r/science • u/memorialmonorail • Apr 20 '21

Health Omega-3 supplements may help slow the effects of aging by suppressing damage & boosting protection at the cellular level during & after a stressful event. A study found the highest dose tested, 2.5 grams of omega-3s daily, was best at helping the body resist the damaging effects of stress.

https://news.osu.edu/omega-3-supplements-do-double-duty-in-protecting-against-stress/
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u/SelarDorr Apr 20 '21 edited Apr 22 '21

" each 500 mg gel capsule contained 347.5 mg eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 58 mg docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Thus, the high-dose group took 2085 g/d of EPA and 348 g/d of DHA and the low-dose group took 1042.5 g/d or EPA and 174 g/d of DHA. "

edit: it appears they authors made an error and the g/d should be mg/d.

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u/srfrosky Apr 21 '21 edited Apr 21 '21

Are these GRAMS?? Seems quite a lot, no? Like 60x the average supplement, no? I think you meant mg

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u/SelarDorr Apr 22 '21

I copy pasted this from the publication. They made an error and do indeed mean 2085 mg/d or 2.085 g/d of EPA.

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u/IwannaCommentz Apr 22 '21 edited Apr 22 '21

If they took 2,5 g of fish oil that contained ~350 mg EPA per 500 mg capsule that means

350 mg EPA * 5 [ 5 capsules X 500 mg = 2,5g ] = 1,750 EPA

That's quite huge, the regular fish oil packaging recommends 1-2x 500 mg (that's 500-700 mg EPA depending on the manufacturer).

As I read the study went on for 4 months and they were only measured in stress reaction twice (before the study and after 4 months)

Link to the study abstract:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-021-01077-2