More Than Just Fishy

Fish oil is touted as a great, healthy supplement for a host of illnesses. However, there are studies of fish oil supplements that show no ‘omega’ benefit. So, what is the covert, or overt, truth in them?

Many years ago, the chicken industry, faced with a backlash against all meats, hired an advertising agency. They came up with the word ‘white’ meat. For years, the industry has been attributing all sorts of benefits to chicken ‘white meat’ — none of which is true. White is the same as red in every way — whether in cholesterol, oil or anything else that people want to avoid. But, no matter what the scientists and food experts say, people will now continue to regard chicken as ‘aspirational’ and good for their health.

The same goes for fish oil. Fish oil is now the third most widely used dietary supplement after vitamins and minerals.

People have been told repeatedly by way of advertisements and doctors paid by the industry that fish oil has omega-3 in it and these fatty acids will protect their hearts. Fish oil has also been sold as a useful element for preventing heart disease or stroke, as well as clogged arteries, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, after bypass surgery, heart failure, rapid heartbeat, for preventing blood clots, and high blood pressure following a heart transplant.

CLINICAL STUDIES

The problem is that most of the clinical trials involving fish oil have found no evidence of any of this. From 2005 to 2012, at least two dozen rigorous studies of fish oil were published in leading medical journals, most of which looked at whether fish oil could prevent heart disease, attacks or strokes in high-risk populations [obese, low exercise, meat eating, smokers, history of heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension or type-2 diabetes]. Twenty of these studies found that fish oil had no benefits at all.