What Does Fish Oil Do?

The question, "What does fish oil do?" comes up daily in my clinic. In order to make it easier for my patients to access some relevant answers, I created this page. While this is not an exhaustive list of the health benefits of concentrated fish oil and omega-3 fatty acids, this is an overview of essential fatty acids for fertility patients.

Fish Oil and Fertility
The omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil may enhance fertility. We know that concentrated fish oil can be helpful in inflammatory conditions and mood disorders, both of which often play a role in fertility. In the clinic I see improvement in fertility signs when women increase their intake of omega-3 fatty acids, generally through the consumption of fish oil.

Male Fertility Problem
What does fish oil do? Fish oil may improve sperm motility, because of the fact that healthy sperm tails are teeming with DHA. Since male fertility issues are often correlated with an omega-3 deficiency, fish oil may reverse this deficiency and help this particular male fertility problem. Also, an excess of cholesterol in the sperm cell membrane is associated with male infertility and therefore taking fish oil for lowering cholesterol may help this male fertility problem, as well.

EFA Overview.
Essential fatty acids (EFA) are the good fats that we need to increase and keep in balance for ongoing health. EFAs consist of omega-3, omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids. In this article, I give an overview of essential fatty acids, so that you may understand the attributes of flax oil vs fish oil, learn how fish oil can alleviate common health problems and discover how fish oil enhances fertility. Read more about fish oil, EPA and DHA in the

Omega-3 Fatty Acid Overview
The term "omega-3 fatty acid" has become commonplace in discussions of fish oil and cholesterol, inflammatory conditions and cases of depression. Recently, there has been discussion among researchers that omega-3 fatty acids may help improve fertility. This section is an overview of the omega-3 fatty acids, which will help you in understanding how balancing your omega-3 and omega-6 consumption can enhance your fertility.

Omega-6 Fatty Acids Overview
Omega-6 fatty acids perform necessary functions in the body. They are essential to our diet because we can not manufacture these ourselves. However, the problem with many diets is the preponderance of omega-6 fatty acids over omega-3 fatty acids. The key is maintaining balance between these 2 EFAs.

Omega-9 Fatty Acid Overview
Omega-9 Fatty Acids are not true essential fatty acids because we can manufacture them in our body. We usually only hear about omega-9 fatty acids when they are combined in products with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. I'll go over the processes these lesser known fatty acids perform in the body.

Flax Oil vs Fish Oil
The debate between flax oil vs fish oil can get heated and confusing. While we surely don't know all of the chain reactions that take place in the body from ingesting flax oil and concentrated fish oil, there are some key factors that are fairly conclusive and these may affect fertility.

Fish Oil During Pregnancy
Hopefully, many of you will be pregnant soon and therefore I'd like for you to be aware of the benefits of taking fish oil during your pregnancy. What does fish oil do? Fish oil has been found to not only promote a healthy pregnancy, but aid in the development of the baby's brain.

Sources for this section on "What Does Fish Oil Do?" include:

• Omega-3 Oils; A Practical Guide by Dr. Donald Rudin
• The Omega-3 Connection by Dr. Andrew Stoll
• The Omega-3 Breakthrough by Julius Fast
  
• Seminar with Isla Burgess at the 2007 International Herb Symposium in Wheaton, MA
• Women, Health and Hormones by Ruth Trickey
• Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill by Udo Erasmus, PhD, 1993
• The Omega Diet: The Lifesaving Nutritional Program Based on the Diet of the Island of Crete by Artemis P. Simopoulos and Jo Robinson, 1999
• University of Maryland Medical Center, DeBusk, et al, Flaxseed Oil, 2002
• University of Maryland Medical Center, DeBusk, et al, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, 2002