As we can see, fish oil has a whole lot of positive health benefits but is there any side effects of fish oil? Are there really any negative consequences that come from taking this very beneficial supplement? Well first we have to define who should be using fish oil.
Now I believe that everyone should be taking fish oil. The bigger question is why aren't you taking fish oil? Taking away all of those health benefits that I mentioned earlier, fish oil is a healthy source of fat. Most people's diets are just too low in fat in general, not to mention healthy fats. These fats will also help people who are dieting and eating a low amount of calories stay full and not cheat on their diets.
What about the downsides though? If fish oil were really the magic pill then we'd know if there were any negative consequences right? Wrong, while I love fish oil and recommend it highly in the Physique Formula, I think we need to watch out about believing that fish oil is all good.
First, fish oil may not be the best thing for building muscle. I see some crazy high recommendations for the amount of fish oil that people should take and it makes no sense. To build muscle we need a pro-inflammatory substance known as arachidonic acid, which fish oil actually lowers. Arachidonic acid is found in red meats and actually increases our natural testosterone production so we can build muscle and lose fat. This can lead to side effects with fish oil
Using high doses of fish oil for prolonged periods of time will decrease arachidonic acid which isn't good for muscle building purposes.
Another side effect of fish oil is that it can disrupt the absorption of certain important nutrients such as vitamin D and E. Vitamin D and E have numerous healthy benefits including reducing free radical damage, inflammation, and even cancer. Large amounts of fish oil may actually decrease the beneficial properties of these nutrients so we would need to supplement with vitamin D and E individually.
Vitamin E also helps with the ability for the body to absorb fish oil. Just popping fish oil doesn't do it anymore. It's the amount that we absorb not the amount that we take that matters.
While those two side effects of fish oil may seem small, we need to be aware of them. I'm not saying not to take fish oil, I take a good amount every day but we must be aware of the side effects of fish oil.
