Fish Oil Increases Muscle Protein Synthesis

There was a fairly recent study done by the Washington University School of Medicine, which concluded that fish oil increased the rate of muscle protein synthesis.

Based upon the results of this study, I'd like to experiment with the higher dosages they used in the study to see if I will notice any differences in my training, recovery, and/or body composition. 

I know there's some concern with high dose fishoil, but being that I'm only going to experiment with the higher dosages for a month or two...I think I'll be okay.

EPA/DHA Dosage

The omega-3 dosages they used in the study were 1.86 grams of EPA and 1.5 grams of DHA. 

The current fish oil I am using provides the common 180 mg EPA/120 mg DHA. I normally take 6 of these each day which would provide a total of 1.08 grams EPA/720 mg DHA, which is far short of the dosage used in the study.

For me to get the same amount of EPA as used in the study I would need to take a little over 10 softgels of my current fish oil product! (Since I can't split the fish oil capsule, I'll need to round up to 11 capsules)

I'm running low on fish oil anyway so I started looking today for what would be the best buy in order for me to get 1.9-2 grams of EPA per day.

Here are a few of the products I came across in searching for fish oil:

• GNC Triple Strength Fishoil: $9.99, 60 softgels, 647 mg EPA/253 mg DHA
• True Protein Fish Oil: $24.49, 1000 softgels, 180 mg EPA/120 mg DHA
• Now Foods Ultra Omega 3: 22.51, 180 softgels, 500 mg EPA/250 mg DHA 

Cost per Day

To decide which one would be the best buy I had to include shipping in the prices and any discounts/coupons that I could find. Here's what I found:

In searching for fish oil, I saw GNC had a deal of the day for triple strength fishoil for $9.99 for 60 capsules. I would only need to take 3 per day to get the 1.9 grams of EPA. This product also came with free shipping so cost per day is .499.

The True Protein fish oils only cost $24.49 for 1,000 softgels and even at 11 per day it would last me 90 days. However, the shipping at this site is not so cheap and costs an additional $11.26! Even with the discount code I found ,"THESWOLE", this only reduces the total by $1.22 so the total cost is still $34.53. This amounts to .379 cents per day.

The NOW Foods Ultra Omega 3 costs $22.51(this includes shipping) for 180 softgels. Since these contain 500 mg EPA per softgel, I would only need to take 4 a day. This would last me 45 days so the cost per day would be .500 cents per day. 

Fish Oil for Sale plus Coupon Code!

However, I found on Bodybuilding.com, they are having a sale right now on the NOW Foods Ultra Omega 3. I can get 3 bottles of the 180 softgels for a total of $56.35 (use discount code LIFTLIFE for 10% off and choose standard shipping of $5.98)

The cost per day for this discounted price would be .417 cents per day.

Even though this is still more expensive then the True Protein option, I am choosing to go with the NOW Foods Ultra Omega 3 from Bodybuilding.com since I only have to take 4 softgels per day instead of 11.

*Note* You can make the True Protein option even cheaper if you buy more than 1 bottle. If you buy 2, it brings the cost down to .325 cents per day, but you would still need to take 11 softgels of this per day. I would rather pay a little bit more so I don't need to swallow so many softgels.

($24.49 * 2) + $12.59 shipping = $59.12

2,000 softgels / 11 per day = 181.81 day supply

$59.12 / 181.81 = .325http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/now/ultra3.html

I'm very interested in seeing how my body will react to higher dosing of omega-3's. I'm already thinking that I may not notice anything at all, since fish oil isn't really a supplement that you'll really "feel". 

I'm hoping that maybe the high fish oil dosage taken post workout combined with the Intermittent Fasting eating schedule will somehow provide an even greater anabolic response than what was seen in the study :)


I haven't actually ordered the fish oil yet...so has anybody else out there found a better deal on a high EPA fish oil than the NOW Ultra Omega-3?

***Edit 08/04/11 7:28 PM***
I decided to go with the Ultra Omega-3 from Bodybuilding.com. Even though its on back order, they still let you order it to get this discounted price :)
I didn't look into liquid fish oil at all and I will have to include those in my search next time.