For those still confused: "A single gram" is 1 gram, "multiple grams" is anything at or above 2 grams total, based on the current literature I've seen. 🙂
@Physionic I don't understand. I take 2 soft gels per day which equals 1280 mg and 650 mg of EPA and 450 of DHA every day. Made of anchovies, sardines, mackerel, and herring. Is this too much?
The Omega 3/Afib link is real! I am a 59yo physician. I have done high intensity interval training 4-5 times per week for the last 8 years. One year ago I started taking 1250mg per day of Omega 3 supplement. Within 1 month I began having exercise induced afib. Frequently when I got my heart rate up to 165 or higher I would flip into afib. After 20-60 minutes of rest it would resolve. After becoming aware of the possible link of Omega 3 with Afib, I stopped the supplement 3 months ago. I have not had an episode of afib now for the past 2 months. I am inclined to think that the science is real on this particular issue since I am an anecdotal example.
Another N=1 here, I did 6 grams of fishoil for several years, I suddenly felt weird tiny heart beats in between my regular heart beats and it kept going for a long time. When I stopped taking my fish oil they went away after about 3-4 days later.
Live saver this guy! Same experience here daily 1400mg omega3 supplements. Wondering why my heart did felt wrong and then I stopped and it went away. No I take cod visoil 600mg a few times a week.
@@Skiskiski Yes. Agreed. But, logically, the rule still applies. Any given dose, is still a dose. If the smallest possible dose makes the poison, that is the dose that makes the poison. It's an axiomatic statement.
@@KareSeriouslyKaren Agreed. Appears this is kinda like water, too little and you dehydrate and die, too much=hyponatremia and you die. Seems like the "sweet spot" (weird thing to say about a fatty acid . .) is probably somewhere between 1 and 2 grams a day.
I have an afib story that I think is related to the Omega-3 dose. For years I was taking one fish oil per day, and occasionally eating salmon. Then at some point, I went on a "fish oil" / Omega-3 kick where I upped my fish oil pills to three per day, one with each meal, and in addition, I was eating a lot of salmon and walnuts too. If we were at a restaurant and I saw salmon on the menu I automatically ordered it. It was a few weeks of doing this, until one day my Apple Watch said "afib" which I had for most of that day. It was gone by the morning. I thought about it and concluded that I was overdoing the salmon + fish oil pills, so dropped back to one pill per day and didn't automatically go for the salmon meal at the restaurant. Chicken is good too. I've had no issues since. I do believe that this was an Omega dose issue, so will stick with the one pill per day from now on. (I don't have any way to prove it though, so take it as a sample size of one.)
Pretty much the same here...was taking 1-2 Kirkland 1200mg OMEGA3 fish oil pills for the past year and a half as part of reversing T2D and maintaining it and frankly, I've never felt better, particularly cognitively. Then I recently experienced multiple rapid heartbeat situations following "exercise"...zero pain, no sweating, no nothing...just a racing heartbeat. Scared the crap of out me...stopped these supplements after 3 experiences within the same week. Have NOT experienced this again and yes, I have "exercised" since and raised my HB--it drops normally ever since. Seeing my doctor soon about the issue, we'll see what happens.
I had AFIB 2 years ago and doctors could not tell me why. After some research - 2 months worth, I discovered that one of the causes of AFIB is electrolyte imbalance. This led me to getting all of my electrolytes checked including magnesium. After further research I learned magnesium cannot be accurately measured by a blood test and that the body stores 5 different forms of magnesium in various tissues. So I decided to try taking magnesium glycinate which is the form stored in the heart tissue. I have not had an AFIB event since. I wonder whether the omega three and 6 you were taking depleted your magnesium levels. I have been taking 4g daily of small particle Omega 3 fish oil made from sardines, mackerel and krill for 4 years as well.
It's pretty damn frustrating trying to figure out what's best to eat/supplement when you have no clear way of telling wether it's good for you or not. I just keep learning and I guess that's all I can do.
It's very simple, eating a balanced diet of whole foods provides variety in nutrients where you're getting enough of everything but not too much because you're not indulging only one food. For omega 3, you can eat a handful of walnuts most days and fish a couple of days or whatever works for you in case you have allergies. Supplementing won't hurt you unless you take too much anyway, this title is mostly clickbait
The answer is generally very simple - *don’t* supplement unless you have a likelihood of deficiency, and if you *do* supplement don’t go overboard. Your body was built to handle a wide array of food sources and turn them into what it needs. Once you get well outside the range of concentrations of substances you’d naturally find in a diet, you run the risk of negative effects. In any case where I’m supplementing in excess of what I’d be able to get through a reasonable diet (say, creatine), it becomes important to assume there will be negative side effects unless there has been sufficient research saying otherwise.
You can also find a doctor who specializes in doing bloodwork and specifying supplements. Dr. Berg also has videos where he lists the various things you should ask your doctor to check with bloodwork. If you are in NYC see George Kessler. He's very good with figuring out supplements.
Fish oil is highly prone to oxidation. So maybe it's the oxidized Omega 3s in the fish oil that causes the problems. Also, most fish oil is purified (to remove mercury) through molecular distillation, which involves heating the oil to extremely high temperatures, which might damage the Omega 3 fats, thus rendering them harmful. At least that's what German doctor and researcher Dr. Johanna Budwig said about fish oils many years ago. So if what she said is true, maybe the damaged Omega 3 fatty acids from the distilled fish oil are causing the negative effects (AfiB).
This is what these studies do, and what this video should ACTUALLY be about. These studies always use supplements with a known molecular structure different than what is found in nature Although the trick with omega 3 is to decrease your omega 6 and 9 intake
I've experienced brief arrhythmias for years, on the order of one to five seconds. About two years ago, I drove myself to the ER when I started experiencing what I later learned was afib after it persisting for several hours. I was released from the ER still experiencing afib which resolved itself after two days. At the time I was completely unaware of the relationship between Omega-3 consumption and afib. I was taking four grams of Omega-3 daily, in the form of fish oil (liquid, not pills). My cardiologist put me on a very expense blood thinner (Eliquis). I reduced my intake to two grams daily. After experiencing another episode of afib, lasting six hours, I further reduced my intake to 1.5 grams. This appears to be my sweet spot, as I have not experienced further arrhythmias beyond the occasional seconds-long episodes.
I love this channel. I got my phd in Economics because getting my MD was too expensive and you sir still provide me a way to keep fulfilling my interest in medicine and the human body.
Doctors are robots anyway. Those that came close but avoided MD-dom, are usually smarter. Only doctors that really care rise above their absurd education.
Salt intake and LDL level also have U shaped curves relted to mortality risk, however, for some reason the current guidelines are to reduce both as much as possible.
If you removed people who smoke, people with clotting risk factors and diabetics from the studies on LDL you wouldn't see a U shape you'd see higher LDL the lower risk of all course mortality.
@@UnknownUser-sc6jxso far thats just a hypothesis unless you can point to a body of research analysis pointing to that, its just pro cholesterol hypothesis propaganda. A number of the studies supporting the U/J curve outcomes were afaik already adjusted for such confounders but Cromwell and Dayspring, impressively knowledgeable they are, ultimately push the apob / cholesterol hypothesis. Dayspring didnt get an educator award from his medical peers for rocking the establishment
@@georgecav The U curve for LDL is based on low quality epidemiological studies, with epidemiological studies inherently being rife for confounders. We have studies higher on the scientific evidence hierarchy, such as many different randomised controlled trials and Mendelian randomisation studies that due to the randomisation process are better able to establish causation, that show that it’s not true. Separate meta analysis of over 200 prospective cohort studies, Mendelian randomisation studies and randomised trials including more than 2 million participants with over 20 million person years of follow up and over 150,000 cardiovascular events demonstrate a remarkably consistent dose-dependent log-linear association between the absolute magnitude of the exposure of the vasculature to LDL-C and the risk of ASCVD; and this effect appears to increase with increasing duration of exposure to LDL-C.
@meltedsnowman9637 that's not what I have seen and I haven't seen any body of research that really supports that linear link rather than a reverse J curve . Instead I continually just hear propagandists pushing back without a convincing body of such evidence. Nothing I would trust remotely in comparison to the case for reverse J curve which has had consistent evidence for many years
I’m 32, started taking Omega 3 this past year and very recently just started having heart flutters and arhythmic beats. Very interesting video, thank you.
If you are having any kind of heart palpitations, you should probably talk to a doctor just to be on the safe side. The biggest risk factor for afib is sedentary lifestyle, like couch potato levels. It also occurs among people that over-exercise, like running ultra-marathons.
My afib went away ameidently after stopping omega 3 supplements, i am keeping my eye on all the new research to understand more, thankyou for you're hard work nik, really appreciate it 😊
My understanding is that proper Omega 3 level is extremely important for extending health span. I have considered supplementing my Omega 3 intake. However, after watching this video and reading the comments, I think that I’ll stay with eating salmon, tuna, and sardines on a regular basis. I’ll be 77 next month. I train with weights every other day for about two hours, always seeking slight progressive overload. I finish the workout with about 3 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical raising my heartbeat to about 135bpm. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
aFib is caused by many many things..................one is by many peoples physical activity .........omega 3 have only wild fish eating algae.....not farm fish, what the most fish produkt .......only meat from wild fishes containes omega 3
@@Physionic now that I have your attention, is 1.2 g of epa+dha/day supplementation safe for an 80 kg guy with a family history of dyslepidemia and type 2 diabetes. Also keep up the good work champ.
Very interesting. I’ve been taking fish oil for a while now. I started out taking one gram a day. But then over about 18 months I contracted 3 cases of bronchitis, and each one lasted for 3 months. It really sucked, and took away a lot of energy. I was reading how omega-3 displace the omega-6 fatty acids, which are pro-inflammatory, but that you need a lot more than 1 gram. Some people were taking megadoses, like 10 grams. So I increased my dose to that range. For the last 10 years I’ve been on about 8-12 grams of fish oil per day. I only got bronchitis (which is thought to be an inflammatory condition and possibly a form of asthma) one time, and in that instance it lasted for only 3 weeks, not 3 months. So I definitely believe it has some anti-inflammatory benefits. But over the years I’ve also experienced a pounding heartbeat. Not fast, just forceful. I’ve also had some other weird cardiac issues, including one where I’m not sure what it was, but a pain in my chest for ~40 minutes followed by several days of weakness and a “fluttery” feeling in my chest. By the time I got to see doctors and some tests run, I was mostly back to normal and nothing was found. I did not connect the fish oil to these phenomena. But then I did read about fish oil causing atrial fibrillation, and came to the conclusion that maybe the mega doses aren’t quite as harmless as I had thought. So I laid off for a while, starting probably 4 months ago. I’d take one or two grams every now and then. I can say that the pounding heartbeat is now mostly gone. I do take a bunch of other supplements too. I’m in my mid 40s and really care about my health (maybe have a bit of health anxiety). But I realize I also am guilty of taking things based on a theoretical MOA, or one weak study. Which means that there just simply usually is not any data to show that something might actually be causing harm. It really could be, but there aren’t enough good quality studies on a lot of these…
can confirm, i had weird heart symptoms after starting to take fish oil, went to the doctors who did all kinds of exams to my heart and found nothing wrong, i later stopped taking the fish oil and the issue immediately disappeared, never to return.
That's not confirming, that's a personal anecdote I had weird gluggy heart symptoms at one point a long time ago (when I would lay on one side), I got it checked out, did the tests, and they found nothing. Then it went away after that anyway (didn't change anything, never had it since). Either their magical presence fixed it, or it was just a temporary thing. I never found a random thing to attribute it to. If I stopped eating as much trans fat from that day on, maybe I would think it's related to that... Not saying you're wrong.
@@Siberius- Sure! I have no way of knowing. At the time i quit the fish oil, i did it as a part of excluding other things i also quit to see if symptoms subsided, and at the time i had zero information regarding how fish oil can affect heart negatively. So this realization only came later, after 2 years, it all made sense to me. But still, i'm not sure. And because i do not want to feel that again, i will not take fish oil ever again. I do, however, eat Omega 3 rich fish 2 times per week, every week.
This is excellent. Yes the dark fish sardines, salmon we're implicated in this 20 years ago then it came out recently the fish oil supplements which were probably multiple grams of Omega fats in a dose were linked to it also but with the white fish like cod there's no known link. Cod liver oil has about a gram of omega fats whereas the dark fish are much heavier doses so I started to think of that as a possible problem and that's why I've switched to cod as my preferred fish and oil. Also there may be a link with Mercury because methyl mercury is soluble in fat so it could be that some of the omega fats are contaminated and especially dark fish/oil. Magnesium uptake and losing electrolyte salts from your body through urination perspiration has been linked to atrial fibrillation. I had a double whammy cuz I was not only climbing mountains all the time and maybe not replacing my minerals quick enough but I also took up an oil supplement it was like an omega-369 oil supplement I put it on my cereal probably taking multiple grams per day and that's when I started getting atrial fibrillation. Now I'm on a calcium channel blocker which you brought, up I mean not the blocker but the calcium channel and it's effect on heart rate. This is fascinating. I'm going to have to keep watching this and please read my comments I'll make any knowledge I have available so that all of us can kind of work this out because the medical system it can't keep up with the social networks anymore. I mean it's not as effective and they have their studies which are very expensive, but we can do the studies too. Just to let you know a spoonful of peanut butter calms my heart down and it's a natural calcium channel blocker. There's tons of natural remedies that are much more benign than some of the dangerous drugs they put you on to prolong your life and give you a better chance of not having a stroke but out of the frying pan into the fire. The drugs have their own problems and some of them are pretty scary.
Heard someone who promotes some healthy Omega-6, like gamma linoleic acid (from evening primerose, etc), said that Omega-3s are mainly found from cold water fishes, like salmons, and these Omega-3s helps them keep their cell membranes more flexible in cold water. And as we're not cold water fishes, too soft cell membranes could be detrimental and can lead to concussions more easily when there's a head's shock... So he advised not taking multiple grams of Omega-3 daily, as it's recommended often by influencers, like Rhonda Patrick. It was from that video: 'how much fish oil is too much? Research on fish oil with Dr. Jeff Matheson'
The "Omega 3 good, but see oil bad" thing is very much an oversimplification. People that eat a varied diet generally aren't deficient in essential fatty acids. I've even seen the blood work of Vegans that just eat plenty of greens and vegetables, and they aren't deficient in any essential fatty acids, either, despite eating a low fat diet. Most of us just don't need these kinds of supplements like fish oil if we are getting a wide variety of foods in our diets.
Yea she been promoting 1 gram of pure DHA, and I had been supplementing 6 grams fish oil per day for more than a year, to hit the +1gram DHA because the DHA concentration in different brands where not that great. Long story short, I started getting weird tiny heart beats in between my regular heart beats, so I stopped taking the fish oil and the weird heart cramps went away.
Yea she been promoting 1 gram of pure DHA, and I had been supplementing 6 grams fish oil per day for more than a year, to hit the +1gram DHA because the DHA concentration in different brands where not that great. Long story short, I started getting weird tiny heart beats in between my regular heart beats, so I stopped taking the fish oil and the weird heart cramps went away.
Omega 3s give more fluidity to the membranes of cold water fish… yes. But… omega 6s do the same thing in the cell membranes of plants that live in cold environments. So by that reasoning, we shouldn’t need much of either. Saturated fats give the correct amount of fluidity (with less chemical reactivity) to the membranes of mammals which are warm blooded and live in light.
MD resident here, indeed i tried giving my grandad less than a gram of fish oil, he has heart failure - atherosclerosis, and every time he took them he told that he felt palpitations. That's not the same as saying he had Afib , due to the lack of ECG at that exact moment, but yeah , it's something you should definitely pay attention to when supplementing with omega 3s
With respect, it sounds like the effect your grandfather experienced is too fast for Omega3s to be the cause based on the mechanisms discussed in this video. He should consult his cardiologist on the issue.
@@DaSilverJoker this video proposes the idea of increased fluidity of the membrane due to omega 3. On top of heart that is already overburdened, it would make sense. Plus what else could it be when someone says: i feel my heart beating??
@@liakosnek The mechanism discussed would likely take days to years (depending on the extent of the change) manifest changes by remodeling the involved tissues. If the complaint is "I took a fish oil supplement and felt palpitations/pain/whatever", it would be difficult to see that the mechanism discussed would be the reason for those symptoms. There may be another mechanism, but that's not what we are talking about.
The Inuit before westernisation consumed about 5g of fish oil per day. Epidemiological studies showed absent cardiovascular disease and no Afib or palpitations.
@@VeganLinked Yes indeed, they do today because they long ago gave up their traditional hunting & gathering way of life becoming westernised and so adopting a modern crap westernised diet.
@user-it3lx1mi9m some 4g studies are based on medical w3 pills that have almost no relation to real fish oil. Like only DHA and not als original triglycerides. Why? Because original fish oil has other FA abd would make 4g too many pills.
Thanks for this. I've tried taking Omega 3s several times over the years, always stopping when the pvc's I've had my whole life increased in frequency and severity. I've never understood why something "heart healthy" made this happen. This is the only possible explanation I've come across.
I think he mentioned it in a previous video already, but if you are at high risk for more serious heart conditions, then it may be worth the slightly increased risk of Afib to go higher on the dosage
@@PhysionicJust an idea: It could be helpful to provide a 1-2 page brief with citations (and a link to the video) to accompany videos so viewers could easily share info with loved ones or doctors - essentially like a memo or brief for continuing ed. You could do one version for laymen and one for professionals. This might help viewers better frame a convo with others or medical providers that will seem more credible than “So I saw a video on UA-cam…”. Also, a medical pro version might get passed along among professionals for feedback. To implement: You could quickly use an LLM with your video script/transcript and your cited papers attached in context to draft these quickly and then review them for correctness before publishing. You have the materials and expertise, so you probably could do this systematically with minimum overhead per video via a reusable prompt along with 1-2 previous examples which you’ve already directly written or carefully reviewed and edited. Access to a library of these by topic could be for Patreon subscriber. Peter Attia has something along these lines, but your focus, topics, and style are differentiated. This could then contribute to your revenue stream and gradually become a nice little library - like a variation on examine.com topic pages.
Important AFib Trigger Discovery to Share: After experiencing paroxysmal AFib for a year and a half, I accidentally discovered my trigger. During an emergency trip to visit my father, I stopped taking my Costco omega-3 supplements for several weeks. To my surprise, my AFib episodes completely stopped and haven't returned months later. Looking back through my symptom diary, I noticed another pattern - my AFib episodes also coincided with days when I ate salmon. I had been consuming both salmon and omega-3 supplements to support heart and brain health, especially since my father has Alzheimer's. While omega-3s are typically considered beneficial for heart health, they turned out to be a trigger for my AFib. I've now chosen to avoid both fish oil supplements and salmon to prevent episodes. Just sharing my experience in case it helps others who are trying to identify their AFib triggers. Everyone is different, but it might be worth discussing omega-3 consumption with your healthcare provider if you're experiencing unexplained AFib episodes.
@jf3457 Well, well, well. Omega-3, that is, ALA, EPA, and DHA, will be incorporated into cell membranes and stabilize them. In this sense, they are anti-inflammatory. One should use different sources, e.g. flax (ALA) and salmon (EPA and DHA from Alge). Exercise plays an important role in activation and co-ordination
Does the source of the omega-3 make a difference? Maybe omega-3 from cod liver oil works better? Don't know. What is your take on the source of the omega-3?
@@young749Au cod liver oil contains many oil-soluble vitamins, notably Vitamins A and D, which regular fish oil doesn’t. So outcomes may well be better but have nothing to do with the “oil” component. Eating actual cod liver would probably be better yet.
I'm old. I avoid Fish Oil for the same reason the AMA stopped recommending "baby" aspirin for elderly who have no history of heart disease. Reason: the risk of internal bleeding is greater than the heart healthy aspects of aspirin.
Yes. Omega 3's thin the blood. As does Turmeric and Curcumin. When you take any supplement, no matter what you're taking, you need to understand what you're taking and what the side effects are.
@@johnanderson3917 what are you asking? If you are that overweight, then go on a diet for christ's sake. Maybe you don't have blood clots, but your joints are being stressed. Work out and get a diet! Fish oils have nothing to do with what you are talking about.
@@vlmhma.7414 is baby aspirin still a bad idea in my situation ? Is what I am asking. Yes diet and exercise. I struggle with these, but make the effort. The only way I lose weight is fasting, but when my blood sugar gets flatline after a few days, the depression is overwhelming. I saw a shrink, his pills are worthless but I take them. If I get sugar from just food (no breads, no deserts, sugar drinks, the I am fine but don’t lose weight. I try fasting but driving the kids to school in traffic, I can’t be weak, tired or out of it. I have been dieting. I didn’t have control over my diet with 20 deployments, I do some, but not nearly enough exercise. And I ate my way thru divorce and a custody battle. It’s been tough as the days here in SATX get to 112, & have been over 100 for 3 months. I have been pushing a mower thru 3 acres of grass for exercise when I am not lifting heavy stuff around the house. In 99’ I left boot camp at 155, now 288. I sat in front of computer screen on subs eating shit food broiled in oil or baked with high fructose corn syrup, not allot of options for food or exercise at sea in the sub. It’s so hard to reverse. Thanks anyways
Interesting question, but i would guess perhaps not because it's a whole food not an isolated supplement. With all these supplements like vitamin e vitamin c for example there seems to be way more benefit from eating whole foods rich in these rather than the isolated vitamin. Our understanding of the human body is to rudimentary to understand all that's going on. Similarly with vitamin d vs sunshine, males often see testosterone go up from sunlight exposure, but not with vitamin d.
It would have to. There is no difference to your body whether the fish oil is in a capsule or some fish meat that you chewed up and swallowed. The only difference would be that it is easier for someone to take an excessive dose in capsules. However a lover of fish who eats it every day would also easily exceed to recommended maximum.
@@AthleticHobo-br4qh The testosterone example just means that it is other effects of sunshine that have nothing to do with vitamin D. It does not mean that sunshine is a sufficient source of vitamin D for all people at all times of the year. We know that vitamin D supplementation is beneficial to such people. Sunshine itself comes with dangers too. A substantial part of the reason why eating a fruit instead of merely the micronutrients alone is that the fruit contains things like fibre. Other than that if you consumed the exact same micronutrients in an identical combination and form you'd likely get the same quantity being absorbed into the body. It is almost certainly the case that fish consumption is at least the equivalent to consuming the same quantity of fish oil in capsules. The analogy with vitamins is particularly bad because we typically get increased absorption of vitamins and minerals from food compared to supplements. This is usually because the supplement is in a different form and/or in not combination with something else that helps the body extract it. What this would mean is that if fish were similar it would be more dangerous to consume lots of fish, not less.
@athletichobo Thanks for your details. I believe food as long as it’s whole will have a naturally healthier proportion/ ratio. We dont teach nature what should’ve been done. I eat fish more than all other protein sources. I love peanut and I am not scared of the omega 6 of it.
I've always taken it to stave off headaches. In my old age if I get tired, stay up late, etc. I can get a headache. Omega 3s (and probably 6s and 9s) alleviate this. Oddly 3-6-9 mixtures alleviate these headaches at much lower doses than 3s alone.
As a long time bio-medical engineer I would respectfully guess that insufficient C15:0 which strengthens cell membranes may be a contributing factor at higher Omega-3 levels.
when you talk about the dose, do the studies only look at the consumption of Omega 3‘s through fish oil capsels or do they look at the total consumption ,including consumption through diet
thats a very good question, i eat loads of fish but have never noticed the afib until using omega 3 caps, 1 a day 1200mg. Also never noticed it after taking cod liver oil for years....
As children, one would think, that all of their cells would be rich in omega 3 before repeated exposure to omega-6. Perhaps in a balance because it's so common throughout the body. Also, a fitness level of firmness throughout the body which I believe this firmness translates into arterial walls as well. Getting sloppy soft as we age might make our veins sloppy soft like a garden hose that wants to collapse. Really two different subjects but perhaps related...
I recently reduced my fish oil supplementation to 1 G, I also get some through olive oil and flaxseed. I've been in permanent afib for decades so it's not going to be a game changer for me, just following the science.
@@Physionicquick question- Female here & I take epa/dha 1.12g a daily. Is the dosage range the same for males and females? I don’t recall if there’s a mention of that.
Have previously had arrhythmias! Took one capsule 0.6 grams per day.. Later increased the dose to 2 capsules spread out in the morning and evening. All hell broke loose. Double punch, no punches at all for 30 seconds. The heart rate increased from 55 at rest to over 70. Later, the resting heart rate dropped to below 40 beats per minute. It took a month before everything started to return to normal. Now I have about 60 in resting heart rate. Magnesium helped control this plus I ditched the high quality Omega 3 capsules. I think there are individual variations in this. Personally, I bleed easily and everything gets worse with omega 3. Had shoulder surgery 30 years ago. Received no warnings before the operation. Everything happened in a small hospital. Several taxi cars with blood were driven from a major hospital. Lay on the greens for hemophilia. Stopped with omega 3 and eat a lot of vegetables and K2 now. Everything has been normalized.
I took for 20 years Xtend life Omega 3 from New Zealand pristine waters which is not matched by any omega 3 out there . They set the standards . It did help my heart palpitations and improve especially in the winter
Could it be that taking Omega 3 as a supplement rather than eating fishes would make the Omega 3 concentration to high and too risky? The whole matrice of the food does play a role, doesn’t it?
Nice story and excellent finale: The balance matters! My own balance of omega6:omega3 is about 3:1 which is considered to be quite optimal. Used to be 10:1 and ... how to say... anyway, I feel much better now. Best is simple: Test is simple, fix is simple, and available to practically all.
Since you're a doctor in molecular medicine: Can you address Dr Esselstyn's insistence that TMAOs found in fish are an extreme risk factor for causing or exacerbating CAD?
Interesting. I consumed 3g for months at a time with no issues. Down to 1.6g now as I don't see too much of a reason going higher. Consumed at least 2g for maybe 6-7 years non-stop as well. EPA+DHA specifically, not just fish oil overall.
I think I felt som arythmia taking cod fish liver oil. But I also have had a heart block reading some years ago. Not sure what to do. Butter and a fish oil combination, would that stiffen the cell wall properly?
Excellent video. I've taken LARGE doses in the past, based on the idea that our diets are UNNATURALLY low on omega-3 as a result of "modern factory farming." I'm going to cut back. Thanks.
With all this information at our disposal! You don't know what to believe anymore! Why not interview Rhonda Patrick on this issue... she and others have been advocating the overall benefits on omega 3! This would be an interesting interview...
My question is “How come this problem does not apply to overconsumption of fatty fish? For example, the Japanese have the highest Omega 3 consumption via fish intake. How come they do not suffer the side effects you describe? Could it be that Omega 3 supplements are de-natured (spoiled) in some way that causes this issue?”
Do you know they don’t? Admittedly, I haven’t looked into it, so I don’t know either. It’s also true that omega-3 levels vary considerably between fish, so it’s also possible they’re consuming a perfect amount, no?
@@PhysionicIn the video you speak of omega 3, but the afib studies you presented showed only the effect of DHA. The U-curve was about fish and fish fat so EPA and DHA, but not EPA in isolation. From studies several years ago I understood that EPA showed the most promise for reducing heart disease, but at that time DHA in isolation did not statistically show heart benefits yet. Has that changed? (Maybe better for me to ask dr. Alo) Is EPA also part of the heart structure like DHA is?
My weird heart cramps or "tiny triple heart beats" in between my regular heart beats, went away when I stopped taking my fish oil. I was taking a high dose, around 6 grams fish oil per day, but I had to go 6 grams if I would hit the 1 gram pure DHA, due to the low concentration of DHA.
This is why I just eat fish once or twice a week and don't bother with supplements for macronutrients other than creatine. I'm also pretty young and get as much of my terrestrial meat grassfed/pasture-raised as possible and avoid seed oils and cook with ghee or coconut oil instead, so my omega-3 to 6 ratio is already considerably higher than most people.
I am an n=1, but I was diagnosed with paroxysmal AFib in my early 30s. No genetic history, and no risk factors (obesity, high BP, alcohol, etc). On the contrary, I was in great physical shape. My cardiologist said I was in an unlucky bucket of 5% of people that get AFib for no reason. For most of my 20s, I took a ton of high quality fish oil. I didn’t monitor doses, thinking more was better. I’m now starting to think fish oil may have caused all this
I myself had been supplementing 6 grams fish oil per day for a few years, to hit the +1gram DHA (that's what several youtubers been promoting while referencing studies on the topic) because the DHA concentration in different brands where not that great. Long story short, I started getting weird tiny heart beats in between my regular heart beats, so I stopped taking the fish oil and the weird heart cramps/beats went away.
I was having some weird chest pain. I normally take 2 pills that equals ~1000mg EPA and ~500mg DHA. I took 1 today, hopefuly this lessen that odd chest pain.
I have noticed that taking Antarctic Krill oil has caused me some heart fluttering. Taking the smallest dose-just once capsule at 1mg, yet the total omega 3 is only 100 mg! of omega 3 according to the supplemental fact label. Can give your thoughts on the new form of fatty acid that has been advertised now:C15:0 (aka FA15™). It is very pricey, but maybe it is worth it?
Are you saying that consuming too much of a certain substance can be problematic? Please make a next video titled "Why water may kill you (unless you do THIS)" and explain to us why water intoxication or hyponatremia is a thing.
I don’t like n-3 supplements because I’m from the tropics and 1 week in my home and those pills practically has gone through enough lipid peroxidation to make it counterproductive
Is linoleic acid really proinflammatory? The study [1] from the AHA says that: - "Although AA is the precursor to potentially proinflammatory leukotrienes, it is also the main precursor to key anti-inflammatory metabolites, such as epoxyeicosatrienoic acids and prostaglandin E2, and other mediators that actively resolve inflammation, such as lipoxin A4, as well." - "We also identified little evidence for any interaction between n-6 and n-3 PUFA levels" - "our novel findings do not support recommendations of some to reduce n-6 PUFA consumption or reduce the n-6:n-3 ratio (as opposed to increasing n-3 intake)". There's also their older study [2] saying: "Advice to reduce omega-6 PUFA intakes is typically framed as a call to lower the ratio of dietary omega-6 to omega-3 PUFAs. Although increasing omega-3 PUFA tissue levels does reduce the risk for CHD, it does not follow that decreasing omega-6 levels will do the same. Indeed, the evidence considered here suggests that it would have the opposite effect. Higher omega-6 PUFA intakes can inhibit the conversion of α-linolenic acid to eicosapentaenoic acid, but such conversion is already quite low, and whether additional small changes would have net effects on CHD risk after the other benefits of LA consumption are taken into account is not clear. The focus on ratios, rather than on levels of intake of each type of PUFA, has many conceptual and biological limitations." If I got it well, even if we consider that the conversion from ALA to EPA is efficient which doesn't seem to be the case at all, the omega-6 seem beneficial by themselves and wouldn't cause any issue if we eat directly EPA and DHA instead of ALA since there wouldn't be any enzymatic competition anyway. It would be very interesting to know your opinion about that. 1: Biomarkers of Dietary Omega-6 Fatty Acids and Incident Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality: An Individual-Level Pooled Analysis of 30 Cohort Studies 2: Omega-6 Fatty Acids and Risk for Cardiovascular Disease: A Science Advisory From the American Heart Association Nutrition Subcommittee of the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism; Council on Cardiovascular Nursing; and Council on Epidemiology and Prevention
As long as one avoids heart arrhythmia, are higher dosages than two grams beneficial? Is it okay to just stop if one develops fibrillations, or do high dosages cause damage even before one develops them? Your comment about changing gene expressions gave me the impression that changes from omega 3 aren't transient. I really appreciate the lecture
Omega-3 is like olive oil -- lots of papers and virtually everyone who conducts studies is connected to, or funded by industry. Studies are mostly done in obese or otherwise metabolically compromised subjects, and virtually all focus on DHA and EPA, usually ignoring DPA, which is not easy to produce commercially. Japan is held an example of the longevity benefits of high Omega-3 Index while ignoring the fact that the longest-living Japanese, the Okinawans, consumed very little fish as part of their mostly starchy diet. It's the same for the Sardinian mountain dwellers and for most other blue zones. The fact that Omega-3s and especially DHA raise LDL cholesterol is so rarely mentioned too.
The cholesterol aspect is probably irrelevant since it takes fairly large doses and the type of LDL cholesterol it increases is not linked to heart disease anyway. Some quick reading indicates that fish oils probably do usually contain DPA as well. Rather than focussing on how much fish Okinawans eat we should rather look at how much and which types of omega-3 they consume.
Magnesyl or aspirin contains acetylsalicylic acid and one of it's effect is to thin out the blood. So does omega3. The two combined can lead to difficulties in coagulate the blood.
I heard that fish oil become rancid after a short period of time so I freeze my Omega-3 pills once I open the bottle. I am hoping that it will slow down the rancidity of the oil. I also buy my Omega-3 from Costco because I am also hoping that they will have fresher supply that most stores.
Well, that could explain where my arrhythmias come from. I actually was taking Omega 3 everyday for some months and the doctors couldn't explain where they were coming from. I had multiple tests and they all told me my heart is fine, that it might be stress and what not... I have stopped taking them and with time they happen less, so I guess thanks for conforming what I had thought already. Maybe just once a week will be better (?)
I think it might. I added a big handful of Walnuts into my smoothie and had an afib episode. I think you need to factor in total amount of omega-3s from all sources. It also takes days/weeks for the omega-3s to completely leave your system.
Good question. Also the graphic at 3:58 shows "DHA" which is apparently what they tested in that specific study. Is it possible that only DHA causes the issue and EPA is fine?
Interesting and appreciated analysis. Have you looked at the DO-HEALTH RCT with 2157 participants that looked at the effects of 1g/day Omega-3 and/or 2000IU/day Vitamin D and/or Simple Home strength Exercise Program? It showed a 60% decrease in invasive cancers for the group that had all 3. Could it be dosing with higher amounts of Omega-3 requires increasing something else to eliminate the negative effects?
Over consumption of anything is bad, even water is bad in large quantities. Just eat sensibly like a civil person and eat diverse food. Little bit of everything.
@@gamesong6600 little bit of Oreos little bit of Doritos etc, I got ya 😆 actually I’m mostly referring to the idea that pufas are a controversial topic with some nutritional “experts” like ray peat have put them down even when it comes to fish. Although I have a hard time believing that. I agree with you though, hard to do bad with eating sensibly and balanced healthy foods.
@@danbanfan9524 pufa itself is not bad but the thing is we need very little of it and Omega 3 n 6 needs to be balanced in 1:1 or 1:2 ratio. But these days everything contains pufa specially omega6 that over-consumption and imbalance is the cause of many problems.
@@gamesong6600but when you say very little pufa are you speaking of overall needing very little 3? I understand the balance of 3to 6 is good and we get too much 6 but it seems like most of the blue zones if anything they over eat 3 in terms of fish.
@@danbanfan9524 if we look at the daily recommendation of Omega 3 it's only 1.6g considering the Omega 6 needs to be only twice at most that puts us around 3.2g that's how much we actually need. Any other type of fat body can create on its own from extra calories to be honest. We don't need more than 10-12g of pufa, rest 30-40g can come from mufa and saturated fats from animals, nuts and fruits. However these days every thing is dipped in fat. And reheated,overheated, overcooked food which contains a lot of trans-fat worst of them all. There is no reason to micromanage it. Just be mindful of it, a few grams over the limit here and there are not going to wreck your body. we might be consuming too much of it out of ignorance
My doctor has recommended I take GLA (Gamma-Linolenic Acid) supplements for skin issues and she said I should also take fish oils with EPA with the GLA, to avoid increases in Arachidonic acid. Any thoughts on this?
Serious A-FIB Question -- I am 71 years old and have been in permanent AFIB (rate controlled by meds) for 15 years. Is there anything in the literature you've studied that would change the recommendations in a case like this?
I had taken fish oil tablets on/off for years. Typically, I would take one pill per day and occasionally two. I was never very consistent, so some days, I would not take any at all. My stock of fish oil tablets was backing up, so I started taking them more consistently day to day, and I was on average taking 2-3 per day. I then had my first AF episode that lasted from 9:00 PM to around 6:00 AM the next morning. I started researching and I found a couple of references to fish oils and AF, so I stopped taking for a couple of months. When I started back up, I only take one per day, maybe 5 days per week. I have only noticed very short AF episodes where I only have a high heart rate for a few minutes then it goes away. These very short episodes, may of happened in the past, but I simply did not notice them. Now, any time that I feel like my heart is beating fast, I put on a heart rate monitor. I am pretty convinced that fish oils, at the very least, contributed to my larger AF episode.
It's not only what your taking, but more importantly the form of what you are taking. Steer away from fish oil and take a good quality krill oil omega 3 and don't exceed 1 gram a day at very most.
This information puts the research showing a physiological limitation on conversion of ALA (plant source omega 3 precursor) to omega 3, in humans, in a new light - there could be a protective inhibitory feedback mechanism.
I track my nutrition almost daily (try to do it daily, but do miss a day once in awhile) and I only use a supplement if I haven't gotten enough of a particular nutrient that day. I often find I've gotten all my Omega 3s for the day just fine (and I rarely eat fish, but do eat eggs and walnuts). I only take my fish oil capsules if my end of day total is low, same with all my other nutritional supplements.
![Why your Low Carb Diet is hurting your Heart, and How to Improve it. [11 Studies]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tla-JrqhhHI/mqdefault.jpg)
For those still confused: "A single gram" is 1 gram, "multiple grams" is anything at or above 2 grams total, based on the current literature I've seen. 🙂
so my and my hubby's daily 4-capsule Lovaza dose is too much?
@@Jeton6 Look at the amount per capsule and do your own calculation 🧐
Needed that, otherwise it was just a sequel setup. Enough waiting for a House of Dragon, Queens Gambit etc.
I like how 2 ≠ multiple. Definitely my kind o maff.
@Physionic I don't understand. I take 2 soft gels per day which equals 1280 mg and 650 mg of EPA and 450 of DHA every day. Made of anchovies, sardines, mackerel, and herring. Is this too much?
The Omega 3/Afib link is real! I am a 59yo physician. I have done high intensity interval training 4-5 times per week for the last 8 years. One year ago I started taking 1250mg per day of Omega 3 supplement. Within 1 month I began having exercise induced afib. Frequently when I got my heart rate up to 165 or higher I would flip into afib. After 20-60 minutes of rest it would resolve. After becoming aware of the possible link of Omega 3 with Afib, I stopped the supplement 3 months ago. I have not had an episode of afib now for the past 2 months. I am inclined to think that the science is real on this particular issue since I am an anecdotal example.
Thanks for your anecdotal example. Did you check your omega levels before adding Omega 3 supplement?
Another N=1 here, I did 6 grams of fishoil for several years, I suddenly felt weird tiny heart beats in between my regular heart beats and it kept going for a long time. When I stopped taking my fish oil they went away after about 3-4 days later.
Live saver this guy! Same experience here daily 1400mg omega3 supplements. Wondering why my heart did felt wrong and then I stopped and it went away.
No I take cod visoil 600mg a few times a week.
My ex also had this experience when taking fish oil supplements.
This is kinda blowing my mind. It was never even on my radar.
The old adage "The dose makes the poison. " is, once again, appropriate.
Good generalization, but some things are always bad for you in any doesage.
@@Skiskiski Yes. Agreed.
But, logically, the rule still applies. Any given dose, is still a dose.
If the smallest possible dose makes the poison, that is the dose that makes the poison. It's an axiomatic statement.
@@KareSeriouslyKaren Agreed. Appears this is kinda like water, too little and you dehydrate and die, too much=hyponatremia and you die. Seems like the "sweet spot" (weird thing to say about a fatty acid . .) is probably somewhere between 1 and 2 grams a day.
The dose makes the poisson
@@joaopereira685 🤩
I have an afib story that I think is related to the Omega-3 dose.
For years I was taking one fish oil per day, and occasionally eating salmon. Then at some point, I went on a "fish oil" / Omega-3 kick where I upped my fish oil pills to three per day, one with each meal, and in addition, I was eating a lot of salmon and walnuts too. If we were at a restaurant and I saw salmon on the menu I automatically ordered it. It was a few weeks of doing this, until one day my Apple Watch said "afib" which I had for most of that day. It was gone by the morning.
I thought about it and concluded that I was overdoing the salmon + fish oil pills, so dropped back to one pill per day and didn't automatically go for the salmon meal at the restaurant. Chicken is good too. I've had no issues since. I do believe that this was an Omega dose issue, so will stick with the one pill per day from now on.
(I don't have any way to prove it though, so take it as a sample size of one.)
I take one cod liver oil a day. I have heard of people taking more, and I have thought about it. Think I will stick to one a day.
Pretty much the same here...was taking 1-2 Kirkland 1200mg OMEGA3 fish oil pills for the past year and a half as part of reversing T2D and maintaining it and frankly, I've never felt better, particularly cognitively. Then I recently experienced multiple rapid heartbeat situations following "exercise"...zero pain, no sweating, no nothing...just a racing heartbeat. Scared the crap of out me...stopped these supplements after 3 experiences within the same week. Have NOT experienced this again and yes, I have "exercised" since and raised my HB--it drops normally ever since. Seeing my doctor soon about the issue, we'll see what happens.
I had AFIB 2 years ago and doctors could not tell me why. After some research - 2 months worth, I discovered that one of the causes of AFIB is electrolyte imbalance. This led me to getting all of my electrolytes checked including magnesium. After further research I learned magnesium cannot be accurately measured by a blood test and that the body stores 5 different forms of magnesium in various tissues. So I decided to try taking magnesium glycinate which is the form stored in the heart tissue. I have not had an AFIB event since. I wonder whether the omega three and 6 you were taking depleted your magnesium levels. I have been taking 4g daily of small particle Omega 3 fish oil made from sardines, mackerel and krill for 4 years as well.
all you did was enriching supplement vendor
It's pretty damn frustrating trying to figure out what's best to eat/supplement when you have no clear way of telling wether it's good for you or not. I just keep learning and I guess that's all I can do.
The most rational idea i can hold on is "eat what your specie is adapted to eat".
It's very simple, eating a balanced diet of whole foods provides variety in nutrients where you're getting enough of everything but not too much because you're not indulging only one food. For omega 3, you can eat a handful of walnuts most days and fish a couple of days or whatever works for you in case you have allergies. Supplementing won't hurt you unless you take too much anyway, this title is mostly clickbait
The answer is generally very simple - *don’t* supplement unless you have a likelihood of deficiency, and if you *do* supplement don’t go overboard.
Your body was built to handle a wide array of food sources and turn them into what it needs. Once you get well outside the range of concentrations of substances you’d naturally find in a diet, you run the risk of negative effects. In any case where I’m supplementing in excess of what I’d be able to get through a reasonable diet (say, creatine), it becomes important to assume there will be negative side effects unless there has been sufficient research saying otherwise.
You can also find a doctor who specializes in doing bloodwork and specifying supplements. Dr. Berg also has videos where he lists the various things you should ask your doctor to check with bloodwork. If you are in NYC see George Kessler. He's very good with figuring out supplements.
just dont eat. git gud noob
Of course, I was getting tired of omega 3 being so good for us for so long. It’s about time they be bad for us for a while.
Is that what I said? I didn’t realize. 😋
6:46
@@Physionic - Also literally the opening line. Black and white thinking
@@Physionic He was joking.
Fish oil is highly prone to oxidation. So maybe it's the oxidized Omega 3s in the fish oil that causes the problems. Also, most fish oil is purified (to remove mercury) through molecular distillation, which involves heating the oil to extremely high temperatures, which might damage the Omega 3 fats, thus rendering them harmful. At least that's what German doctor and researcher Dr. Johanna Budwig said about fish oils many years ago. So if what she said is true, maybe the damaged Omega 3 fatty acids from the distilled fish oil are causing the negative effects (AfiB).
That’s very possible. And a real concern.
This is what these studies do, and what this video should ACTUALLY be about.
These studies always use supplements with a known molecular structure different than what is found in nature
Although the trick with omega 3 is to decrease your omega 6 and 9 intake
I've experienced brief arrhythmias for years, on the order of one to five seconds. About two years ago, I drove myself to the ER when I started experiencing what I later learned was afib after it persisting for several hours. I was released from the ER still experiencing afib which resolved itself after two days. At the time I was completely unaware of the relationship between Omega-3 consumption and afib. I was taking four grams of Omega-3 daily, in the form of fish oil (liquid, not pills). My cardiologist put me on a very expense blood thinner (Eliquis). I reduced my intake to two grams daily. After experiencing another episode of afib, lasting six hours, I further reduced my intake to 1.5 grams. This appears to be my sweet spot, as I have not experienced further arrhythmias beyond the occasional seconds-long episodes.
I love this channel. I got my phd in Economics because getting my MD was too expensive and you sir still provide me a way to keep fulfilling my interest in medicine and the human body.
Love it - thanks for sticking it out with me here.
a phd in economics? cool, so now we know who to blame.
@@Physionicis algae oil omega3 not good too ? Advice please thanks
@@FofXequalsYnot where do you think fish get their omegas? :)
Doctors are robots anyway. Those that came close but avoided MD-dom, are usually smarter.
Only doctors that really care rise above their absurd education.
Salt intake and LDL level also have U shaped curves relted to mortality risk, however, for some reason the current guidelines are to reduce both as much as possible.
If you removed people who smoke, people with clotting risk factors and diabetics from the studies on LDL you wouldn't see a U shape you'd see higher LDL the lower risk of all course mortality.
@@UnknownUser-sc6jxso far thats just a hypothesis unless you can point to a body of research analysis pointing to that, its just pro cholesterol hypothesis propaganda. A number of the studies supporting the U/J curve outcomes were afaik already adjusted for such confounders but Cromwell and Dayspring, impressively knowledgeable they are, ultimately push the apob / cholesterol hypothesis. Dayspring didnt get an educator award from his medical peers for rocking the establishment
@@georgecav The U curve for LDL is based on low quality epidemiological studies, with epidemiological studies inherently being rife for confounders. We have studies higher on the scientific evidence hierarchy, such as many different randomised controlled trials and Mendelian randomisation studies that due to the randomisation process are better able to establish causation, that show that it’s not true. Separate meta analysis of over 200 prospective cohort studies, Mendelian randomisation studies and randomised trials including more than 2 million participants with over 20 million person years of follow up and over 150,000 cardiovascular events demonstrate a remarkably consistent dose-dependent log-linear association between the absolute magnitude of the exposure of the vasculature to LDL-C and the risk of ASCVD; and this effect appears to increase with increasing duration of exposure to LDL-C.
@meltedsnowman9637 that's not what I have seen and I haven't seen any body of research that really supports that linear link rather than a reverse J curve . Instead I continually just hear propagandists pushing back without a convincing body of such evidence. Nothing I would trust remotely in comparison to the case for reverse J curve which has had consistent evidence for many years
@@UnknownUser-sc6jx nope
I’m 32, started taking Omega 3 this past year and very recently just started having heart flutters and arhythmic beats. Very interesting video, thank you.
Hello, How much omega-3 do you take daily?
funnn
It could also be too much vitamin D you're taking. That's the most common cause of arrhythmia.
Rancid oil use in Omega 3 supplements is more common than you think.
If you are having any kind of heart palpitations, you should probably talk to a doctor just to be on the safe side.
The biggest risk factor for afib is sedentary lifestyle, like couch potato levels. It also occurs among people that over-exercise, like running ultra-marathons.
My afib went away ameidently after stopping omega 3 supplements, i am keeping my eye on all the new research to understand more, thankyou for you're hard work nik, really appreciate it 😊
how much were you taking if you dont mind me asking? thanks
I can confirm this too. I have AFib, fish oil might be the reason I got it. Stopped taking it and my Afib greatly improved.
@zanzabar7878
400mg EPA
300mg DHA
50mg other fatty acids
Not a huge amount but still caused me problems.
@@07Glen28 imaginary problems. I take 4 capsules 1000 mg each since 3 years and ... nothing happens. I exercise regularly.
My understanding is that proper Omega 3 level is extremely important for extending health span. I have considered supplementing my Omega 3 intake. However, after watching this video and reading the comments, I think that I’ll stay with eating salmon, tuna, and sardines on a regular basis. I’ll be 77 next month. I train with weights every other day for about two hours, always seeking slight progressive overload. I finish the workout with about 3 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical raising my heartbeat to about 135bpm.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
Omega-3 supplementation is mostly for people who don't eat any or enough fish.
@@loganmedia1142 And people with one or two instances of apoe4
aFib is caused by many many things..................one is by many peoples physical activity .........omega 3 have only wild fish eating algae.....not farm fish, what the most fish produkt .......only meat from wild fishes containes omega 3
I drink petrol
You'll be fine
Lmao
@@Physionic now that I have your attention, is 1.2 g of epa+dha/day supplementation safe for an 80 kg guy with a family history of dyslepidemia and type 2 diabetes. Also keep up the good work champ.
@@rajatsinha6607he’s not your clinician 😭😭
@@pradyumnnahata9665 bhai negativity mat phaila.
Very interesting. I’ve been taking fish oil for a while now. I started out taking one gram a day. But then over about 18 months I contracted 3 cases of bronchitis, and each one lasted for 3 months. It really sucked, and took away a lot of energy. I was reading how omega-3 displace the omega-6 fatty acids, which are pro-inflammatory, but that you need a lot more than 1 gram. Some people were taking megadoses, like 10 grams. So I increased my dose to that range. For the last 10 years I’ve been on about 8-12 grams of fish oil per day. I only got bronchitis (which is thought to be an inflammatory condition and possibly a form of asthma) one time, and in that instance it lasted for only 3 weeks, not 3 months. So I definitely believe it has some anti-inflammatory benefits.
But over the years I’ve also experienced a pounding heartbeat. Not fast, just forceful. I’ve also had some other weird cardiac issues, including one where I’m not sure what it was, but a pain in my chest for ~40 minutes followed by several days of weakness and a “fluttery” feeling in my chest. By the time I got to see doctors and some tests run, I was mostly back to normal and nothing was found. I did not connect the fish oil to these phenomena. But then I did read about fish oil causing atrial fibrillation, and came to the conclusion that maybe the mega doses aren’t quite as harmless as I had thought. So I laid off for a while, starting probably 4 months ago. I’d take one or two grams every now and then. I can say that the pounding heartbeat is now mostly gone.
I do take a bunch of other supplements too. I’m in my mid 40s and really care about my health (maybe have a bit of health anxiety). But I realize I also am guilty of taking things based on a theoretical MOA, or one weak study. Which means that there just simply usually is not any data to show that something might actually be causing harm. It really could be, but there aren’t enough good quality studies on a lot of these…
can confirm, i had weird heart symptoms after starting to take fish oil, went to the doctors who did all kinds of exams to my heart and found nothing wrong, i later stopped taking the fish oil and the issue immediately disappeared, never to return.
The same experience is mine too. Just wanted to share it.
That's not confirming, that's a personal anecdote
I had weird gluggy heart symptoms at one point a long time ago (when I would lay on one side), I got it checked out, did the tests, and they found nothing. Then it went away after that anyway (didn't change anything, never had it since). Either their magical presence fixed it, or it was just a temporary thing. I never found a random thing to attribute it to. If I stopped eating as much trans fat from that day on, maybe I would think it's related to that...
Not saying you're wrong.
@@Siberius- Sure! I have no way of knowing. At the time i quit the fish oil, i did it as a part of excluding other things i also quit to see if symptoms subsided, and at the time i had zero information regarding how fish oil can affect heart negatively. So this realization only came later, after 2 years, it all made sense to me. But still, i'm not sure. And because i do not want to feel that again, i will not take fish oil ever again. I do, however, eat Omega 3 rich fish 2 times per week, every week.
@@hyperborean2576 - Interesting stuff indeedies. Glad the fish is going well!
Big fish pill is feeling perplexed at the moment too.
Big fish
But small Krill is very happy!
You don't need those big fishy things to get enough, and can get all you need from lead free Krill.
Your explanation of mechanism was simple and great.
This is excellent. Yes the dark fish sardines, salmon we're implicated in this 20 years ago then it came out recently the fish oil supplements which were probably multiple grams of Omega fats in a dose were linked to it also but with the white fish like cod there's no known link. Cod liver oil has about a gram of omega fats whereas the dark fish are much heavier doses so I started to think of that as a possible problem and that's why I've switched to cod as my preferred fish and oil. Also there may be a link with Mercury because methyl mercury is soluble in fat so it could be that some of the omega fats are contaminated and especially dark fish/oil. Magnesium uptake and losing electrolyte salts from your body through urination perspiration has been linked to atrial fibrillation. I had a double whammy cuz I was not only climbing mountains all the time and maybe not replacing my minerals quick enough but I also took up an oil supplement it was like an omega-369 oil supplement I put it on my cereal probably taking multiple grams per day and that's when I started getting atrial fibrillation. Now I'm on a calcium channel blocker which you brought, up I mean not the blocker but the calcium channel and it's effect on heart rate. This is fascinating. I'm going to have to keep watching this and please read my comments I'll make any knowledge I have available so that all of us can kind of work this out because the medical system it can't keep up with the social networks anymore. I mean it's not as effective and they have their studies which are very expensive, but we can do the studies too. Just to let you know a spoonful of peanut butter calms my heart down and it's a natural calcium channel blocker. There's tons of natural remedies that are much more benign than some of the dangerous drugs they put you on to prolong your life and give you a better chance of not having a stroke but out of the frying pan into the fire. The drugs have their own problems and some of them are pretty scary.
Heard someone who promotes some healthy Omega-6, like gamma linoleic acid (from evening primerose, etc), said that Omega-3s are mainly found from cold water fishes, like salmons, and these Omega-3s helps them keep their cell membranes more flexible in cold water.
And as we're not cold water fishes, too soft cell membranes could be detrimental and can lead to concussions more easily when there's a head's shock... So he advised not taking multiple grams of Omega-3 daily, as it's recommended often by influencers, like Rhonda Patrick. It was from that video: 'how much fish oil is too much? Research on fish oil with Dr. Jeff Matheson'
The "Omega 3 good, but see oil bad" thing is very much an oversimplification.
People that eat a varied diet generally aren't deficient in essential fatty acids. I've even seen the blood work of Vegans that just eat plenty of greens and vegetables, and they aren't deficient in any essential fatty acids, either, despite eating a low fat diet. Most of us just don't need these kinds of supplements like fish oil if we are getting a wide variety of foods in our diets.
My conclusion, too. Adapt to the environment.
Yea she been promoting 1 gram of pure DHA, and I had been supplementing 6 grams fish oil per day for more than a year, to hit the +1gram DHA because the DHA concentration in different brands where not that great. Long story short, I started getting weird tiny heart beats in between my regular heart beats, so I stopped taking the fish oil and the weird heart cramps went away.
Yea she been promoting 1 gram of pure DHA, and I had been supplementing 6 grams fish oil per day for more than a year, to hit the +1gram DHA because the DHA concentration in different brands where not that great. Long story short, I started getting weird tiny heart beats in between my regular heart beats, so I stopped taking the fish oil and the weird heart cramps went away.
Omega 3s give more fluidity to the membranes of cold water fish… yes. But… omega 6s do the same thing in the cell membranes of plants that live in cold environments. So by that reasoning, we shouldn’t need much of either. Saturated fats give the correct amount of fluidity (with less chemical reactivity) to the membranes of mammals which are warm blooded and live in light.
MD resident here, indeed i tried giving my grandad less than a gram of fish oil, he has heart failure - atherosclerosis, and every time he took them he told that he felt palpitations. That's not the same as saying he had Afib , due to the lack of ECG at that exact moment, but yeah , it's something you should definitely pay attention to when supplementing with omega 3s
Interesting - thanks for sharing, L
With respect, it sounds like the effect your grandfather experienced is too fast for Omega3s to be the cause based on the mechanisms discussed in this video. He should consult his cardiologist on the issue.
MD here. It's extremely unlikely that he felt palpitations because of omega 3, at least if we follow the mechanisms proposed in this video.
@@DaSilverJoker this video proposes the idea of increased fluidity of the membrane due to omega 3. On top of heart that is already overburdened, it would make sense. Plus what else could it be when someone says: i feel my heart beating??
@@liakosnek The mechanism discussed would likely take days to years (depending on the extent of the change) manifest changes by remodeling the involved tissues. If the complaint is "I took a fish oil supplement and felt palpitations/pain/whatever", it would be difficult to see that the mechanism discussed would be the reason for those symptoms. There may be another mechanism, but that's not what we are talking about.
I sat through an entire Tony Robbins commercial on your channel just for you!
Wow - quite the sacrifice :-P Thanks
@@Physionichahahaha
I do that for my favorite youtubers.
I have been taking Omega for years, and I love it..
I've experienced afib with very strong o3 supps. I don't doubt this. Looking forward to what can be done to optimize so that I can take them again.
sometimes more stiffness is a good thing.
Absolutely
That's what she said
Hmmm.. what about cultures that consume a lot of fish in their diet? Japanese, Iceland etc.? Do they show increased incidence of a fibrillation?
The Inuit before westernisation consumed about 5g of fish oil per day. Epidemiological studies showed absent cardiovascular disease and no Afib or palpitations.
Probably a big difference between the crap they put in capsules and biting into a big juicy fish.
@@yngve2062Inuit die young. Hunzu is far more interesting. But neither are relevant to modern cultures.
@@VeganLinked Yes indeed, they do today because they long ago gave up their traditional hunting & gathering way of life becoming westernised and so adopting a modern crap westernised diet.
@user-it3lx1mi9m some 4g studies are based on medical w3 pills that have almost no relation to real fish oil. Like only DHA and not als original triglycerides. Why? Because original fish oil has other FA abd would make 4g too many pills.
It was impressive and informative
Thanks for this. I've tried taking Omega 3s several times over the years, always stopping when the pvc's I've had my whole life increased in frequency and severity. I've never understood why something "heart healthy" made this happen. This is the only possible explanation I've come across.
I think he mentioned it in a previous video already, but if you are at high risk for more serious heart conditions, then it may be worth the slightly increased risk of Afib to go higher on the dosage
And see your doctor for a professional assessment :)
@@PhysionicJust an idea: It could be helpful to provide a 1-2 page brief with citations (and a link to the video) to accompany videos so viewers could easily share info with loved ones or doctors - essentially like a memo or brief for continuing ed.
You could do one version for laymen and one for professionals. This might help viewers better frame a convo with others or medical providers that will seem more credible than “So I saw a video on UA-cam…”. Also, a medical pro version might get passed along among professionals for feedback.
To implement: You could quickly use an LLM with your video script/transcript and your cited papers attached in context to draft these quickly and then review them for correctness before publishing. You have the materials and expertise, so you probably could do this systematically with minimum overhead per video via a reusable prompt along with 1-2 previous examples which you’ve already directly written or carefully reviewed and edited.
Access to a library of these by topic could be for Patreon subscriber. Peter Attia has something along these lines, but your focus, topics, and style are differentiated. This could then contribute to your revenue stream and gradually become a nice little library - like a variation on examine.com topic pages.
Sorry, but what dose is beneficial? It's still unclear.
Just eat fish twice and a week and some chia seeds here and there you should be fine.
Medium dose 6:30
@@benchcrewgames
@@izyco80Even Chia seed accelerated Afib
anything that gives you an omega3 index of atleast 8%
Important AFib Trigger Discovery to Share:
After experiencing paroxysmal AFib for a year and a half, I accidentally discovered my trigger. During an emergency trip to visit my father, I stopped taking my Costco omega-3 supplements for several weeks. To my surprise, my AFib episodes completely stopped and haven't returned months later.
Looking back through my symptom diary, I noticed another pattern - my AFib episodes also coincided with days when I ate salmon. I had been consuming both salmon and omega-3 supplements to support heart and brain health, especially since my father has Alzheimer's.
While omega-3s are typically considered beneficial for heart health, they turned out to be a trigger for my AFib. I've now chosen to avoid both fish oil supplements and salmon to prevent episodes.
Just sharing my experience in case it helps others who are trying to identify their AFib triggers. Everyone is different, but it might be worth discussing omega-3 consumption with your healthcare provider if you're experiencing unexplained AFib episodes.
I take 4 capsules 1000 mg each since 3 years and ... nothing happens. I exercise regularly. 🎉
@przemkowaliszewski3290 the key here is "I exercise regularly"
@jf3457 Well, well, well. Omega-3, that is, ALA, EPA, and DHA, will be incorporated into cell membranes and stabilize them. In this sense, they are anti-inflammatory. One should use different sources, e.g. flax (ALA) and salmon (EPA and DHA from Alge). Exercise plays an important role in activation and co-ordination
What about Omega 3 in foods such as Salmon and other fatty fish? Any studies on these causing A-fib?
Solid video.
Does the source of the omega-3 make a difference? Maybe omega-3 from cod liver oil works better? Don't know. What is your take on the source of the omega-3?
It's all lumped together in the "high quality meta studies".
Why would it though?
@@loganmedia1142 it always matters. It's like whole food vs junk food
Maybe it works better with less safe injections. This whole thing is a joke.
@@young749Au cod liver oil contains many oil-soluble vitamins, notably Vitamins A and D, which regular fish oil doesn’t. So outcomes may well be better but have nothing to do with the “oil” component. Eating actual cod liver would probably be better yet.
I'm old. I avoid Fish Oil for the same reason the AMA stopped recommending "baby" aspirin for elderly who have no history of heart disease. Reason: the risk of internal bleeding is greater than the heart healthy aspects of aspirin.
Yes. Omega 3's thin the blood. As does Turmeric and Curcumin. When you take any supplement, no matter what you're taking, you need to understand what you're taking and what the side effects are.
What if I am 120 pounds overweight and have NO problems with blood clotting or thickness?
@@johnanderson3917 what are you asking? If you are that overweight, then go on a diet for christ's sake. Maybe you don't have blood clots, but your joints are being stressed. Work out and get a diet! Fish oils have nothing to do with what you are talking about.
@@vlmhma.7414 is baby aspirin still a bad idea in my situation ? Is what I am asking.
Yes diet and exercise.
I struggle with these, but make the effort. The only way I lose weight is fasting, but when my blood sugar gets flatline after a few days, the depression is overwhelming. I saw a shrink, his pills are worthless but I take them. If I get sugar from just food (no breads, no deserts, sugar drinks, the I am fine but don’t lose weight. I try fasting but driving the kids to school in traffic, I can’t be weak, tired or out of it.
I have been dieting. I didn’t have control over my diet with 20 deployments, I do some, but not nearly enough exercise. And I ate my way thru divorce and a custody battle. It’s been tough as the days here in SATX get to 112, & have been over 100 for 3 months. I have been pushing a mower thru 3 acres of grass for exercise when I am not lifting heavy stuff around the house.
In 99’ I left boot camp at 155, now 288. I sat in front of computer screen on subs eating shit food broiled in oil or baked with high fructose corn syrup, not allot of options for food or exercise at sea in the sub. It’s so hard to reverse.
Thanks anyways
Does this mean you avoid eating fish too?
Thanks for this
So would high fish consumption also create an a-fib situation?
Interesting question, but i would guess perhaps not because it's a whole food not an isolated supplement. With all these supplements like vitamin e vitamin c for example there seems to be way more benefit from eating whole foods rich in these rather than the isolated vitamin. Our understanding of the human body is to rudimentary to understand all that's going on. Similarly with vitamin d vs sunshine, males often see testosterone go up from sunlight exposure, but not with vitamin d.
Holy Mackerel, good question.
It would have to. There is no difference to your body whether the fish oil is in a capsule or some fish meat that you chewed up and swallowed. The only difference would be that it is easier for someone to take an excessive dose in capsules. However a lover of fish who eats it every day would also easily exceed to recommended maximum.
@@AthleticHobo-br4qh The testosterone example just means that it is other effects of sunshine that have nothing to do with vitamin D. It does not mean that sunshine is a sufficient source of vitamin D for all people at all times of the year. We know that vitamin D supplementation is beneficial to such people. Sunshine itself comes with dangers too.
A substantial part of the reason why eating a fruit instead of merely the micronutrients alone is that the fruit contains things like fibre. Other than that if you consumed the exact same micronutrients in an identical combination and form you'd likely get the same quantity being absorbed into the body.
It is almost certainly the case that fish consumption is at least the equivalent to consuming the same quantity of fish oil in capsules. The analogy with vitamins is particularly bad because we typically get increased absorption of vitamins and minerals from food compared to supplements. This is usually because the supplement is in a different form and/or in not combination with something else that helps the body extract it. What this would mean is that if fish were similar it would be more dangerous to consume lots of fish, not less.
@athletichobo
Thanks for your details. I believe food as long as it’s whole will have a naturally healthier proportion/ ratio. We dont teach nature what should’ve been done. I eat fish more than all other protein sources. I love peanut and I am not scared of the omega 6 of it.
I've always taken it to stave off headaches. In my old age if I get tired, stay up late, etc. I can get a headache. Omega 3s (and probably 6s and 9s) alleviate this. Oddly 3-6-9 mixtures alleviate these headaches at much lower doses than 3s alone.
I find magnesium helpful for migraines - plagued with them since a teen, they stopped when I started taking magnesium.
I would argue that point, according to some past research membrane unsaturation levels are tightly regulated and normally cannot be affected by diet.
As a long time bio-medical engineer I would respectfully guess that insufficient C15:0 which strengthens cell membranes may be a contributing factor at higher Omega-3 levels.
Great.... and whats the sweetspot +\- ?!
when you talk about the dose, do the studies only look at the consumption of Omega 3‘s through fish oil capsels or do they look at the total consumption ,including consumption through diet
thats a very good question, i eat loads of fish but have never noticed the afib until using omega 3 caps, 1 a day 1200mg.
Also never noticed it after taking cod liver oil for years....
As children, one would think, that all of their cells would be rich in omega 3 before repeated exposure to omega-6. Perhaps in a balance because it's so common throughout the body. Also, a fitness level of firmness throughout the body which I believe this firmness translates into arterial walls as well. Getting sloppy soft as we age might make our veins sloppy soft like a garden hose that wants to collapse. Really two different subjects but perhaps related...
That graph animations are very cool ! How are they made ?
I recently reduced my fish oil supplementation to 1 G, I also get some through olive oil and flaxseed. I've been in permanent afib for decades so it's not going to be a game changer for me, just following the science.
So what is the dose of epa/dha on the bottom "medium" of the U-curve?
Less than multiple grams (2 grams) total, is my current estimate
I was wondering too..
is that per-day? I assume so, but'd like to be sure @Physionic
@@Snoupity yes
@@Physionicquick question- Female here & I take epa/dha 1.12g a daily. Is the dosage range the same for males and females? I don’t recall if there’s a mention of that.
I eat fish oil for years 3 to 4 grams, my joint pain is now gone. I’m 63 work out as a way of life , no problems
Have previously had arrhythmias! Took one capsule 0.6 grams per day.. Later increased the dose to 2 capsules spread out in the morning and evening. All hell broke loose. Double punch, no punches at all for 30 seconds. The heart rate increased from 55 at rest to over 70. Later, the resting heart rate dropped to below 40 beats per minute. It took a month before everything started to return to normal. Now I have about 60 in resting heart rate. Magnesium helped control this plus I ditched the high quality Omega 3 capsules. I think there are individual variations in this. Personally, I bleed easily and everything gets worse with omega 3. Had shoulder surgery 30 years ago. Received no warnings before the operation. Everything happened in a small hospital. Several taxi cars with blood were driven from a major hospital. Lay on the greens for hemophilia. Stopped with omega 3 and eat a lot of vegetables and K2 now. Everything has been normalized.
I took for 20 years Xtend life Omega 3 from New Zealand pristine waters which is not matched by any omega 3 out there . They set the standards . It did help my heart palpitations and improve especially in the winter
omega 3 helps against cardio-vascular disease. Just keep taking it.
Could it be that taking Omega 3 as a supplement rather than eating fishes would make the Omega 3 concentration to high and too risky? The whole matrice of the food does play a role, doesn’t it?
Nice story and excellent finale: The balance matters! My own balance of omega6:omega3 is about 3:1 which is considered to be quite optimal. Used to be 10:1 and ... how to say... anyway, I feel much better now. Best is simple: Test is simple, fix is simple, and available to practically all.
Since you're a doctor in molecular medicine: Can you address Dr Esselstyn's insistence that TMAOs found in fish are an extreme risk factor for causing or exacerbating CAD?
My doctor told me to up my omega 3 to 3 gram per day…within 2 days I’m in A-Fib. This is real.
Interesting. I consumed 3g for months at a time with no issues. Down to 1.6g now as I don't see too much of a reason going higher. Consumed at least 2g for maybe 6-7 years non-stop as well. EPA+DHA specifically, not just fish oil overall.
I think I felt som arythmia taking cod fish liver oil. But I also have had a heart block reading some years ago. Not sure what to do. Butter and a fish oil combination, would that stiffen the cell wall properly?
No, this is anecdotal.
I've taken Omega-3's for over 20 years with no problem.
Vitamin E overdose ?
In essence the Goldilocks principal: not too little or too much but just right.
Excellent video. I've taken LARGE doses in the past, based on the idea that our diets are UNNATURALLY low on omega-3 as a result of "modern factory farming." I'm going to cut back. Thanks.
What’s that have to do with anything?
Would 1g per day be safe? I want to take omega 3 to help with the side effects of isotretinoin
I'm in italian and I laughed 😁
awesome video ,btw
With all this information at our disposal! You don't know what to believe anymore! Why not interview Rhonda Patrick on this issue... she and others have been advocating the overall benefits on omega 3!
This would be an interesting interview...
Have you seen the interview she did with the omega-3 expert?
@@Zeon7510 - yes..
@@Zeon7510what if it?
@@l21n18 interview with Dr.Bill Harris, the omega-3 expert
Would it differ if you got it from fish as opposed to a supplement?
@@itjechnician yes, you wouldn’t be paying for supplements.
My question is “How come this problem does not apply to overconsumption of fatty fish? For example, the Japanese have the highest Omega 3 consumption via fish intake. How come they do not suffer the side effects you describe? Could it be that Omega 3 supplements are de-natured (spoiled) in some way that causes this issue?”
Do you know they don’t? Admittedly, I haven’t looked into it, so I don’t know either. It’s also true that omega-3 levels vary considerably between fish, so it’s also possible they’re consuming a perfect amount, no?
Japanese diets differ in more ways. They also consume more seaweed and other plant foods that are not consumed as much as in the rest of the world.
@@PhysionicIn the video you speak of omega 3, but the afib studies you presented showed only the effect of DHA. The U-curve was about fish and fish fat so EPA and DHA, but not EPA in isolation.
From studies several years ago I understood that EPA showed the most promise for reducing heart disease, but at that time DHA in isolation did not statistically show heart benefits yet.
Has that changed? (Maybe better for me to ask dr. Alo)
Is EPA also part of the heart structure like DHA is?
Pay attention to what? So what's the recommended dose?
My weird heart cramps or "tiny triple heart beats" in between my regular heart beats, went away when I stopped taking my fish oil.
I was taking a high dose, around 6 grams fish oil per day, but I had to go 6 grams if I would hit the 1 gram pure DHA, due to the low concentration of DHA.
This is why I just eat fish once or twice a week and don't bother with supplements for macronutrients other than creatine. I'm also pretty young and get as much of my terrestrial meat grassfed/pasture-raised as possible and avoid seed oils and cook with ghee or coconut oil instead, so my omega-3 to 6 ratio is already considerably higher than most people.
I am an n=1, but I was diagnosed with paroxysmal AFib in my early 30s. No genetic history, and no risk factors (obesity, high BP, alcohol, etc). On the contrary, I was in great physical shape. My cardiologist said I was in an unlucky bucket of 5% of people that get AFib for no reason. For most of my 20s, I took a ton of high quality fish oil. I didn’t monitor doses, thinking more was better. I’m now starting to think fish oil may have caused all this
I myself had been supplementing 6 grams fish oil per day for a few years, to hit the +1gram DHA (that's what several youtubers been promoting while referencing studies on the topic) because the DHA concentration in different brands where not that great.
Long story short, I started getting weird tiny heart beats in between my regular heart beats, so I stopped taking the fish oil and the weird heart cramps/beats went away.
@@orion9kyou’re copy pasting the same comment
Maybe ask him?
How much magnesium glycinate should I take daily?
Why AFib exactly?
Why not VTach or VFib?
so can you pls state what is the ideal dosage then ?
I was having some weird chest pain. I normally take 2 pills that equals ~1000mg EPA and ~500mg DHA. I took 1 today, hopefuly this lessen that odd chest pain.
I have noticed that taking Antarctic Krill oil has caused me some heart fluttering. Taking the smallest dose-just once capsule at 1mg, yet the total omega 3 is only 100 mg! of omega 3 according to the supplemental fact label.
Can give your thoughts on the new form of fatty acid that has been advertised now:C15:0 (aka FA15™). It is very pricey, but maybe it is worth it?
Moderation, moderation, moderation
Are you saying that consuming too much of a certain substance can be problematic?
Please make a next video titled "Why water may kill you (unless you do THIS)" and explain to us why water intoxication or hyponatremia is a thing.
Will do - great suggestion. :-P
@@Physionic hahahahaha that's what I love about you 😝😂🤣
@@Physionic Very anxious for this.......
DiHydrous Monoxide overconsumption has been associated with frequent urination!
@@Physionic You're a gentleman...and very very patient! Thanks for what you do.
I take 4- grams a day. I train 5-6 days a week and at 67 no issues for me.
Oh yeah? Well I take 6 grams a day and work out every day and at 98 no issues and I still look like I'm 45.
How does 1 gram of Omega3 translate into mg's of EPA & DHA? These can vary considerably.
I don’t like n-3 supplements because I’m from the tropics and 1 week in my home and those pills practically has gone through enough lipid peroxidation to make it counterproductive
And it will undergo even more peroxidation after you have eaten it and it’s embedded in your warm cell membranes.
...or maybe further studies will show it depends more on freshness of the O3 oil/fatty acid than quantity consumed?
Is linoleic acid really proinflammatory? The study [1] from the AHA says that:
- "Although AA is the precursor to potentially proinflammatory leukotrienes, it is also the main precursor to key anti-inflammatory metabolites, such as epoxyeicosatrienoic acids and prostaglandin E2, and other mediators that actively resolve inflammation, such as lipoxin A4, as well."
- "We also identified little evidence for any interaction between n-6 and n-3 PUFA levels"
- "our novel findings do not support recommendations of some to reduce n-6 PUFA consumption or reduce the n-6:n-3 ratio (as opposed to increasing n-3 intake)".
There's also their older study [2] saying:
"Advice to reduce omega-6 PUFA intakes is typically framed as a call to lower the ratio of dietary omega-6 to omega-3 PUFAs. Although increasing omega-3 PUFA tissue levels does reduce the risk for CHD, it does not follow that decreasing omega-6 levels will do the same. Indeed, the evidence considered here suggests that it would have the opposite effect. Higher omega-6 PUFA intakes can inhibit the conversion of α-linolenic acid to eicosapentaenoic acid, but such conversion is already quite low, and whether additional small changes would have net effects on CHD risk after the other benefits of LA consumption are taken into account is not clear. The focus on ratios, rather than on levels of intake of each type of PUFA, has many conceptual and biological limitations."
If I got it well, even if we consider that the conversion from ALA to EPA is efficient which doesn't seem to be the case at all, the omega-6 seem beneficial by themselves and wouldn't cause any issue if we eat directly EPA and DHA instead of ALA since there wouldn't be any enzymatic competition anyway. It would be very interesting to know your opinion about that.
1: Biomarkers of Dietary Omega-6 Fatty Acids and Incident Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality: An Individual-Level Pooled Analysis of 30 Cohort Studies
2: Omega-6 Fatty Acids and Risk for Cardiovascular Disease: A Science Advisory From the American Heart Association Nutrition Subcommittee of the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism; Council on Cardiovascular Nursing; and Council on Epidemiology and Prevention
As long as one avoids heart arrhythmia, are higher dosages than two grams beneficial? Is it okay to just stop if one develops fibrillations, or do high dosages cause damage even before one develops them? Your comment about changing gene expressions gave me the impression that changes from omega 3 aren't transient.
I really appreciate the lecture
So does this go for eating sardines also?
Omega-3 is like olive oil -- lots of papers and virtually everyone who conducts studies is connected to, or funded by industry. Studies are mostly done in obese or otherwise metabolically compromised subjects, and virtually all focus on DHA and EPA, usually ignoring DPA, which is not easy to produce commercially. Japan is held an example of the longevity benefits of high Omega-3 Index while ignoring the fact that the longest-living Japanese, the Okinawans, consumed very little fish as part of their mostly starchy diet. It's the same for the Sardinian mountain dwellers and for most other blue zones. The fact that Omega-3s and especially DHA raise LDL cholesterol is so rarely mentioned too.
The cholesterol aspect is probably irrelevant since it takes fairly large doses and the type of LDL cholesterol it increases is not linked to heart disease anyway.
Some quick reading indicates that fish oils probably do usually contain DPA as well.
Rather than focussing on how much fish Okinawans eat we should rather look at how much and which types of omega-3 they consume.
They eat a lot of Natto in Japan.
The people of Accioroli, Italy eat a lot of fish (especially anchovies). And they reportedly are amongst the longest-lived people in the world.
That’s a problem
With everything
I found that Algal Oil Omega 3 is easier for me to digest. When compared to fish oil, algal oil is less likely to go rancid. 👍👍👍
Magnesyl or aspirin contains acetylsalicylic acid and one of it's effect is to thin out the blood. So does omega3. The two combined can lead to difficulties in coagulate the blood.
Hi Nick.,
Do you have information on Krill oil please?
Tnx Kindly 🎉
I heard that fish oil become rancid after a short period of time so I freeze my Omega-3 pills once I open the bottle. I am hoping that it will slow down the rancidity of the oil. I also buy my Omega-3 from Costco because I am also hoping that they will have fresher supply that most stores.
So which amount is likely to beneficial? 1 gram? And than 2 or more grams might be hurtful?
Well, that could explain where my arrhythmias come from. I actually was taking Omega 3 everyday for some months and the doctors couldn't explain where they were coming from. I had multiple tests and they all told me my heart is fine, that it might be stress and what not...
I have stopped taking them and with time they happen less, so I guess thanks for conforming what I had thought already. Maybe just once a week will be better (?)
Question. in this video when talking about omega three’s. Are we only talking about DHA and EPA? Also does ALA also contribute to these effects?
I think it might. I added a big handful of Walnuts into my smoothie and had an afib episode. I think you need to factor in total amount of omega-3s from all sources. It also takes days/weeks for the omega-3s to completely leave your system.
I stopped my Omega 3 and my eyes got really bad with big floaters and dry eye and my hair got thinner and my depression came back.
Ah yeah, seen an opticist(or whats the english word) youtuber, doing a self case study by taking it 90 day to see if it helps dry eyes(it did)
Can you do a vid on C15? It's the latest trend regarding EFA's. According to Dr Rhonda Patrick your omega index should be above 8%.
Working on it
What is the specific amount of DHA and EPA that puts you in the "medium intake"?
Good question. Also the graphic at 3:58 shows "DHA" which is apparently what they tested in that specific study. Is it possible that only DHA causes the issue and EPA is fine?
@@darealrulezbreaker9493 Good question
Interesting and appreciated analysis. Have you looked at the DO-HEALTH RCT with 2157 participants that looked at the effects of 1g/day Omega-3 and/or 2000IU/day Vitamin D and/or Simple Home strength Exercise Program? It showed a 60% decrease in invasive cancers for the group that had all 3. Could it be dosing with higher amounts of Omega-3 requires increasing something else to eliminate the negative effects?
Yow boss, what do you think about MPMD omega 3's?
I would love to see a video on the health effects of omega 6s!
Does eating allot of fish also put one at risk ?
Over consumption of anything is bad, even water is bad in large quantities. Just eat sensibly like a civil person and eat diverse food. Little bit of everything.
@@gamesong6600 little bit of Oreos little bit of Doritos etc, I got ya 😆 actually I’m mostly referring to the idea that pufas are a controversial topic with some nutritional “experts” like ray peat have put them down even when it comes to fish. Although I have a hard time believing that. I agree with you though, hard to do bad with eating sensibly and balanced healthy foods.
@@danbanfan9524 pufa itself is not bad but the thing is we need very little of it and Omega 3 n 6 needs to be balanced in 1:1 or 1:2 ratio.
But these days everything contains pufa specially omega6 that over-consumption and imbalance is the cause of many problems.
@@gamesong6600but when you say very little pufa are you speaking of overall needing very little 3? I understand the balance of 3to 6 is good and we get too much 6 but it seems like most of the blue zones if anything they over eat 3 in terms of fish.
@@danbanfan9524 if we look at the daily recommendation of Omega 3 it's only 1.6g considering the Omega 6 needs to be only twice at most that puts us around 3.2g that's how much we actually need. Any other type of fat body can create on its own from extra calories to be honest.
We don't need more than 10-12g of pufa, rest 30-40g can come from mufa and saturated fats from animals, nuts and fruits.
However these days every thing is dipped in fat. And reheated,overheated, overcooked food which contains a lot of trans-fat worst of them all.
There is no reason to micromanage it. Just be mindful of it, a few grams over the limit here and there are not going to wreck your body. we might be consuming too much of it out of ignorance
My doctor has recommended I take GLA (Gamma-Linolenic Acid) supplements for skin issues and she said I should also take fish oils with EPA with the GLA, to avoid increases in Arachidonic acid. Any thoughts on this?
It would interesting to see if afib rates are higher in countries where fatty fish, Omega 3, consumption is high.
spoiler: they're not. Comparing Japan to Europe: European countries have 3x more AFIB than Japan.
Serious A-FIB Question -- I am 71 years old and have been in permanent AFIB (rate controlled by meds) for 15 years. Is there anything in the literature you've studied that would change the recommendations in a case like this?
I had taken fish oil tablets on/off for years. Typically, I would take one pill per day and occasionally two. I was never very consistent, so some days, I would not take any at all. My stock of fish oil tablets was backing up, so I started taking them more consistently day to day, and I was on average taking 2-3 per day. I then had my first AF episode that lasted from 9:00 PM to around 6:00 AM the next morning. I started researching and I found a couple of references to fish oils and AF, so I stopped taking for a couple of months. When I started back up, I only take one per day, maybe 5 days per week. I have only noticed very short AF episodes where I only have a high heart rate for a few minutes then it goes away. These very short episodes, may of happened in the past, but I simply did not notice them. Now, any time that I feel like my heart is beating fast, I put on a heart rate monitor. I am pretty convinced that fish oils, at the very least, contributed to my larger AF episode.
It's not only what your taking, but more importantly the form of what you are taking. Steer away from fish oil and take a good quality krill oil omega 3 and don't exceed 1 gram a day at very most.
This information puts the research showing a physiological limitation on conversion of ALA (plant source omega 3 precursor) to omega 3, in humans, in a new light - there could be a protective inhibitory feedback mechanism.
I track my nutrition almost daily (try to do it daily, but do miss a day once in awhile) and I only use a supplement if I haven't gotten enough of a particular nutrient that day. I often find I've gotten all my Omega 3s for the day just fine (and I rarely eat fish, but do eat eggs and walnuts). I only take my fish oil capsules if my end of day total is low, same with all my other nutritional supplements.