Weight Loss Tips: Fish Oil Weight Loss

By Dr. Mary Butler

Fish oil can help tremendously with fat metabolism and weight loss. However, certain factors can boost these benefits and other factors can completely cancel them.

A multitude of studies have examined the potential effects of fish oil weight loss. Unfortunately, relatively few have shown how other factors might influence the results, either positively or negatively. This is why so many studies listed on PubMed, our national medical database, show contradictory results.

One of the better studies, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2007, shows that fish oils can reduce fat mass and increase lean mass, whereas vegetable oils can do just the opposite. This and similar reports point to the positive effects of omega-3 fatty acids from fish and the negative effects of omega-6 fatty acids from vegetable oils.

Furthermore, the most important factor for enhancing the benefits of fish oil for weight loss is exercise. Moderate exercise (i.e., walking 3 days per week for 45 minutes at 75 percent of age-predicted maximal heart rate) significantly boosts the positive effects of fish oil. Effects of fish oil for reducing fat mass and building lean mass are inconsequential in the absence of exercise.

In sum, piercing through all the seemingly contradictory conclusions from different studies on the effects of fish oil on weight loss, we can take away four consistent health lessons:

1) The overabundance of omega-6 fatty acids from vegetable oils negates the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil. Our modern dietary intake of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids is in a ratio of about 20:1. It should be closer to 2:1. Consume less vegetable oil and more fish oil.

2) The benefits of dietary fish oil for fat loss and lean body mass are boosted by even moderate exercise. Such benefits are insignificant in the absence of exercise.

3) The benefits of fish oil can be completely undermined by dietary sugar. Indeed, fructose and its occurrence in so many foods and beverages can be especially harmful against the otherwise beneficial effects of fish oil.

4) The daily amount of fish oil is crucial. It should be at least 1.5 grams, with 2-3 grams being even better. It is also important to take fish oil supplements that have the highest amounts of EPA and DHA, which are the two main omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil.

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