Fish Oil and Protein Synthesis

Fish oil omega-3 fats are important to muscle protein synthesis, and building lean body mass according to recent research. A recent study out of Washington University, and the University of Nottingham provided healthy young and middle-aged men and women fish oil supplements totaling three grams of EPA and DHA for eight weeks. The results were surprising.

The study determined that the fish oil significantly increased muscle protein synthesis in response to eating protein and carbohydrate. Moreover, this same benefit was determined to be even more significant for older individuals. This is especially encouraging as building muscle as we age becomes more difficult, so any advantage is worthy of our attention.

We all know that how much skeletal muscle you have is a matter of building more than is degraded. Throughout the day muscle protein is broken down and remade via counterbalancing. Both building muscle and protein degradation are influenced by exercise training, and nutrition. Basically, gains in skeletal muscle means that over time more muscle protein building synthesis has taken place, than has protein breakdown resulting in a net gain of muscle protein.

Evidence suggests that omega-3 fat from fish oil is fundamentally important in optimizing muscle protein synthesis, and determining the optimal dosage is all that’s left to ponder.