Fish Oil and Omega-3 Supplements: Do They Really Prevent Heart Disease and Lower Mortality?

And do they help with weight loss?

By the mid-2000s, fish oil supplements rich in omega-3 fatty acids were looking like lifesavers. The 2-year UK DART trial found that, in males recovering from a recent heart attack, 200-400 grams of fatty fish per week or 500 mg fish oil daily reduced the relative risk of overall and CHD mortality by 27% and 32%, respectively.

Over a decade later, the 3.5-year Italian GISSI trial reported 20% and 14% relative risk reductions in CHD mortality and overall mortality, respectively, among recent victims of heart attack taking 900 mg of EPA + DHA daily (the equivalent of 3 standard 1,000 mg fish oil capsules).

Even the intensely pro-pharma, omega-6-promoting American Heart Association took a shining to n-3 supplements. A 2002 AHA review stated "RCTs have demonstrated that omega-3 fatty acid supplements can reduce cardiac events (eg, death, nonfatal MI, nonfatal stroke) and decrease progression of atherosclerosis in coronary patients."

But then the wheels started falling off.