Leah:

Hello and welcome to the Ideal Nutrition Podcast. I am your host, Leah Higl, and I’m here with my co-host, Aidan Muir. Today we’ll be answering the question: can omega-3 improve strength and/or endurance performance? We have a few reasons to believe, from a mechanistic point of view. That it could positively influence both strength and endurance performance.

Things like reductions in inflammation leading to fewer injury issues. Leading to better training. A bit of a domino effect there. We have omega-3’s interaction with the immune system and potential improvements in immune function. This might mean fewer days off training due to illness and needing to recover.

We could point to better recovery in general coming from omega-3 supplementation. Improved anabolic response to amino acids. Improved sleep quality. As well as reduced oxygen cost of exercise. So, that’s essentially a list of proposed benefits. We can definitely see the logic in all of those. And how they may play a role in performance outcomes. But the bigger question we will address is whether it actually carries over to improved performance in the real world.

Aidan:

So we are going to start with endurance stuff. And we’re going to go through a couple of studies. The first one I’m going to start with is titled “Effects of 12 Weeks of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation in Long-Distance Runners.” This is actually the most relevant individual study I’ve seen on the topic. As we go through, you’ll see that it is the most relevant of all that we’re about to speak about.

And what they did was they got 26 runners. And gave them relatively high doses of omega-3: 2.2 g of EPA and 1 g of DHA. For context, a normal fish oil capsule would probably have less than about 450 mg combined of those two things. So this is actually quite a high dose. Or they got placebo, and the placebo was MCT oil.

Their omega-3 index went from 5.8% to 11.6%. So just adding context, that’s a pretty moderate amount of omega-3 in their blood up to quite a high amount. So good to see an improvement there. VO2max increased noticeably in the omega-3 group versus placebo. Their running economy improved. But their actual time-trial performance in a 1.5 km test didn’t improve versus placebo.

Leah:

The second study we’re going to look at was titled “Omega-3 Fatty Acids Supplementation Improves Endothelial Function and Maximal Oxygen Uptake in Endurance-Trained Athletes.” So that was the title of the study, and it found exactly what the title said. Within three weeks of supplementation in these elite cyclists, they found improvements in markers. That we typically associate with better performance outcomes.

This is cool because it is also in elite athletes. But they didn’t actually test performance. So it’s more mechanistic. Or like, hey, at a baseline biological level, this is happening. And we’re assuming that it carries over to performance outcomes. But, you know, that’s a bit of a leap of faith potentially. But it’s cool that we do see these improvements in these markers from supplementation.

Aidan:

Then the next study is titled “Intrinsic Heart Rate Recovery After Dynamic Exercise Is Improved With an Increased Omega-3 Index in Healthy Males.” This one used ~150 mg of EPA and ~550 mg of DHA for eight weeks. So a little bit lower than the other ones, but still quite high. That’s actually pretty high proportionally for DHA as well. A lot of studies I see on omega-3 kind of skew towards EPA. But that’s what they used.

Average heart rate during exercise at the same intensity was reduced, and heart-rate recovery improved too. Those things you typically would associate with improved performance. For example, if you’re doing endurance training for eight weeks at the same intensity and you saw your heart rate dropping over time for the same kind of work. You’d assume you’re getting better. So that is another thing that’s associated with performance. But it also wasn’t directly measuring performance.

Leah:

The fourth study we are going to mention is a narrative review from 2020. After going through all the other research, the consensus seems to be that omega-3 does a lot of things. That should improve endurance performance. And the narrative review basically covered all of that research and came to the same conclusion. The odd gap is absolutely the lack of trials and studies that actually measure performance outcomes.

There is the one mentioned earlier that found no improvement in performance. But it’s not like there are heaps of other ones to point to and compare against. So in isolation, it’s a bit of an “I’d like to see more,” potentially. Especially knowing that we had these more biological, mechanistic kinds of things coming out from other areas of research. And 1.5 kilometres is also quite short too. So there is potential that this matters more over longer distances than that really short distance. And if there is a benefit, it’s likely not huge.

Again, anything supplement-based, we’re usually thinking only a few percent benefit, maybe, if we’re lucky. I’d lean towards there being a small benefit on average. Based on mechanisms and the research we have. But again, it’s hard to make a concrete statement about this.

Aidan:

Yeah. And something that, to a degree, inspired this podcast was I’ve seen a lot of people who I respect in the nutrition space. Making posts about omega-3s for endurance. And I was like, I care about strength too. So let’s add that in. About endurance, they were talking about VO2max, running economy, heart rate, all of this type of stuff. So I was curious to be like, how much performance stuff were you seeing?

I’m into endurance. I work with endurance athletes. Like, is this something that gives me even more reason to care about omega-3? But it is a bit of a shame that there’s not that much actually looking at performance. It’s mostly just theoretical. And I’m on the same page as thinking I do think there’s probably a small benefit. But it is also probably a small benefit. Now we are going to talk about strength. And very fortunately we have so much more research looking at strength and body composition.

That actually, to a degree, means we’re going to talk about fewer studies because there’s so much. We’re just going to go straight to reviews because there’s a lot to look at. So the first study has a very self-explanatory title. The title is “Lack of Evidence for Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation in Enhancing Lean Mass, Muscle Strength, and Physical Function in Healthy Adults and Clinical Populations: An Overview of Reviews.” They included 33 reviews. So not just 33 studies. They included 33 reviews. Massive. But it was quite clinically focused.

So 11 of those reviews were specifically focused on cancer. 19 were general population without cancer, and three were a bit of a mix. For the reviews focusing on lean mass, four out of 16 reviews showed some evidence that omega-3s had benefits. And three of those four focused on older populations. So that’s not overly promising because that’s quite a small number of those 16 reviews. Because that therefore means all of the others didn’t find that benefit. For reviews focusing on strength, one out of 14 found benefit. Note that this isn’t really looking at strength-training athletes or anything like that.

This is general populations/clinical populations. So, I don’t know if it’s really that relevant, but one out of 14 is quite low. And if you’re keeping up and doing the maths yourself, you can see that doesn’t add up to the 33 reviews I spoke about. But that’s because they split it up into other categories that I don’t think are as podcast-friendly.

So I’ve just gone with that. For that type of population, I’d say there’s weak evidence at best. And this is what I’d call a good form of weak evidence where it’s like: we have heaps of research. It’s just that either there’s no benefit or a very tiny benefit. Versus other times when I say weak evidence, it might just be that there aren’t many studies.

Leah:

The second study we will cover here is titled “International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Long-Chain Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids.” This one is more of a narrative review and a consensus paper in a way. But it includes a great summary of all the research. Specifically looking at things in more of an athletic context. There is a bunch of research measuring changes in body composition and strength in this particular space.

The consensus from all of that research is threefold. One, it doesn’t appear to noticeably help muscle growth. Two, research leans in favour of it helping strength, but the effect is quite small. And three, they noted that the effects might be smaller in people who are taking resistance training seriously versus those who do it at a lower level.

Aidan:

Yeah. My brain just got lost halfway through. Yeah. And I found that lower-level one interesting directly after reading the other review where we found people at quite a low level. They’re not really resistance training at all. Whereas only one out of 14 as well. But this is obviously based on people who are training, just not necessarily at super-high volumes as well. The overall interpretation of this is interesting. Because if you go and read each study individually, you will definitely find studies that make it look like it builds muscle, loses fat, and makes a noticeable difference in strength.

Even yesterday I saw somebody make a post on Instagram. Really hyping up omega-3 for this purpose and referencing some studies and stuff like that. It’s just that we do have a really broad amount of research. And when you look at the broad amount of research it narrows down to these things. So, my interpretation of all of the research is it doesn’t help body composition. Unless you personally happen to get some of the indirect benefits that carry over to that. For example, if it happened to help with illness or injury or whatever. But that’s not showing up in research. Even these indirect benefits do not seem to be carrying over to body-composition improvements.

Two, there likely are small performance benefits on average. In the lifting space, we have a lot of evidence of this. We do see small improvements in strength on average. In the endurance space, we mostly have things that indicate there would be performance benefits rather than actual benefits. And three, I think this is a very safe take: it is far more likely to help you if you have low baseline stores of omega-3 rather than high stores. If you already had good amounts of omega-3, like a high omega-3 index at the start. It’s unlikely that taking more would help.

Now, on that topic of how to take it should you wish to. If you’re having animal-based sources, I’d say fish two to three times a week is a great dietary intake. With at least one of them being higher-fat like salmon. Alternatively, fish-oil supplementation works great. Based on these numbers that we’ve spoken about today, I’d likely have a preference for a triple-strength one. Because you heard me earlier saying how 1 g of fish oil would typically have around 450 mg of combined EPA and DHA.

So a triple-strength one obviously gets you much higher. And then I’d even be looking at having two to three of those as well. Which is so much more convenient than having nine or ten regular-strength capsules. So that’s why I’d look at that. And that’s also, if you’re absolutely looking to optimise things, you might even want to go higher than that as well.

But if you were going lower than that, say you had a standard-strength one and/or you just had fewer of them, I still think that’s a step in the right direction. There probably are diminishing returns the higher you go. In terms of you might be getting additional benefits, just less for each additional amount of fish oil that you add.

Leah:

Quick caveat here, pulling from a plant-based perspective. Because obviously we’re thinking fish oil being the main thing people supplement with to get these high doses of omega-3. For plant-based people, we also have an equivalent option that is still high in EPA and DHA. Which are those direct, solid forms of omega-3 that have these potential outcomes. We can use microalgae-based supplements. There are quite a few on the market these days.

I would say go for a microalgae-based option that is a direct source of EPA and DHA. Still in quite high quantities. You can get really decent doses by taking, I mean, quite a few tablets. We actually don’t have ones that are triple-strength similar to those fish oils. So you’re going to have to take quite a few capsules if you want a similar amount of EPA and DHA plant-based.

But note there are quite a few options that are ALA-based, like flaxseed oil for the most part. Which are not going to be as effective because your body needs to turn the ALA form of omega-3 into the EPA and DHA forms. That’s not a very effective process. You would need a tonne of ALA to get just that little bit of EPA and DHA. So again, if you’re plant-based, go for a microalgae version where you can. If this is something you’re interested in.

Aidan:

That covers everything we want to talk about with omega-3s. As a bit of an announcement, though, this is actually our final episode of the Ideal Nutrition Podcast with Leah as co-host. As of next week, I’ve got a new co-host, as far as I know. We’re obviously recording this a little bit in advance. But Torwin will hopefully be doing a bit of a relaunch with me going forward after that. Leah is going to be continuing the Plant Strong Co podcast. So if you have enjoyed listening here, I strongly encourage listening over there as well. And checking that out if you haven’t already.

I’m personally grateful to have spent the last four years doing these podcasts with her. On my end, I appreciate anyone who’s listened over these last four years. And also hope that we can do the transition justice over towards me and Torwin. But it’s been a good four years on my end.

Leah:

Yeah, it’s been a really solid four years. I think I’ve learned a lot. My gosh, the podcasting skills that I’ve picked up. I remember when we first started podcasting, I almost had a panic attack every time we filmed because I have huge anxiety. And now, you know, we do this all the time and it’s really chill. And I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. So whilst I hope some listeners will maybe miss me a bit. I’m so, like, I know Torwin’s going to do an absolute stellar job.

Aidan:

Perfect. Well, thank you so much to everyone who’s listened. If you haven’t already. If you could please leave a rating or review, that would be greatly appreciated.