Omega 3s have long been trumpeted as an invaluable nutrient to include in our diets. Fish oil gels are popular supplements claiming to boost fat burning, fight off inflammation, boost workout recovery and thus performance and a few other benefits.
I have taken omega 3s myself, and have recommended them to many of my clients. In this post, I'll explain what omega 3s are, what they do and if supplementing with them is worth it.
Table of content
How much should you eat?
What are omega 3s?
Omega 3s are a type of polyunsaturated fat, meaning they are healthy fats. (Remember it's the saturated fats we want to be careful of).
There are three types of omega 3:
(I've included the full names just for fun, but I can't even pronounce them properly)
ALA (alpha-linolenic acid): Found in plants, mainly seeds and nuts
EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid): Found in micro algea and fish.
DHA (docosahexaenoic acid): Found in micro algea and fish.
Omega threes are considered essential fatty acids because your body cannot make them itself in sufficient quantities so you need to get them from your diet.
Your body can create EPA and DHA from ALA. So the most important one to consume is ALA.
Along with other healthy fats, omega 3s do the following
Maintain the structure of your cells (pretty important)
DHA especially does this in your eyes and brain
Provide energy for the body. Remember that one gram of fat gives nine calories
They reduce inflammation within the body
Let's take a look at how each of these functions can increase your heart health and muscle recovery.
Heart health benefits of Omega 3s
It's the lowering of inflammation that helps your heart. So first of all, what is inflammation?
Inflammation is your body's response to foreign substances that shouldn't be there. Imagine you cut yourself on a splinter. You've got molecules of wood in your skin and maybe a bit of bacteria here and there.
Your body sends white blood cells to the area to "clean up" the foreign molecules. It's like routine maintenance. Since there is extra blood in that area, the blood vessels swell a little and the surface becomes a bit more red.
This routine maintenance is done all over your body, and sometimes we can't see the affected area. Think about the last time you had a stomach ache. It may have caused pain, triggering your brain to send those white blood cells to investigate and clean up whatever there was to clean up.
Whatever it was, it caused inflammation, but we couldn't see it. There are tons of ways that inflammations can happen without us seeing it.
Acute inflammation is good. That's the routine maintenance. We want this to feel better.
However! Certain lifestyle decisions can lead to chronic inflammation: lack of sleep, dubious food choices, and lack of exercise being the most prevalent ones.
Chronic inflammation is not ideal, it's kinda of like your body starting to harm itself by trying to help it.
Imagine you have some dirt on your forearm. You want to clean it off but rubbing it away with a towel. Immediately after the dirt is gone, it reappears in the same spot. So you rub it off again, more energetically. And the same thing happens: the dirt reappears. You scrub it off even more vigorously.
This process repeats itself until all the rubbing creates a painful rash on your forearm. Now not only do you have dirt on your forearms that never goes away, but the process of cleaning it becomes painful.
Chronic inflammation is more or less the same thing. It's trying to get rid of the dirt and damaging your body by doing so. It's a vicious cycle because the damage caused by the inflammation will trigger more inflammation.
Omega 3s create compounds that lower inflammation.
When it comes to heart health, chronic inflammation can lead to plaque buildup in your blood vessels which leads to increased blood pressure. Omega 3s help increase the amount of good cholesterol in your bloodstream which helps lower the blood pressure.
Omega 3s and muscle recovery
The soreness you feel after a challenging workout is nothing more than a form of inflammation. The soreness is from the muscle cells you so diligently broke down in order to rebuild them stronger.
Just like your heart health, omega 3s help lower and speed up the inflammatory process.
Think back about you scrubbing the dirt off your forearms. Omega 3s are like a friend that stops you from rubbing and says "Hey that's enough, look the dirt is gone. Stop scrubbing".
Now are omega 3s the only thing you need to reduce soreness?
Not at all. Your muscles also need sufficient protein intake, water, enough calories, carbohydrates and enough sleep in order to recover and grow properly.
I personally think omega 3s are a recovery optimization tool, but not a primary tool.
Do omega 3s help you burn more fat?
This is where I stop believing in all the miracle effects of this nutrient.
The classic reasons for increased fat burning are:
Enhance fat oxidation by increasing certain enzymes, especially during exercise. This seems to overlook the fact that A. you need to exercise for this to happen and B. the physiological demand of certain substrates during your workout. Your body will consume more carbs at higher intensities and more fats at lower intensities. No amount of omega 3s will change that. Furthermore, if you consume more fat than carbs, your body will burn more fat because it has to. The net effect effect of that isn't more fat burning.
Improved insulin sensitivity which means glucose is stored more effectively and not converted to fat. That doesn't seem to directly affect fat burning in my opinion.
Gene activation to burn more fat, especially brown fat. Sure, that's probably true. But if omega 3s made those genes really work hard, it would become a much more famous fat burning supplement.
I think the fat-burning capabilities of omega 3s should be seen as a last kind of optimization strategy, that is absolutely useless unless all the more effective strategies have not been assiduously explored.
I'm talking about being in a calorie deficit, exercising properly, sleeping enough, and making better, healthier food choices.
Foods high in Omega 3s
Before looking at omega 3 supplements, try to include as many natural foods with them in your diet. The following list is a good start, but not exhaustive.
Salmon
Mackerel
Seabass
Oysters
Sardines
Shrimp
Seaweed and algae
Chia seeds
Hemp seeds
Flax seeds
Walnuts
Edamame
Soy beans
Kidney beans
Wheat germ
How much omega 3 do you need per day?
I couldn't find a precise recommended daily dosage. A lot of sources recommend 1.6g of omega 3 per day for men and 1.1g per day for women.
As a reference, 3 ounces of sardines provide 1g of omega 3s. 3 ounces of salmon provide 2g of omega 3s. One tablespoon of flax seeds had 1.8g of omega 3s.
An easy way to ensure you are getting enough omega threes is to familiarize with the foods that have them and find the ones you enjoy having.
Conclusion
Omega threes are an important nutrient in anyone's life. Their anti-inflammatory effect is essential for anyone who wants to live a healthy life.
I think it's important to understand that all the health benefits they have come down to that one property. It's also important to understand there are many, many other ways to reduce inflammation.
The most important one in our modern world is via stress management which includes proper sleep, proper nutrition and a sustainable fitness routine.
Omega 3s are part of the health equation but not a magic solution. There are plenty of foods that have them, fatty fish and seeds having the most.
Comments