Fish oil has a theoretical benefit for boosting your immune system -- if you use the proper dose. That dose needs to be determined with the help of your doctor, who will take factors such as health conditions and medications into account. You gain fish oil by eating fish or by taking supplements.
Immune System Significance
Fish oil can help your body's balance of eicosanoids, hormone-like substances produced in your cells. There are three main categories of these: leukotrienes, prostaglandins and thromboxanes. Some eicosanoids perform beneficial functions in your body, including enhancing your immune system, preventing blood clots and reducing pain. Others suppress your immune system, promote blood clotting and enhance pain. A balance between the good and bad eicosanoids is essential for good health. Excessive production of bad eicosanoids contributes to chronic inflammation and diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, depression, arthritis and Alzheimer's disease. Eicosanoids are made from fatty acids in your phospholipids, which cell membranes are made from. Your body does not make these fatty acids itself -- you must consume them. Your body uses the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil to produce anti-inflammatory, or "good" eicosanoids.
Omega-3s
Fish oil has two omega-3 fatty acids -- eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA, and docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA. Consuming these omega-3 fatty acids may enhance your immune system function and help your body balance production of "good" and "bad" eicosanoids. This, in turn, may prevent or reduce effects of chronic inflammation, including a poorly functioning immune system, and help in treatment of conditions that are aggravated by or result from an impaired immune system, such as inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
Effects
Total fat intake and the intake of other types of fat can lead to inconsistent effects when taking fish oil. A high total fat intake inhibits your immune function. The ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids you consume is also a factor. Omega-6 fatty acids produce inflammatory eicosanoids. Your overall health, your antioxidant intake, your age and your overall nutritional status also are factors. Thus, while scientific evidence that fish oil helps enhance your immune system seems compelling, pinpointing an exact role for fish oil in immune system function is challenging due to the complex nature of your immune system and the other factors involved, notes Dr. M. Eric Gershwin, author of "Nutrition and Immunology."
Considerations
Establish dosage for supplementing with fish oil with your doctor. Doses that are too large can actually suppress your immune system, notes the University of California Berkeley Wellness Guide to Dietary Supplements. Too much fish oil also can raise your risk for hemorrhagic stroke and, if you have diabetes, decrease glucose control.
References
- University of California, Berkeley: Wellness Guide to Dietary Supplements
- "Fish Oil"; Joseph C. Maroon and Jeffrey Bost; 2006
- "Nutrition and Immunology"; M. Eric Gershwin; 2000
- Medline Plus: Fish Oil; February 2011
