Should I take fish oil everyday? 

In the past, any food was considered a staple and a means of survival especially during war where food was scarce. Nowadays, people are more aware of what they eat and are willing to pay more for healthier meals or organic ingredients to nourish the body and mind. However, with recent hikes of goods and soaring inflation, not many are lucky to even have enough food or time , let alone providing enough nutrients for the body. This resulted in people buying supplements in effort to help improve their body nutrition status. In this article, we would be discussing fish oil and should you take it everyday.

First and foremost, we need to make sure we know what exactly is fish oil. Fish oil is an oil that usually comes from fatty fish such as tuna, cod, sardine, mackerel and trout. It contains essential omega-3 fatty acids mainly in forms of Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Some of the newer versions of fish oil are formulated with calamari oil, krill oil or microalgae oil to increase DHA content. There is a reason why some companies decided to try to increase the DHA concentration in their fish oil product. Our body utilises DHA easily and readily available DHA means the body does not need to give extra effort to process EPA to become DHA.

Fish oil has been proved in research papers and clinical uses to benefit mankind in many ways. It helps with brain development and improvement of the nerve especially people with neurological challenges such as neuropathic pain which involves abnormal pain sensation especially in diabetes patients and cancer. Risk of heart diseases are also greatly reduced in people taking fish oil. Mood symptoms and brain function among anxiety or depression patients can also be improved with fish oil. Fish oil greatly aids elderly with pain due to degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis by reducing the inflammation process responsible for their misery and pain.

Now, you might feel intrigued to try fish oil after knowing all the good stuff. Generally speaking, fish oil supplements work around 6 weeks and up to 6 months, provided with consistent daily consumption. The question now is should you take it everyday? Firstly, ask yourself, do you actually eat fish or any seafood regularly? Are you on a specific diet such as vegan or vegetarian for a long while? Do you hate eating or have a bad allergy to fish or seafood?  If you are saying yes to any of those questions and if you are struggling to incorporate these sea creatures into your meal at least twice a week, you may want to consider taking fish oil everyday. Of course, if you have an underlying health condition whereby fish oil can help alleviate it, go ahead and take it everyday. Do mind that patients with medications affecting blood clot or blood pressure, might need to ask for healthcare opinion first.

Those who are generally healthy and enjoy eating fish or seafood on almost daily basis, might not need to take fish oil supplements as you might have already got enough nutrition content of what a fish oil can offer. Plus, having a balanced meal based on a food pyramid and Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) will do wonders for your body and mind in the long run. Hence, people need to understand that supplements are supplementary for our body. It can never top off a perfect plate of real food packed with dense nutrients. So, before taking any supplements, ask yourself, why do you need this?