Fish Oil Dosage

What's the proper fish oil dosage? We wish there were one simple answer. But finding universal agreement between authorities is maddeningly impossible. And even if they did agree, so-called "proper dosage" depends on at least these factors:

• Your gender
• Your body weight and body mass (ratio of body fat to muscle)
• Your condition (whether healthy or treating a specific condition)

As you probably know, the reason for consuming fatty fish or fish oil supplements is to get the benefits of the omega-3 essential fatty acids contained therein. The most important omega 3s are EPA and DHA (eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic fatty acids). The human body can't manufacture them, but they're essential for maintaining general health and for help with a wide range of specific health conditions, as proven by countless studies.

Getting Omega-3s from Fish

In its 2002 guidelines, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that "healthy adults eat least two servings of fish per week, particularly fish such as mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon."

While the AHA admits that "the ideal amount to take isn't clear," it cites evidence that "0.5 to 1.8 grams per day either as fatty fish or supplements significantly reduces deaths from heart disease and all causes." And it says that 1 gram per day "may be more than can readily be achieved through diet alone."

Getting Omega-3s from Fish Oil Supplements

When you want to know exactly how much omega-3 you're getting, and that you're not poisoning yourself with environmental contaminants (see below), get your omega-3s from a quality fish oil supplement that isn't made from everything that shows up in the net and that's guaranteed to be toxin-free.

What you're looking for is not the size of the capsule but the amount of omega-3s within it. The amount of omega-3 fatty acids per softgel capsule varies from brand to brand, but the typical 1000-milligram (1 gram) softgel contains 180 milligrams of EPA and 120 milligrams of DHA for a total of 300 mg omega-3s. So if the recommended daily dosage is 1 gram/day EPA/DHA omega-3s and your supplement contains a total of 300 mg omega-3s per 1 gram capsule, you need 3 capsules per day.

Also look for the lowest amount of omega-6. Omega-6 causes inflammation; omega 3 fights it. The typical western diet leaves people deficient in omega-3 and overdosed with omega-6. Excessive omega-6 is thought to be a major player in the ever-increasing rise of inflammatory diseases including cardiovascular disease, arthritis, allergies, acne and cancer.

The AHA Dosage Recommendations

• For healthy people: The AHA guidelines above leave it to healthy people to figure out how much they might get from two fish servings per week.
• For people with coronary heart disease: 1 gram EPA+DHA daily.
• For people with elevated triglycerides (blood fats): 2 to 4 grams of EPA+DHA per day, under a physician's care.

IOM and ISSFAL Recommendations

Two scientific organizations with the most expertise in the topic are the U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL).

• IOM simply recommends that men consume 400 mg of omega-3s daily, and that women consume 260 mg per day.
• ISSFAL simply recommends that adults consume 660 mg of omega-3 daily.

Can You Take Too Much Fish Oil?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says a daily intake of up to 3 grams EPA/DHA is "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS). The AHA guidelines say "Patients taking more than 3 grams of omega-3 fatty acids from supplements should do so only under a physician's care. High intakes could cause excessive bleeding in some people."

Before taking any omega-3 supplement, check with your doctor if:

• You take blood-thinning drugs such as warfarin (Coumadin), aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil), naproxen (Aleve) and other anti-inflammatory pain relievers including COX-2 inhibitors such as Vioxx.
• You have type II diabetes
• You have a serious cardiovascular condition or a defibrillator implant

And because omega-3s inhibit blood clotting, don't take fish oil supplements for two weeks before and one week after surgery.

Plus, it goes without saying (but we will), that you mustn't take fish oil if you're allergic to fish.

While limited studies have tested much higher omega-3 quantities with no negative results, a direct answer to "Can I take too much fish oil?" doesn't seem to exist.

Is Fish Oil Harmful?

It can be, if it comes from any of the many species of fish that are polluted with the environmental contaminants found in so many waters of the world. These include mercury, lead, PCBs, dioxins and pesticides, all putting consumers at risk for a range of dangers from obscure changes to birth defects, developmental abnormalities in children, and cancer. Even three species on the generalized AHA list of recommended fish are contaminated. King mackerel and canned white Albacore tuna contain mercury; and Atlantic salmon contains PCBs, dioxins and pesticides.

So when buying fish oil supplements, you'll need to look for and trust the manufacturer's claims of toxin-free products. Also look for the words "molecularly distilled" on the label. This process purifies contaminated fish oil but also damages the fragile omega-3 molecules, depleting their nutritional value. This fact suggests an adjustment to all the dosage recommendations, doesn't it.

How to Take Fish Oil Supplements

Take omega-3 fish oil capsules three times daily, preferably with meals. Some manufacturers suggest you add enzyme supplements to maximize bioavailability (how much your cells absorb and use). The omega 3 in fish oil is in triglyceride form which is not a reliable delivery mechanism. Sometimes the triglycerides won't release the omega-3 molecules. When they do, your body has to perform two enzyme steps for the omega-3s to penetrate your cells and even then there is some difficulty (which increases with your age). Thus, fish oil is typically only 61-65% bioavailable. So that's one more reason to adjust the dosage recommendations, isn't it.

Wouldn't You Rather Get All of the Benefits and None of the Risks?

Away with all the contamination risks, damaged nutritional value and low bioavailability! There is a powerful solution to all these problems with fish oil. It's krill oil: the unique new marine oil that's the richest source of omega-3s ever seen in science, and that's far better than fish oil in every respect!

• Krill oil is 95-98% bioavailable because its omega-3s are in the form of phospholipids: the very building blocks of human cells. This makes it possible for nearly every omega-3 molecule to penetrate your 100 trillion cells with ease.
• Krill oil is 100% safe, naturally. Krill are tiny deepwater marine organisms that are at the bottom of the food chain and thus don't eat other marine animals that could be contaminated.
• In particular, Neptune Krill Oil (NKO™) delivers the krill's maximum nutritional potential. It's made of Antarctic krill by the one company that has the patented extraction process to make this possible.
• Unlike any fish oil, NKO™ won't overdose you with omega-6. The omega-3:6 ratio is a whopping 15:1 of inflammation-fighting power.

Explore this website for a wealth of information about the most effective marine oil supplement ever to reach the marketplace. NKO is sold by several different companies under their own labels. If it's genuine Neptune Krill Oil, you'll see the NKO trademark on the label.