Studies Raise Doubts About the Benefits of Fish Oil

Fish Oil, or the omega-3 fatty acid, has been discovered to not be as beneficial to the heart as is has been chalked up to be, according to a new pair of studies.

The Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the American Heart Association, and the American Dietetic Association all recommend that eating  16 ounces of fish a week can help a person stay healthy. This is because omega-3, a fatty acid found in most fish, has been thought to help prevent asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune disease, ADHD, depression, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer.

Omega-3 is considered one of the most easily accessible and effective of natural anti-inflammatory, and all the aforementioned conditions can find some ties to the inflammation of soft tissue. However, a pair of new studies have found evidence that dispute  claims about how effective omega-3 actually is.

One study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, assessed 49 individual observational studies on the effects fatty acids had on the human body. A combination and analysis of data from these trials found that only trans fat has a clear negative effect on health -- go figure. Interestingly, none of these fatty acids showed any positive benefits either, even in the case of the natural anti-inflammatory omega-3. According to the comprehensive review, the recommended levels of omega-3 had "little or no significant effect on reducing coronary heart disease events."

In an interesting side note, saturated fats, a dietary taboo for many, showed no evidence of worsening someone's risk of heart disease.

In a second study, which was reviewing the use of omega-3 for preserving eye health, also happened to review if the fish oil supplements being used also helped prevent heart disease. Researchers found that omega-3 led to no reduction in the risk of heart attack, stroke, or heart failure among more than 1,000 people, compared to other groups who took different supplements or a placebo.

According to the authors of both studies, these findings call into question the supposed beneficial nature of omega-3. While the data only indicated that omega-3 did not help people in the case of heart conditions, the fact that all of the supplement's benefits are due to the same reason -- it's anti-inflammatory nature -- raises new doubts about its effectiveness in preventing other conditions as well.

The first review was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on March 18.

The second study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine on March 17.