It's really unclear unfortunately.

The correlative effect is quite clear, i.e people who have high omega 3 levels (eat a lot of fish) have health benefits.

But in random controlled trials Omega 3 supplements have not had convincing effects.

It might be because the supplements aren't very good, or because there's actually something completely different going on, like fish displaces less healthy foods from the diet.

▲

terribleperson 16 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

'the supplements aren't very good' would be believable - a quick glance at the market shows a whole lot of fish oil supplements that provide low amounts of Omega 3s in large amounts of fish oil. Look closer, and you realize a bunch of them are rancid too.

▲

5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[deleted]

▲

MarkMarine 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

what is "a lot of fish" in this context? Sushi for lunch every day? Thanks for engaging with this in a helpful way.

▲

ifwinterco 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, herring) has quite large amounts.

Some people aim for huge amounts of EPA/DHA but I don't think there's really much evidence that you need 3g/day or whatever the latest broscience is.

Mackerel is particularly high although it doesn't taste great to me compared to salmon, 100g of mackerel has ~4g of EPA/DHA so eating that a couple of times a week is probably more than enough.

Also there is some (although much less) in white fish, there can be significant amounts in shellfish, and tinned tuna has a surprisingly high amount. So all of that adds up if you eat those as well

	▲	apothegm 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Sardines, too, which are also fishier than salmon but tend not to be salted the way mackerel is. Unless you’re also consuming all the oil from the can, prefer fish canned in water to canned in oil — because apparently the omega-3s can leach out into oil, but they’re not water-soluble. Btw, trout is also up there (though not as high as salmon) and is a lovely mild-flavored fish.
	▲	birdsongs 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Not sure what you can find in your country but we have tinned mackerel (with tomato typically) in Norway. I can highly recommend. It's not thaaat fishy, I didn't grow up eating it. After having it a few times it really grew on me. Super cheap and an easy way to get it into my diet. I have 2-3 tins per week. I eat it for breakfast mashed on bread (our bread is like a hard cracker), sometimes with a bit of mustard, or butter spread first.

▲

darkerside 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I wonder about cultural and ethnic confounding factors