Jonathan Wilhoite Blog: Health Benefits of Fish Oil

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Health Benefits of Fish Oil

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Long championed for health benefits, fish oil has long been renowned for its benefits as a lean muscle supplement. Many have heard this but few know the full details of why this is. Let’s examine more details on this subject matter.

When you look at your supplement budget as a pie chart, one wedge would be for protein. This should be the largest wedge in the pie chart. The rest of the dietary budget would be much smaller, but the protein wedge would be the largest. You would dedicate the remainder of the pie chart to your workout routines, supplements that helped build up your body and the rest of the supplements that you routinely take. It’s time to dedicate a portion of this supplement pie budget to your fish oil. It’s an amazing supplement with a myriad of benefits that your body can use pre and post workout.

Over the course of the last several years, research has shown that fish oil offers up a myriad of benefits. Omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in cold-water fish, can greatly reduce inflammation as well as boost your cardiovascular health, improve the efficiency of your heart while you’re exercising and it can do a lot to help you maintain your blood lipid profiles.

Here’s what you likely don’t know: Fish oil can increase your metabolism of fat. It can help to improve your overall health and vitality. It can give you leaner muscles that actually grow larger. The only problem is that it smells fishy. However, is it really all that they say it is? Let’s examine the benefits of this supplement.

1. Improves Exercise Efficiency

According to scientists in Australia, fish oil can decrease the amount of work that the heart and the muscles do while working out. They also stated that fish oil supplements can also improve the heart rate during incremental exercise. It can also help to improve the rate of submaximal exercise to the heart rate, it can improve whole-body oxygen and improve the oxygen requirements of the heart.

In light of the research, fish oil can also make the heart and the skeletal muscles be more efficient when they contract. It can work as a blood thinner and may also improve the flow of blood and oxygen to the tissues throughout the body. In a double-blind placebo study, they took 20 fit college men and gave them either a placebo or a 3.6-gram fish oil capsule three times per day for eight weeks. Each volunteer did a work out before and after taking the supplement. Those who took the fish oil had lower levels of exertion. The fish oil made it easier to exercise than the placebo. It was thus concluded that the fish oil improved the endurance of exercise.

2. Promotes Anabolism

The study didn’t stop there however, it went on to show that taking an omega-3 fatty acid supplement could increase anabolism. In further studies at the Washington University School of Medicine, they evaluated the effects of omega-3 fatty acids while in specific conditions of hyperaminoacidemia and hyperinsulinemia. Out of the study group they had nine healthy men and women partaking. The subjects, ages 25 to 45, were given isotope tracer infusions. They had muscle biopsies before and after the eight-week study. The infusions were to evaluate how the muscle protein synthesis and the anabolic signaling worked together before and after the supplements were taken. While the supplements alone didn’t affect the anabolism, combined with hyperaminoacidemia and hyperinsulinemia, they showed a 34 percent increase in the protein of the muscles.

However, Omega-3s alone didn’t affect the anabolism. They were combined with hyperaminoacidemia and hyperinsulinemia. They showed 34 percent increase in the protein levels and rate. The biopsies on the muscles showed an increase in the protein levels and the muscle cell size.

3. Improves Body Composition

According to scientists from Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania, research shows that fish oil supplements for resting metabolic rates as well as body composition and even cortisol levels can change. In another double-blind study, baseline measurements of body composition and cortisol were done after subjects fasted. The subjects were randomly placed into two separate groups. Each took two capsules with their meals for six weeks. Making no other changes to their diets, the subjects were then reevaluated at the completion of the blind study. The results were staggering.

Upon retesting at the end of the study, the subjects who took the omega-3 fish oil supplements had over a one pound increase in their lean muscle mass and a one pound loss in their fat loss. The omega-6 subjects showed no changes. There were also no changes in the body mass for either group. The changes are believed to be from the positive influence of the Omega-3 fish oil supplements in comparison to the Omega-6 supplements. The data shows a clear support for how fish oil can benefit the health of your body overall. If you’re seeking to maximize your muscles while staying lean, this may well be the route to go. The suggested dose is two fish oil capsules per meal averaging three meals per day. That’s two fish oil capsules with breakfast, two with lunch and two more with dinner. All capsules should be followed with at least one half glass of water upon ingestion to ensure that they are fully washed down.

The Fishy Conclusion

In order to reap the myriad of benefits of health and exercise as well as fish oil supplements, those who took one to three grams of a high DHA and EPA fish oil supplement with their breakfast, lunch and their dinner, gained more muscle mass and remained leaner than their counterparts who didn’t take Omega-3 fish oil supplements. On training days, it’s suggested that athletes take one dose with their post workout protein shake as well as dextrose in the amount of 25 to 50 grams.

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