Are There Any Side Effects to Taking Fish Oil Supplements?

We all know that fish oil supplements and even simply even cold water fish have so many benefits to your health that have been research, documented and verified. Just to give you a run down, fish oil is good for your heart and may help to prevent a heart attack or stroke, is good for the mind as it increases focus and memory....is a cancer preventative that can help prevent prostrate and breast cancer....is good for people who suffer from arthritis and other inflammatory conditions and diseases....the list could go on but I am sure that you get the point. Now this said, no one talks about the potential side effect fish oil supplements. Is it because there aren't any? The short answer is that there are side effects to nearly every supplement and fish oil is not any different. However, the benefits of taking fish oil far outweigh the side effects for this particular wonder drug. And when you are shopping for a fish oil, you will want to find the best fish oil available. Let's examine:

The reason why there are side effects to fish oil isn't because the fish oil is bad. In a perfect world, where there were no pollutants, this oil wouldn't have any side effects. You see, the reason why there could be a problem is the pollutants that fish such as salmon eat. These pollutants like toxic mercury and PCB's get stored in the fishes fat stores which in turn goes into people who eat fish. This is the main cause of concern for the USDA and other health watchdogs and has been enough of a cause of concern for health authorities to recommend eating less fish from certain species. And while there isn't a clear cut warning, there are advisory panels who suggest that eating too much fish and fish oil could cause an increase of mercury toxicity in your body.

There are some fish oil supplements that can thwart this though and that are perfectly safe to eat without the fear of toxicity. The best fish oil supplements are a bit more expensive and are known as pharmaceutical grade fish oil. Pharmaceutical grade fish oil has been purified and all the harmful chemicals have been extracted and treated making it "clean". In fact, the Environmental Defense states that taking fish oil versus eating fish is more ecological sound and good for the environment as well.

Other minor side effect of fish oil supplements include burping and a mild fishy aftertaste.

So, in summation, the side effects of fish oil can easily be dismissed if you do your research and purchase the best grade fish oil you can find. Aside from tasting like a fish, there really is no other reason NOT to add fish oil to you diet. After all, considering the laundry list of benefits, it would appear that taking this supplement would do more good than bad.