Fish oils: supplements VS. the real deal

The shelves of supplements at my local pharmacy never ceases to amaze me. Walls and walls of supplements, in all shapes and sizes. While I admit to using a couple supplements from time to time, I would never solely depend on them (unlike those morbidly obese characters in Wall-E consuming a supplement-only diet). Which leads me to an interesting finding: omega-3 fish oil supplements do not have the same physiological function as eating fish, straight up.

Omega-3 in fish oil (specifically, DHA) have a wide range of protective functions on the immune, nervous, and cardiovascular systems. However, its mode of action is still relatively uncertain. Researchers only recently unveiled the ability of naturally occurring DHA to lower blood pressure by vasodilating ion channels on smooth muscle cells - cells typically found in blood vessels. In essence, DHA opens up pores along the blood vessel that allow ions such as sodium, calcium, and potassium to move in and out of the blood vessel, therefore allowing proper maintenance of blood pressure.

On the other hand, the DHA-containing fish oil supplement not only does not open up pores, it also opposes the effect of naturally occurring DHA! Basically, the supplement DHA is acting as a fake knock-off and taking the place of natural DHA.

I knew there was something fishy going on with those supplements...(couldn't resist the pun).



PS. Happy Thanksgiving (from last year), Merry Christmas (from last year), Happy New Year, and Happy Chinese New Year!

Sources:

• Hoshi, T, Wissuwa, B., Tian, Y., Tajima, N., Xu, R., Bauer, M., Heinemann, S. H., & Hou, S. (2013). Omega-3 fatty acids lower blood pressure by directly activating large-conductance Ca2 -dependent K channels. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(12), 4816-4821. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1221997110
• Hoshi, T., Tian, Y., Xu, R., Heinemann, S. H., & Hou, S. (2013). Mechanism of the modulation of BK potassium channel complexes with different auxiliary subunit compositions by the omega-3 fatty acid DHA. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(12), 4822-4827. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1222003110