Research Finds Fish Oil Supplements May Be Harmful. 'Is it time to quit?' experts ask.

Freeman said commercially available fish oils lack purity and consistency and contain potential contaminants found in fish and heavy metals such as mercury.

“Furthermore, research over the past decade has not yielded very positive results for commercially available fish oils,” he added. “Fish oil either had no effect or in some cases could harm things like stroke and atrial fibrillation. So it's not new.”

In fact, a new study found that people who already had heart disease at the start of the study had a 15% lower risk of progressing from atrial fibrillation to heart attack if they had regular heart disease, and progressing from heart failure to death. It was found that there was a 9% lower risk of Uses fish oil.

Instead, prescription versions of fish oils such as Vasepa and Lovaza are used to address risk factors such as high triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood, in people at risk for cardiovascular disease, Freeman said. It is said that there is.

“However, even with highly formulated and refined fish oils, doctors are cautious about the risks of atrial fibrillation and even stroke,” Freeman said.

“Overall, I would say that the days of people just going to the store and buying a bucket of fish oil pills to stay healthy should be over. But for people who are already sick, fish oil is It may still play a role.”

When it comes to fish oil, “the devil is in the details,” says Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of research at the Neurodegenerative Disease Institute in Boca Raton, Fla., and an Alzheimer's disease prevention neurologist, who was not involved in the study.

“First, I would recommend getting your omega-3 fatty acid levels tested. There are accurate finger-prick tests you can buy online. Then you should continue to get tested. You don't need to take fish oil if you don't need to,” he said.

Isaacson recommends trying to get your omega-3 fatty acids from dietary sources, with sardines and wild-caught salmon being the best sources of these fats as they are high in these healthy unsaturated fats and low in mercury. It says that it is the source. He said farmed salmon is not the best choice because of the impurities in the farming water.

Lake trout, mackerel, herring and albacore tuna are also good sources, he said. However, because large fish such as tuna are high in mercury, he recommends consuming albacore tuna no more than twice a week.

Besides fish, algae and seaweed are also good sources of omega-3s. Chia seeds, edamame (soybeans), flaxseed, hemp seeds, and walnuts are also plant-based options high in omega-3s. However, the fatty acids are in a different form than those found in fish. the study They found that plant-based omega-3s may be less easily metabolized in people with higher levels of omega-6s, another type of unsaturated fat found primarily in vegetable oils.

Experts say prescription omega-3 fatty acids are superior to over-the-counter supplements in terms of purity and quality. However, prescription supplements can be expensive. For patients who decide they want to purchase over-the-counter omega-3s, Isaacson offers the following tips for patients:

First, the freshness of the fish oil is important, he said, adding that “buying it online or from a retail store like Amazon or Costco is not the best idea.”

“I recommend buying only from a few trusted companies and from their specific websites,” Isaacson said. “There is a night and day difference in quality between fish oil stored in a high-temperature warehouse nearing its expiry date and fish oil shipped directly from a company that has just been manufactured and stored in your home refrigerator.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not monitor the supplement industry to ensure that each vitamin and mineral actually contains what is listed on the label, and the federal agency also does not monitor the supplement industry to ensure that each vitamin and mineral actually contains what is listed on the label, and the federal agency also does not monitor the supplement industry to ensure that ingredients contain no bacteria, heavy metals, or pesticides. , are not tested to determine if they are contaminated with plastic. Residues and other impurities.

However, some companies are stepping into that role by testing different supplements and some medications, so look for the supplement's label before you buy.non-profit organization United States PharmacopoeiaExperts say USP sets the most widely accepted standards for supplements, but ConsumerLab.com and NSF International We also perform third-party testing.