Eating several servings of omega-3 fatty acid-containing fish per week has been shown to improve your heart health. But if you have a hard time fitting fish into your diet, fish oil supplements have emerged as an alternative option to get your omega-3's. However, as concerns rise over mercury intake in fish, you may wonder if fish oil is safe for daily use. Thanks to strict manufacturing processes, you can feel safe when taking fish oil supplements from a reputable company.
Fish Types
One of the reasons fish oil is considered safe for use is due to the types of fish used to manufacture fish oil. Larger fish, like shark and swordfish, tend to have higher levels of mercury and toxins because these fish eat other smaller fish that have mercury. They also live longer, giving them more opportunity to eat mercury-containing fish. However, fish oil companies tend to manufacture fish oil from smaller fish like anchovies, sardines, mackerel, tuna, salmon, sturgeon, bluefish and trout. These fish tend to have less mercury because they eat algae, which have omega-3 fatty acids in them.
Processing
The production process for making fish oils also helps to reduce the amount of potential mercury in fish oil supplements. To obtain the fish oil, the fish is ground and put through a centrifuge to separate the oil from the fish meat. Mercury tends to stick to the fish meat, not the oil itself. The centrifuged oil is then filtered, which can remove further contaminants.
Excess Amounts
Taking more than the recommended 3 g per day of fish oil can have toxic effects to the body -- but not because of contaminants in the pill. Instead, taking excess amounts of fish oil can cause adverse side effects to your body, like reducing your blood-clotting ability, allowing you to bleed too easily.
Controversy
In 2010 the Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation filed a lawsuit against eight fish oil manufacturers. The company claimed it had tested fish oil supplements and found the presence of PCBs, which are cancer-causing chemicals. However, both manufacturers and industry regulation groups maintain taking fish oil is safe. The Council for Responsible Nutrition said in a statement to the ABC San Francisco news station that taking fish oil supplements is considered safer than eating fish itself. According to Medline Plus, fish oil are considered likely safe for most people when taken in the correct dosages.
References
- MedlinePlus; Fish Oil; February 24, 2011
- "Whole Living"; Is Fish Oil Safe?; April 2008
- ABC Local 7; Lawsuit Over Contamination in Fish Oil Supplements; Michael Finney; March 2010
- "Nutrition Action"; Omega Medicine? Is Fish Oil Good for What Ails You?; Bonnie Liebman; October 2007
- "The New York Times"; The Claim: Fish Oil Supplements Can Contain Mercury; Anahan O'Connor; March 2009
- Science Daily; Removing Toxic Mercury From Fish Oil While Retaining Beneficial Omega-3 Fatty Acids; April 2009
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