The most common complaint about taking fish oil is its aftertaste.
However, the benefits of taking a fish oil supplement far outweigh any of the side effects.
Here are some tips to avoid and prevent these unpleasant fishy burps:
- Take only pharmaceutical grade fish oil. Pharmaceutical grade is the purest form of fish oil, containing the highest concentrations of omega-3 fatty acid as well as DHA and EPA (essential fatty acids). It generally taste better and you get more benefits with fewer pills and less side effects. Look for one that will provide 2,000 – 4,000mg per day of total DHA/EPA.
- Start with a small dose. If you are just starting to take fish oil, take one pill per day. After a few weeks, increase dosage to two per day to feel more benefits. If your body is not used to fish oil, taking too many pills at once can cause an upset stomach.
- Take Fish Oil at the Beginning of a meal. Food traps the oil in the stomach and this will help to reduce side effects like fishy burps and buffer the odor. If you take the fish oil after a meal the oil does not mix as readily with the stomach’s contents, leading to more fishy burps and heartburn.
- Buy Enteric-coated fish oil. Enteric coating prevents the pill from dissolving in the stomach. The pill stays intact well into the intestines. Once fish oil is in the intestine, you can’t burp it back up.
- Freeze Fish Oil. If you are taking Enteric-Coated fish oil and still get fishy burps, store your fish oil in the Freezer. Swallowing the capsule while it is still frozen will slow the breakdown of the fish oil in the stomach to lessen burps.
Omega-3 fish oils are recommended to almost everyone to improve overall health. Fish oil supplements reduce inflammation in the body and can not only reduce heart disease, but have also been shown to reduce the risk of cancer such as breast cancer and prostate cancer.
Pharmaceutical grade fish oil can be purchased in our clinic. If you have tried all these tips and are still experience a side effect, please let us know or make an appointment with Dr. Sinda to go over your Anti-Aging supplement routine.