Fish Oil Dosage - Discussion

What fish oil dosage should we be taking daily to harness the health benefits of fish oil?

Fish oil is rich in the omega 3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA. These essential fatty acids are very important for many aspects of good health. As they cannot be made by the human body, they must be consumed in sufficient amounts in our diets. Unfortunately, our modern day diets are poor and most people today do not consume enough of these omega 3 fatty acids. Deficiency is thus quite widespread.

There is no clear or obvious indication of what omega 3 fish oil dosage should be taken each day. Perhaps, in answering the question 'how much fish oil should we take', we need to first be clear about what purpose we are taking it for.

Are you taking fish oil for health maintenance or prevention of disease? If that is the case, it may be sufficient to simply follow the dosage instructions which come with fish oil supplements (capsules, pills, tablets, etc). Typically, a possible dosage could be a 1,000-mg capsule three times a day.

If you are looking to get your supply of omega 3's directly from fish, do note that most fish today are contaminated with mercury, dioxins, PCBs and other chemicals. Eating too much fish flesh could thus actually harm your health.

If you are turning to fish oil for therapeutic purposes, to help treat or alleviate some health condition, more will probably be needed. Much research looking into the benefits of fish oil have used omega 3 dosages of about 3 grams per day (total of DHA plus EPA); about 10 grams of fish oil would be needed to obtain that amount.

Typical fish oil dosages do range from 3 grams to 9 grams daily. But it seems we can tolerate much more. In one particular study, persons who were being treated for cancer-related weight loss were actually able to take as much as 21 grams of fish oil per day. In another study, study subjects went as high as 60 grams each day.

But those are very high fish oil dosages. Generally speaking, taking sufficient fish oil to give you about 1 to 2.5 grams of DHA and 2 to 3 grams of EPA daily would enable you to meet the doses used in a number of major studies.

Of course, you may need more to effectively overcome your health ailment. But it may be possible that taking too much fish oil can cause allergic reactions and other side effects. Thus, if you need to go to relatively high doses, it may be a good idea to consult with a suitable and qualified natural health care practitioner.

One important thing to note - if you are using cod liver oil to obtain your omega 3 fatty acids, please be aware that it is high in vitamin A, too. This is a very essential and important vitamin, but taking it directly in supplemental form may pose a danger due to possible overdose. Too much vitamin A also interferes with the body's ability to use vitamin D. So, do be very careful here.

Generally, when taking herbs and supplements, it is also a good idea to start with a low dose and slowly work your way up, giving your body time to adjust and allowing you to observe the effects of the new intake. This applies to fish oil dosages, too.