Is Fish Oil Just Snake Oil?
Channel: NutritionFacts.org
Date: 2014-02-03

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DESCRIPTION: Advice to eat oily fish or take fish oil to lower risk of heart disease, stroke, or mortality is no longer supported by the balance of available evidence.

I've previously discussed fish oil supplements in the context of risks versus purported cardiovascular benefits:

• Dietary Supplement Snake Oil (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/dietary-supplement-snake-oil/)
• Fish Oil in Troubled Waters (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/fish-oil-in-troubled-waters/)
• DDT in Fish Oil Supplements (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/ddt-in-fish-oil-supplements/)
• Is Cod Liver Oil Good For You? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-cod-liver-oil-good-for-you/)
• Are krill oil supplements better than fish oil capsules? (http://nutritionfacts.org/questions/are-krill-oil-supplements-better-than-fish-oil-capsules/)

But if the benefits aren't there, then all one is left with are concerns over the industrial pollutants that concentrate in the fish fat (even in distilled fish oil, see Is Distilled Fish Oil Toxin-Free?, http://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-distilled-fish-oil-toxin-free/).

These same contaminants are found in the fish themselves. This raises concern for adults (Fish Fog, http://nutritionfacts.org/video/fish-fog/), children (Nerves of Mercury, http://nutritionfacts.org/video/nerves-of-mercury/), and pregnant moms:

• Fish Intake Associated With Brain Shrinkage (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/fish-consumption-associated-with-brain-shrinkage/)
• Mercury vs. Omega-3s for Brain Development (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/mercury-vs-omega-3s-for-brain-development/)
• How Long to Detox From Fish Before Pregnancy? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-long-to-detox-from-fish-before-pregnancy/)

Have a question for Dr. Greger about this video? Leave it in the comment section at http://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-fish-oil-just-snake-oil/ and he'll try to answer it!

Image Credit: Aardvark Ethel and James Palinsad via Flickr.

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