Slayer's Den

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Does Fish Oil Improve Body Comp?​

Does fish oil help with fat loss and muscle gain? If so, how much do you have to take? We finally have the answer.​

Back in the 1990s when fish oil supplements gained attention, some people took mega-doses of it – dozens of daily capsules – and reported fat loss without changing their diets or training. Researchers caught wind of these anecdotal reports and conducted studies to see what was happening.

Their conclusions over the last few decades have been, well, all over the place. Early studies concluded that the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil trigger positive changes in body composition. The next batch of studies said it didn't, and the latest studies say, "No, wait a minute. Fish oil DOES help with fat loss and muscle gain!"

So, does fish oil shift our body comp in a favorable direction or not? Let's jump to the answer: Yes, it does, if you get enough of it in you and give it enough time to work.

See, all those conflicting studies followed different parameters. Some used heavy doses of fish oil; some used light doses. Some were very short in duration; others were longer. Some studied overweight people; others looked at athletes. But the latest fish oil study should clear everything up.

The New Study​

This study is cool because it used high-dose fish oil and resistance-trained men and women. The participants were divided into two groups:

• A group taking 4.5 grams per day of fish oil.
• A placebo group taking 4.5 grams per day of safflower oil.

Both groups used the same three-day-a-week lifting program for 10 weeks. They followed their usual diets but were asked to eat at least 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight daily, which is pretty minimal.

The researchers measured body composition with DEXA and everyone's omega-3 index score. That test let researchers know if they used enough fish oil to get inside the membranes of red blood cells and skeletal muscle cells. In this case, they did.


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What Happened?​

• Lean Body Mass: The fish oil takers gained an average of 4 pounds. The placebo group gained 3 pounds.
• Fat Mass: The fish oil group lost 2 pounds. The placebo group lost 0 pounds.
• Body Fat Percentage: The fish oil group lost 1.4%. The placebo group lost 0.6%.

Both groups did the same workouts and ate the same foods as before the study, but the fish oil group gained 1 extra pound of lean body mass while losing 2 pounds of fat compared to those who didn't take fish oil.

Want to Try It?​

Any experienced lifter would be thrilled with this shift in body composition. Lose two pounds of fat and gain a pound of lean mass in 10 weeks without really changing your current diet or training? Sounds good. Most of us don't take fish oil with body composition changes in mind, but we'll take them. And over time, this modest shift adds up to a leaner, more muscular physique.

The participants in this study took 4.5 grams of fish oil daily, which required them to swallow seven capsules of the brand they were given. Early experimenters had to swallow over twenty capsules daily because fish oil supplements weren't very concentrated back then.