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07.01.2023

Moderate-intensity exercise burns more fat through supplementation with fish oil

Fish oil reduces the amount of glucose that muscles burn during moderate-intensity exercise, but at the same time increases the amount of fat you burn. According to an almost forgotten French study, published in 2003 in the British Journal of Nutrition, fish oil is a fat loss supplement.

Study
The French gave male test subjects capsules with olive oil for 20 days. Those were placebos.

The men then had to cycle for 90 minutes on an empty stomach, while the researchers looked at what happened to insulin and glucose levels in the blood. The subjects cycled at a pace at which they could just carry on a conversation - at 60 percent of their VO2max.

After 20 days, the researchers repeated the procedure. This time after the men had been given fish oil capsules. The men took 6 grams of fish oil per day.

The composition of the capsules was the same as the capsules that you can buy at the drugstore or supermarket. 30 percent of the fatty acids in the capsules consisted of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.

Results
The fish oil supplement had no effect on the glucose level. Fish oil did, however, cause a slightly higher insulin level.

In figure (a) below, HGP stands for hepatic glucose production - the production of glucose by the liver. In figure (b), Rd glucose stands for rate of plasma glucose disappearance - the rate at which the glucose disappears from the blood. Overall, HGP and Rd glucose were 21 and 26 percent lower, respectively, after fish oil supplementation than after placebo.

The white dots represent the men when they received olive oil, the dark ones represent men when they received fish oil.

The table above shows what that meant for the energy management of the cycling men. The total amount of energy that the men in both groups burned was about the same. The differences were mainly in the type of energy that the body uses.

Both at rest and during exercise, the men burned more fat after they had used fish oil.

Conclusion
It seems that fish oil is an anti-catabolic weight loss supplement. A body that burns fewer carbohydrates and more fat conserves protein. That may mean less muscle breakdown.

Source:
Br J Nutr. 2003 Oct;90(4):777-86.

More:
Fish oil supplement can make you fitter, slimmer and more muscular 06.02.2016
Six weeks of fish oil: lose a pound of fat and gain a pound of lean body mass 12.11.2010

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