Can Omega 3 Really Help You Lose Weight?

All the claims by producers and marketers of fish oil about the wondrous effects of a component of their products, Omega 3 fatty acids is enough to make anyone think that it is snake oil rather than fish oil they’re talking about!

You have likely read repeated claims that this is the one thing that will help you lose weight even as you continue to eat normally; even a high calorie intake.

So what is the real deal with Omega 3 or rather the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, to use the proper nomenclature?fish oil

In laboratory experiments conducted upon mice, it was seen that when fed a high calorie diet that included 8% fish oil rich in omega 3, gained less weight (by virtue of metabolizing more fat) than the other mice who are not given the omega 3 rich fish oil.

This study came to the conclusion that the group of mice that received the fish oil supplement demonstrated higher lipid metabolism.

The supplemented mice were also seen as having the activity of enzymes related to metabolism boosted significantly. Researchers saw an “up-regulation of intestinal lipid metabolism is associated with the anti-obesity effect of fish oil”.

A study conducted by the University of Georgia showed that Omega 3 “could affect adoptosis (programmed cell death) and significantly decrease the accumulation of fat in the preadipocytes in a dose-dependent manner and the development (differentiation) of mature adipocytes in culture” according to the Journal of Nutrition.

An Australian study also found that in one study conducted on 75 overweight adults between the ages of 25 and 65 years, it was found that those who got a fish oil supplement lost more weight than those who didn’t, when supplemented by exercise.

So clearly there is something to this fish oil business, and even if one is skeptical about all its miraculous weight loss properties (as one rightly should be), even then you cannot ignore the several health giving properties that it has. It is heart friendly, and is known to keep your brain working better so really there are plenty of reasons to consider this.

However, if one thought that taking a fish oil supplement will miraculously help them shed the pounds without lifting a finger, they would be sadly mistaken.

Yes it is likely that Omega 3 may help give you just that little bit extra when you are doing everything else right and will help rather than actually instigate weight loss all by itself.