The Evidence on Omega-3 Supplementation

In today’s world there are many supplements out on the market. There are supplements out there that claim to make people years younger, make a person super skinny without ever working out, make ladies grow long, beautiful hair and the list goes on. When it comes to supplements, we definitely have to go to our beloved evidenced based research.

While some supplements should never have money thrown at them, there are supplements out there that are beneficial. Evidence on omega-3 supplementation shows the fatty acid can be beneficial for a variety of diseases, a few are explored below.

Cardiovascular Disease

A meta-analysis done by Hu et al. (2019) looks into the debate of whether omega-3 fatty acid
supplementation is beneficial in those with various cardiovascular disorders. They found that daily supplementation with marine omega-3 to be effective in lowering the risk for myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease. There was no association found in the risk reduction of stroke and omega-3 supplementation.

The range of the omega-3 dose in the 13 randomized control trials in this meta-analysis was 376 mg/day to 4,000 mg/day, with a majority of the dosages being around 850 mg/day. The ratio of the EPA and DHA in the omega-3 supplements varied throughout the trials (Hu et al., 2019).

Sarcopenia

It’s no secret that as we age our muscle mass and strength start to decrease. While regular physical activity and a nutritious diet can delay and prevent muscle loss related to aging, evidence has shown that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in the elderly can also help prevent sarcopenia.

Stella et al. (2018) did an extensive review of evidence looking into omega-3 supplementation and its effect on inflammation, insulin resistance and sarcopenia. While the evidence was not in favor of omega-3 supplementation for inflammation and insulin resistance, the review did find that elderly men and women had increased muscle mass, function and whole-body energetics with omega-3 supplementation. The studies that revealed this evidence had the elderly taking high dose omega-3, equal or greater than 1650 mg a day (Stella et al., 2018).

Dry Eye Disease

Epitropouls et al. (2016) describes dry eye disease as a complex, multifactorial disease. In a 12-week study performed by Epitropouls et al. (2016), supplementation with a re-esterified omega-3 supplement (1680 mg of EPA/560 mg of DHA) proved to reduce signs and symptoms of dry eyes in participants versus the control group. Based on this study that evaluated tear osmolarity, tear break-up time, matrix metalloproteinase-9 and the ocular surface disease index symptoms score, re-esterified omega-3 fatty acids should be included as primary therapy for dry eyes (Epitropouls et al., 2016).

A personal note, having dry eyes on a consistent basis is no joke. Ten years ago, I had LASIK eye surgery performed on both eyes, I absolutely love being able to see without having to fiddle with contacts or glasses but unfortunately after the procedure I developed chronic dry eyes. For years after the procedure I never went anywhere with out my single vial eye drops, I had to put drops in at least 5 times throughout the day to treat my dry eyes. I don’t like to complain, but it was a pain to do this.

A year and a half ago, I started taking a re-esterified omega-3 supplement on a daily basis, and within a few short months I was able to leave home without my lubricating eye drops. I now only use my eye drops in the morning when I wake up. A huge improvement in my quality of life.

Not just any omega-3 – What to look for in Supplements

Getting omega-3s from our diet is the ideal option, but the majority of the population doesn’t eat enough high-quality fish on a weekly basis. This is where supplementation comes in to play. When it comes to purchasing omega-3 supplements, quality is important.

The omegas at the grocery store or Wal-Mart I recommend leaving on the shelf at the store. While Amazon Prime is great, I don’t recommend buying supplements off of Amazon, there is no way to truly know what environment the supplements were stored in. They could have been sitting on a hot warehouse shelf for a couple of months.

I do recommend checking out companies such as Emerson Ecologics, a supplement dispensary, for purchasing omegas. Certified supplement dispensary companies store supplements in a controlled environment. Also, doing research on the supplement to make sure it has been third party tested is a good idea.

Consider looking at re-esterified omega-3 supplements. What does this mean? It means the supplement has been through a re-esterification process. The re-esterification process is a removal of the artificially induced alcohol that creates a chemically modified ethyl ester fish oil.

The reason a majority of omega-3 supplements contain artificially induced alcohol is due to the addition of alcohol initially to detoxify it from mercury and carcinogens. While we don’t want mercury and carcinogens in supplements, we don’t want artificially induced alcohol in them either. This is why it is important to look for an omega-3 supplement that has been re-esterified, as it creates a more natural form of an omega-3 supplement (Epitropouls et al., 2016).

The evidence on Omega-3 supplementation shows it’s a nutritional supplement worth exploring.

References

Epitropouls, A. T., Donnenfeld, E. D., Shah, Z. A., Holland, E. J., Gross, M., Faulkner, W. J., Matossian, C., Lane, S. S., Toyos, M., Bucci, F. A., & Perry, H. D. (2016). Effect of oral re-esterified omega-3 nutritional supplementation on dry eyes. Cornea, 35(9), 1185–1191. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0000000000000940

Hu, Y., Hu, F. B., & Manson, J. E. (2019). Marine omega‐3 supplementation and cardiovascular disease: An updated meta‐analysis of 13 randomized controlled trials involving 127, 477 participants. Journal of the American Heart Association, 8(19). DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.119.013543

Stella, A. B., Cappellari, G. G., Barazzoni, R., & Zanetti, M. (2018). Update on the impact of omega 3 fatty acids on inflammation, insulin resistance and sarcopenia: A review. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19010218