention studies suggests that taking EPA+DHA ranging from 0.5 to 1.8 grams per day (either as fatty fish or supplements) significantly reduces deaths from heart disease and all causes.
So for healthy people we should be taking around half to 1.8 grams of EPA and DHA a day from fish or supplements.
For those with existing heart problems the recommendation is as follows:
For those with documented Coronary Heart Disease: 1 gram of EPA and DHA a day. (Note that those with known heart health problems should consult a doctor before starting any supplements).
And for those seeking to lower triglycerides: 2 to 4 grams per day. Again, consult your doctor.
That’s not too vague, but lets look somewhere else.
There was a new study published just recently in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that suggests at least 500 mg (half a gram) per day for healthy people and 800 to 1000 mg for those with known cardio vascular issues.
Now next we need to ask what ratio we should look for between EPA and DHA, the 2 major Omega 3 fats. There is no AHA recommendation, it’s still under study.
What’s the conclusion? Firstly, those with known heart disease should take more fish oil than those without.
And we don’t yet know what ration we should look for between EPA and DHA. But otherwise it’s relatively clear.
Around a half gram a day minimum of both EPA and DAH together for healthy people, and around a gram a day for those with issues. More to lower triglycerides.
The best fish oil supplements money can buy have 280 mg of DHA and 120 mg of EPA in them. (Double the amount of DHA than your “average” capsules). So they have a total of 400 mg.
So 2 capsules a day will give you 800 mg in total, around the level proposed by the AHA. And the recommended dosage, (taken from the label), for adults is 2 capsules a day.
So with no known heart issues take 2 capsules a day of the best fish oil capsules, up to double for other “average” fish oil capsules, depending on what is in them.
So if you’re wondering how much fish oil should I take we hope this gives you some guidelines. There are no formal exact guidelines, these things are still under study.
We can draw some conclusions from the recommendations of the AHA and others.
And that conclusion of the right fish oil dosage also corresponds with the dosage recommended by the best fish oil supplements, 2 capsules a day.
If you want to know where to find the best fish oil capsules that give you double the amount of Omega 3 fats visit my website.