Protect Your DNA and Muscle Gains With Fish Oil

If you want to build a better body and live a healthier life, you better protect your DNA, which is damaged easily as you get older. There’s one simple way to do this: Take fish oil.

According to brand-new research, low levels of the omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) are associated with DNA damage, which over time can lead to premature aging, neurological disease, and even cancer.

Fortunately, both DHA and EPA are contained in optimal amounts in my super-potent fish oil supplement Omega JYM. Below, I’ll break down the science behind DNA and omega-3 fats to illustrate why fish oil is so crucial to your overall health and fitness goals.

The Relationship Between DNA and Fish Oil

In a nutshell, the aforementioned study, published in June 2020 in the scientific journal Food & Function, found that subjects with the highest levels of DHA and EPA in their bodies showed the lowest DNA damage.

As we age, DNA strands become damaged due to a variety of common external sources, including UV light, radiation, and harmful chemicals in the environment, as well as a number of internal sources. These sources literally break the DNA strands, and that interferes with the replication of DNA, which is how proteins are made that allow our bodies to function properly.

The longer you live, the more exposure you’ll have to these harmful sources. And as DNA replication is consistently diminished, cells, tissues, and systems in the body start to function less than ideal, which can lead to chronic illness and disease.  

This is where fish oil comes in. The new study I’m talking about shows that omega-3 fats work to provide a protective mechanism that keeps the DNA intact and functioning properly. These effects had been previously found in older adults and disease populations, but this is the first study to show such benefits in young, healthy people (subjects were between 9-13 years old and in good health), suggesting that getting ample omega-3 fats early in life can protect you from disease in later years.

No matter how young and healthy you are, fish oil provides a great benefit. And if you have kids, make sure they’re getting sufficient omega-3 fats in their diets to ensure optimal long-term health in their lives.

Fish Oil for Fitness Gains

Fish oil isn’t just about health and longevity, though. The omega-3 fats are also known to boost muscle recovery and growth by enhancing muscle protein synthesis.

Like the DNA-protecting benefits, the muscle-boosting benefits of omega-3 fats were first shown in older people. In one study, male and female subjects 65 and older supplemented with 4 grams of omega-3 fats for 8 weeks. After the end of this period, researchers found that those taking the omega-3 supplement had higher muscle protein synthesis following high-protein meals than those taking a placebo (no additional omega-3s).

The results of this study led some to believe that fish oil only produced muscle-friendly benefits for older people with sarcopenia (muscle loss associated with aging and poor health). However, another study by the same researchers showed similar benefits of omega-3 supplementation on muscle growth in healthy young people (25-45 years old) – after 8 weeks, those supplementing with omega-3 fats had higher muscle protein synthesis, as well as bigger muscle cells, than those getting a placebo.

Picking the Right Omega-3 Fish Oil Product

Don’t overlook one of the most helpful supplements in your arsenal: omega-3 fats. And if you’re going to take a fish oil product to reap all the great benefits, make sure you’re getting sufficient amounts of the right kinds of omega-3s. In the studies on muscle protein synthesis and muscle growth, the researchers reported that 1,500 mg of DHA was the critical dose that produced the muscular changes.

My Omega JYM fish oil is the only one on the market that delivers a full 1,500 mg of DHA along with 1,500 mg of EPA and 300 mg of docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), the newly discovered third form of omega-3 – all in just 4 capsules that can be taken with meals, either all at once or in divided doses throughout the day.

Don’t leave your DNA and muscle gains vulnerable to age-related damage – protect yourself with omega-3s in sufficient doses!

References

de Barros TT, Venâncio VP, Hernandes LC, et al. DNA damage is inversely associated to blood levels of DHA and EPA fatty acids in Brazilian children and adolescents. Food Funct. 2020;11(6):5115-5121. doi:10.1039/c9fo02551k

Smith, G. I., Atherton, P., Reeds, D. N., Mohammed, B. S., Rankin, D., Rennie, M. J., & Mittendorfer, B. (2011). Dietary omega-3 fatty acid supplementation increases the rate of muscle protein synthesis in older adults: a randomized controlled trial. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 93(2), 402-412.

Smith, G. I., Atherton, P., Reeds, D. N., Mohammed, B. S., Rankin, D., Rennie, M. J., & Mittendorfer, B. (2011). Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids augment the muscle protein anabolic response to hyperinsulinaemia–hyperaminoacidaemia in healthy young and middle-aged men and women. Clinical science, 121(6), 267-278.

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