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What is the right fish oil dosage? I constantly see questions about how much fish oil should I take.

That’s a good question, what is the right fish oil dosage. For example should you take more fish oil supplements if you already have heart disease?

But first lets talk about where to get your fish oil. Why not just eat a lot of fish? Firstly it’s expensive, but there’s other problems too.

The first problem is that fish can have nasty contaminants in it. The FDA tell us to limit how much fish we eat for this reason.

This doesn’t apply to the best fish oil supplements, they go through a rigorous process to ensure that they are free from contaminants. Note that not all fish oil supplements are free from contaminants.

And there are also differences in the amount of Omega 3 polyunsaturated fats you get from different fish types, the best being oily fish. How do you know how much you’re getting?

The AHA tells us that people with no known heart disease problems should have a minimum of 2 fish meals a week, of the right fish. But for the previously stated reasons it’s not so easy. What if fish is to expensive for you?

And they also say evidence from prospective secondary prevention studies suggests that taking EPA+DHA ranging from 0.5 to 1.8 grams per day (either as fatty fish or supplements) significantly reduces deaths from heart disease and all causes.

So healthy people should take around half a gram to 1.8 grams of fish oil (EPA and DHA) a day from either eating fish or fish oil supplements.

For those with existing heart problems the recommendation is as follows:

For those with documented Coronary Heart Disease: 1 gram of EPA and DHA a day. (Note that those with known heart health problems should consult a doctor before starting any supplements).

And if you have a level of triglycerides that need lowering, 2 to 4 grams per day.

So there’s some more specific recommendations. Now lets look at another source.

A new study has just been published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology telling us that healthy people should take a half gram of fish oil Omega 3s per day and those with known cardio vascular issues should take 800 mg to 1000 mg a day.

But what about the ratio between DHA and EPA, the 2 major Omega 3 fats? How much of each? The AHA don’t tell us, it’s being studied.

What’s the conclusion? Firstly, those with known heart disease should take more fish oil than those without.

And we don’t yet know what ration we should look for between EPA and DHA. But otherwise it’s relatively clear.

Around 500 mg (1/2 gram) minimum of EPA and DHA a day for healthy people, and around 1000 mg (1 gram) a day for known heart disease patients, perhaps double for lowering triglycerides.

The best fish oil supplements contain 280 mg of DHA and 120 mg of EPA per capsule. (That’s more than double the normal amount of DHA in most average capsules). A total of 400mg of DHA and EPA.

So 2 capsules a day will give you 800 mg in total, around the level proposed by the AHA. And the recommended dosage, (taken from the label), for adults is 2 capsules a day.

So if you have no known heart issues take the best fish oil supplements at a fish oil dosage of 2 capsules a day. You need to take up to double that for your “average” fish oil supplements, depending on what is in them.

So if you’re wondering how much fish oil should I take we hope this gives you some guidelines. There are no formal exact guidelines, these things are still under study.

But taking the recommendations of the AHA as a basis, we can draw some conclusions about the recommended dosage for fish oil supplements.

And the conclusion, 2 capsules day (of the best fish oil capsules, not all) corresponds with their own recommendations.

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