Fish Oil Question

I was told that I shouldn’t take fish oils fours hours before my workout. I want to know if this is true. If so, i’d like to know why, and would it slow progress in the gym??

Thanks

The half life of fish oil is about two days.

This means it doesn’t really matter what time of day you take it.

Mufasa

Ooops…

So no…the statement isn’t true.

What was the Fish Oil supposed to do to your workout?

Mufasa

[quote]Mufasa wrote:
The half life of fish oil is about two days.

This means it doesn’t really matter what time of day you take it.

Mufasa
[/quote]

Can you expand on this? Would this apply to all fats (omega 3s, 6s too?) Does this apply to DHA/EPA and/or the other parts that make up fish oil?

NO MORE FISH OIL QUESTIONS! NO MORE!

Search.

Search is your friend. Both Lonnie Lowery and David Barr have posted a bunch of great articles that cover fish oil quite extensively.

Fish oil versus Flax Oil

BETHESDA, MARYLAND. There is considerable evidence that fish and fish oils are beneficial to heart health, reduce the risk of cancer, and benefit mental health.

The “active” components of fish oils are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a polyunsaturated fatty acid with 20 carbon atoms in its backbone, and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a polyunsaturated fatty acid with 22 carbon atoms. Both are members of the omega-3 group of essential fatty acids. EPA and DHA are found exclusively in marine animals; fatty fish such as herring, sardines, salmon and fresh tuna are the best sources.

Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is another omega-3 fatty acid found in flaxseed and flaxseed oil. ALA has 18 carbon atoms in its backbone and can be converted to EPA in the body (in the liver) by the addition of two carbon atoms. EPA, in turn, can be converted to DHA. Because the typical American diet is relatively low in fish intake ALA becomes a crucial source of the EPA and DHA required for optimum health.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have just completed a study designed to determine just how much ALA is actually converted to EPA in the body. Their study included eight healthy subjects who were fed a standard diet for three weeks and then given one gram of ALA labeled with an isotope tracer. The diet was beef-based in order to avoid extraneous sources of EPA and DHA. The researchers measured blood plasma concentrations of ALA, EPA and DHA 8, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 168 hours after ingestion of the labeled ALA.

Results

1)Only about 0.2 per cent of the ALA (2 mg) was actually converted to EPA. In contrast, about 23 per cent of the EPA was available for conversion to DHA.

(We know this from the MANY threads and articles on the site)

Related to the original question asked:

The researchers also noted that the half-life (the time it takes to reduce initial concentration by 50 per cent) of ALA in blood plasma was quite low at about one hour.

In comparison, the half-life of EPA was 67 hours and that of DHA 20 hours.

(EPA and DHA are the important components of Fish Oil)

The researchers conclude that ALA is not a viable source of EPA and DHA and cannot replace fish and fish oils in the diet.

Pawlosky, Robert J. Physiological compartmental analysis of alpha-linolenic acid metabolism in adult humans. Journal of Lipid Research, Vol. 42, August 2001, pp. 1257-65

Mufasa

Back to my question:

What was supposed to happen if you took Fish Oil prior to a workout?

Thanks!

Mufasa

[quote]Mufasa wrote:
Back to my question:

What was supposed to happen if you took Fish Oil prior to a workout?

Thanks!

Mufasa[/quote]

LOL, I was asking myself the same question when I opened this thread.

Thanks for replying, Mufasa.

I do not know what was suppose to happen if you take it four hours before exercise. That’s what Dr. Earl Mindell (author of the Vitamin Bible) said. I was just told that I shouldn’t another example of “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out”. But maybe there was more to it because I didn’t read it for myself someone informed me.

You know, half life in the bloodstream aside, it’s the tissue incorporation of fish fatty acids that really blasts the whole notion of timing them.

Some studies show “washout periods” in excess of 20 weeks!

Wait THAT LONG between lifting and see how big you get!