Fish Oil Supplements: What could it hurt?

Being relatively new to living a healthier lifestyle, I feel like I have to be extra vigilant when it comes to taking advice. Over the past four months I’ve received a variety of suggestions, some have been very helpful and others, not so much…

For instance, a few weeks ago I had a pleasant conversation with a guy working out at Anytime Fitness of Gilbertsville. We talked in between sets and at one point he asked how much weight I had lost. When the conversation turned to weight loss he offered me this great tip for melting body fat. All I had to do was drink lemon water throughout the day. I’m skeptical anytime someone gives me a tip that is sure to melt the fat away.

Another piece of common advice is to do a prescribed number of crunches / sit-ups each day to lose my gut. It sounds as if it would work but I’ve read enough on the subject to know that you can’t spot exercise the fat away from trouble areas – sadly.

Then there is the advice that piques your curiosity and requires further research. A great example of this has been several individuals recommending that I take Fish Oil Supplements. A couple of these suggestions have come from people in the gym and it made made me wonder, what exactly does Fish Oil to do help reduce body fat or increase muscle growth?

While doing some grocery shopping at Walmart the other day, I perused the vitamin aisle and picked up a bottle Fish Oil Capsules. I’ve been taking those capsules for the past few days and am beginning to wonder if they are worth it.

According to the bottle I am supposed to take three soft-gel capsules each day. Each capsule should be taken with a meal and provides 300mg of Omega-3. On the surface it sounds simple, unfortunately it hasn’t been that easy.

Since I started taking the Fish Oil Supplement I’ve been doing a little research on the subject. The common agreement seems to be that in low doses it won’t hurt you. In terms of benefits, studies suggest that it helps with hypertension, promotes heart health, and can have mental benefits for depression, anxiety, ADHD, and brain development. Depending on the study referenced, these benefits vary wildly in terms of how much you can expect to see.

With all of benefits of taking Fish Oil Supplements, I can certainly understand why people would suggest it. Even so, I couldn’t help but wonder why people were recommending it for weight loss and muscle growth? I did some more researching, changing up my Google search terms, and the results weren’t as impressive.

Sure, there were plenty of people out there saying that anyone trying to lose weight or build muscle should take fish oil but the reasons didn’t seem as solid as the health benefits. I’m not convinced that taking fish oil will help me lose weight but it doesn’t appear as though it will hurt.

One downside that I’ve seen since taking the supplement is that the side-effects aren’t pleasant. I can take a capsule first thing in the morning, without issue, but when I take them later in the day I get a serious case of the fish burps. I don’t mind the taste of fish (salmon is actually something we eat once or twice per week) but it is horribly unappealing if you haven’t eaten fish. I’ve also experienced some stomach cramping but that seems to be sporadic depending on what I’ve eaten before taking the supplement.

It is also worth noting that I’ve decided that taking three capsules per day isn’t going to work for me. Since my family consumes fish once or twice per week, I think taking one capsule with my daily multi-vitamin is going to serve me just fine.

In the grand scheme of things, I really don’t know if a Fish Oil Supplement is necessary in my weight loss journey, however, it sounds like it won’t have any adverse effects on my health.