Fish Oil

[Nick]

Hi Dr. Forred -

I'd like to know your thoughts on taking a daily fish oil vitamin pill as a supplement to one's diet.

A good friend of mine in med school is the daughter of what I'd call a "vitamin freak." The guy has shipments coming into the house and takes so many pills it would take me a while of questioning to figure out what they all do.

There is one that he really did suggest that is a good idea to take besides a basic multivitamin like a Centrum/Flinstones/OneADay type pill, and that is fish oil.

I subsequently did some reading on it and there is some material on the internet that it does appear to have been shown in a few studies to reduce the risk of heart disease, possibly reduce cholesterol, regulate blood pressure, and to a lesser extent, help any joint pain and reduce the frequency of headaches.

In a search of this forum of multivitamins you mentioned that one a day of a basic multivitamin pill should be adequate for the ordinary person.

Do you also believe that taking a fish oil supplement is worthwhile in the long run?

Thank you for your time.

[Seggy]

Good question Nick.

I started taking it, but was told that just taking the supplement leads to diabetes. Is this true doc?

[sdfcvoh]

Originally Posted by Nick

you mentioned that one a day of a basic multivitamin pill should be adequate for the ordinary person.

Sort of a hijack - but to back that up.... When I used to do health insurance applications, the number of people middle aged and older who didn't have a maintenance medication were few. But, those that didn't have maintenance meds most often told me, "I take a multivitamin every day." There's something to be said about taking one a day.

[My Flight Surgeon]

If your cholesterol is elevated, fish oil will help some. Put it this way though, I don't take it

To my knowledge, it does not cause diabetes.

[SkyCougar]

I take it Nick. In addition to all of the benefits its known for, my eye doctor suggested I take it as well for eye health and dry eyes. I often wear contacts and have noticed that my eyes are often dry. I have noticed somewhat of an improvement since I started taking it. (when I remember to take it everyday!)

[S.T.Aviator]

I had posted this link on one of the Blood Pressure threads and thought you guys/gyals might be intertested. Although not about fish oils, it is about fish peptides which looks quite promising.


http://www.doctormurray.com/articles/FishPeptides.htm

[Nick]

Thanks Dr. Forred, and everyone else, for the input.

Looks like it at least can't hurt if taken unnecessarily in a normal amount.

[Itchy]

I'm not kidding when I say this, it made my skin get "scaly" in some spots, particularly my elbows.

Some googling, and I found out I was not the only one.