It's not quite clear what the right fish oil dosage is, I constantly see questions about how much fish oil should I take.
How much fish oil should you take? What is the recommended dosage of fish oil capsules for someone who has heart disease already? Should they take more fish oil supplements?
Lets have a look at the view of the American Heart Association. They tell us the benefits of Omega 3 fish oil on their website, and they look at what is the correct dosage of fish oil for people with, and without, heart disease.
What do they suggest?
First though I'd like to consider where the fish oil you take should come from. Now you could just eat fish. But as well as being expensive there are other problems.
The first problem is that fish are generally contaminated with various toxins, and the FDA recommend limiting your intake of fish for this reason.
The very best fish oil capsules do through a strict decontamination process, so are free from chemicals. But not all fish oil capsules are.
And the second thing to be aware of is that there are large differences in how much Omega 3 fats you get from different types of fish. Oily fish are better than non oily fish.
The AHA tells us that people with no known heart disease problems should have a minimum of 2 fish meals a week, of the right fish. But for the previously stated reasons it's not so easy. What if fish is to expensive for you?
And they also say 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.
And for people who have heart disease already:
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 2 to 4 grams a day if you have triglycerides that need lowering.
That's not too vague, but lets look somewhere else.
A new study has just been published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology telling us that healthy people should take a half gram of fish oil Omega 3s per day and those with known cardio vascular issues should take 800 mg to 1000 mg a day.
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.
So what can we deduce from all that? We can deduce that, firstly, the fish oil dosage for heart disease patients is higher than for people with no known heart disease.
And we can conclude that the science is still out on the exact dosage of fish oil that everyone should be taking. But its getting there. The dosage recommendations above are 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.
The conclusion therefore is that if you use the best fish oil supplements and have no known preexisting heart problems, just follow the recommended dosages listed on the label. Other fish oil supplements may require you to take 4 or 5 or more capsules, depending on the quantity of Omega 3 fats in the capsules.
So I hope that helps a little for those looking for the correct fish oil dosage. There's no exact recommendations, it's still being studied.
But there's conclusions we can draw from the recommendations of the AHA and others.
And those dosage conclusions correspond with the dosage recommendations of the best Omega 3 supplements money can buy. Take 2 capsules day for general heart health.
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.
How much fish oil should you take? What is the recommended dosage of fish oil capsules for someone who has heart disease already? Should they take more fish oil supplements?
Lets have a look at the view of the American Heart Association. They tell us the benefits of Omega 3 fish oil on their website, and they look at what is the correct dosage of fish oil for people with, and without, heart disease.
What do they suggest?
First though I'd like to consider where the fish oil you take should come from. Now you could just eat fish. But as well as being expensive there are other problems.
The first problem is that fish are generally contaminated with various toxins, and the FDA recommend limiting your intake of fish for this reason.
The very best fish oil capsules do through a strict decontamination process, so are free from chemicals. But not all fish oil capsules are.
And the second thing to be aware of is that there are large differences in how much Omega 3 fats you get from different types of fish. Oily fish are better than non oily fish.
The AHA tells us that people with no known heart disease problems should have a minimum of 2 fish meals a week, of the right fish. But for the previously stated reasons it's not so easy. What if fish is to expensive for you?
And they also say 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.
And for people who have heart disease already:
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 2 to 4 grams a day if you have triglycerides that need lowering.
That's not too vague, but lets look somewhere else.
A new study has just been published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology telling us that healthy people should take a half gram of fish oil Omega 3s per day and those with known cardio vascular issues should take 800 mg to 1000 mg a day.
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.
So what can we deduce from all that? We can deduce that, firstly, the fish oil dosage for heart disease patients is higher than for people with no known heart disease.
And we can conclude that the science is still out on the exact dosage of fish oil that everyone should be taking. But its getting there. The dosage recommendations above are 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.
The conclusion therefore is that if you use the best fish oil supplements and have no known preexisting heart problems, just follow the recommended dosages listed on the label. Other fish oil supplements may require you to take 4 or 5 or more capsules, depending on the quantity of Omega 3 fats in the capsules.
So I hope that helps a little for those looking for the correct fish oil dosage. There's no exact recommendations, it's still being studied.
But there's conclusions we can draw from the recommendations of the AHA and others.
And those dosage conclusions correspond with the dosage recommendations of the best Omega 3 supplements money can buy. Take 2 capsules day for general heart health.
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.
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Want to know more about the Benefits of Omega 3? Or about how to get the right Omega 3 Dosage? Visit Peter's Website Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oil.
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