Slayer's Den

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Burn 220 Extra Calories a Day​

A small amount of this healthy supplement raises athletes' resting energy expenditure rates by a surprisingly large amount.​

Fish oil was found to increase the resting energy expenditure of athletes by more than 10 percent. Taking fish oil helps athletes burn calories – a lot more calories – even when they're sitting around doing nothing.

The Study​

Thirty-six professional athletes were divided into two equal groups. One group took two capsules of fish oil every day for three weeks while the other group took a placebo.

The athletes taking fish oil burned up 220 more calories at rest than they did before the study started. That means their basal metabolic rate increased by 10.67 percent. The placebo group? Their metabolic rate didn't change.


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How Did That Happen?​

Other fish oil studies found that EPA/DHA (the two major omega-3 fatty acids) supplementation increased resting energy expenditure by notching up fatty acid oxidation, the process by which the body breaks down fats for energy. These researchers, however, suspected that fish oil, in addition to increasing fatty acid oxidation, upregulated a process called PPAR-gamma mRNA expression.

PPAR-gamma activates genes that regulate fatty acid storage and glucose metabolism. It also increases insulin sensitivity by enhancing the storage of fatty acids in fat cells. It does this by convincing fat cells to release adiponectin, a protein hormone involved in regulating glucose levels.

PPAR-gamma also increases mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation, so those little cellular powerhouses use the fat in your body to churn out more energy. One of the main promoters of oxidation in mitochondria is UCP2, categorized as an "uncoupling protein," which are energy transporters found in the inner membranes of mitochondria. This study found that fish oil increased the level of UCP2 mRNA expression by almost four-fold.

In succinct terms, fish oil made the genes for PPAR-gamma and UCP2 take it up a notch, thus increasing energy expenditure.

How to Use This Info​

Surprisingly, it only took a modest amount of fish oil to bring about this 10.67% increase in resting energy expenditure – just 2 grams a day, of which only 600 milligrams were EPA and DHA. It usually takes larger doses of omega-3 fatty acids to achieve other beneficial effects.

Would higher doses elevate the resting energy expenditure of athletes even further? Other studies seem to point in that direction.