Fish oil has been shown to lower blood triglycerides, ease inflammation, and even help people with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis feel better. It is full of omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for your heart.
But sometimes more is not better. If you take too much fish oil, it may cause more harm than good for your health.
These are eight bad things that might happen if you eat too much fish oil or omega-3 fatty acids.
As health-conscious eaters, many of us try to incorporate more garlic and fish into our diets. Garlic has amazing antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immune-boosting properties. And fish provides healthy omega-3 fatty acids that benefit our brains, hearts, and more. It’s easy to assume that more of these nutritious foods must be better for us. But is it possible to go overboard and overdose?
With the rising popularity of superfoods, many people wonder if they can get too much of beneficial compounds like garlic and fish oil. In this article, we’ll explore whether overdose is truly a risk simply through dietary sources. Read on to learn if your garlic salmon is healthy or hazardous in higher amounts.
Examining Realistic Garlic Consumption
Known for its pungent flavor and aroma garlic provides a compound called allicin that acts as a powerful antioxidant and supports immune function. Studies show that garlic may help lower blood pressure cholesterol, and blood sugar as well.
With such impressive benefits, it’s tempting to add heaps of raw garlic to everything we eat. But is it possible to overdo it? Some key factors provide perspective
- The recommended dietary allowance for garlic is 2-5 grams per day.
- One raw garlic clove weighs just 3-7 grams.
- Heating garlic reduces its allicin content and potency.
- Absorption of allicin depends on the form of garlic.
- Garlic’s effects are dose-dependent. Higher amounts provide more benefits.
Considering a typical bulb contains 10-15 cloves, most people don’t come close to excessive amounts simply from eating reasonable amounts of garlic-infused dishes.
However, there are a few situations where overdoing garlic consumption could occur:
- Taking high-dose garlic supplements rather than eating real garlic
- Eating multiple bulbs of raw garlic in a day
- Juicing large amounts of raw garlic
- Cooking with garlic essential oil rather than clove garlic
When consuming such high amounts, possible side effects include breath/body odor, heartburn, upset stomach, and blood-thinning. But these effects reverse quickly by scaling back intake.
Evaluating Realistic Fish Oil Consumption
The omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA found abundantly in fatty fish provide well-researched benefits for heart health, brain function, and inflammation. With such stellar effects, some people try to maximize their fish oil intake. But dietary sources make overdose unlikely.
Here’s why:
- 3-5 servings of oily fish per week recommended
- Fish oil content varies greatly by species. Salmon highest.
- Fish oil content varies by season, diet, region of catch.
- It takes ~3 oz. salmon to yield 500 mg combined EPA/DHA.
- FDA recommends max 3 grams combined EPA/DHA per day.
- Average fish oil supplement has ~250 mg EPA/DHA per softgel.
To reach unsafe levels from food alone, you’d need to eat dozens of servings of high-oil fish daily. Possible side effects like bleeding, immune suppression, and nausea are only seen at very high supplemental intakes over 3 grams EPA/DHA daily.
The bottom line is it’s quite difficult to overdo fish oil intake through reasonable dietary fish and seafood consumption. As with most nutrients, balance and variety is key.
Seeking Balance as a Health-Conscious Eater
When it comes to superfoods like garlic and fish oil, it’s tempting to think more must be better. But with a balanced approach, you can reap benefits without going overboard. Here are some tips:
- Focus on getting nutrients from whole foods first before supplements.
- Include a variety of nutritious foods each day rather than zeroing in on just one or two.
- Read labels carefully if taking omega-3 or garlic concentrates. Track your daily totals.
- Look for sustainably-caught seafood to maximize nutrition and ecological benefits.
- Enjoy garlic-infused dishes without going overboard on raw cloves. Shoot for 2-5 grams daily.
- Choose high-quality supplements from reputable companies when needed to fill nutrition gaps.
- Speak with your doctor before starting high-dose garlic, fish oil, or other supplements.
- Listen to your body; reduce intake if you experience any stomach upset or other side effects.
The bottom line? While it’s very difficult to get too much garlic or fish oil from regular dietary sources, be cautious with high-dose supplementation. Stick with nutritious whole foods as your primary sources of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and healthy fats for the best health benefits without any risk of overdoing it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I overdose on garlic simply by eating garlic-heavy recipes regularly?
It’s very unlikely you could overdose on garlic just by enjoying garlic-infused dishes or recipes. A typical bulb contains 10-15 cloves, and you would need to consume many bulbs’ worth of garlic in a day to reach unsafe levels.
What about putting fresh raw garlic in recipes like dressings?
Raw garlic provides the highest levels of beneficial compounds like allicin. Enjoying some raw garlic in dishes is great, but avoid eating multiple bulbs’ worth of raw cloves at once or you may notice adverse effects.
Could garlic supplementation tablets pose an overdose risk?
Yes, with supplements there is a potential to get very concentrated doses of garlic that exceed dietary levels. Read labels closely and do not exceed manufacturer’s recommendations without medical guidance.
Can you overdose on fish oil from eating fish frequently?
It would be extremely difficult to overdose on omega-3s just from dietary fish and seafood sources. You’d have to eat dozens of servings daily for an extended period. Stick with recommended amounts of oily fish like salmon and you should be fine.
What about taking both garlic and fish oil supplements together?
There could be an increased bleeding risk when combining the blood-thinning effects of concentrated garlic and omega-3s from supplements, especially in high amounts. Speak with your doctor about any supplement combinations and dosages.
Key Takeaways
- It’s highly unlikely to overdose on garlic or fish oil from dietary sources alone.
- Stick to recommended daily amounts and aim for variety and balance.
- High-dose supplements could pose a risk if intake exceeds recommendations.
- Monitor yourself for side effects like gut issues, bad breath/body odor.
- Speak with your healthcare provider before beginning supplementation.
- Focus on whole foods first before considering concentrated supplements.
So take comfort knowing that enjoying nutritious garlic-infused dishes and omega-3-rich fish as part of a varied diet provides amazing health benefits without any risk of getting too much of a good thing! With smart dietary choices, you can steer clear of overdose while still reaping all the wellness-boosting potential of these superfoods.
Low Blood Pressure
Fish oil’s capacity to lower blood pressure is well documented.
One study of 90 people on dialysis found that taking 3 grams of omega-3 fatty acids per day significantly decreased both systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared to a placebo (8).
Similarly, an analysis of 31 studies concluded that taking fish oil can effectively lower blood pressure, especially for those with high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels (9).
People with high blood pressure may benefit from these effects, but people with low blood pressure may have a lot of trouble because of them.
Fish oil may also interact with drugs that lower blood pressure, so if you are taking medicine for high blood pressure, it’s important to talk to your doctor about supplements.
Getting diarrhea is one of the most common side effects of taking fish oil, and it may be more common when you take high doses.
In fact, one review reported that diarrhea is one of the most common adverse effects of fish oil, alongside other digestive symptoms such as flatulence (10).
In addition to fish oil, other types of omega-3 supplements may also cause diarrhea.
Flaxseed oil, for example, is a popular vegetarian alternative to fish oil, but has been shown to have a laxative effect and may increase bowel movement frequency (11).
If taking omega-3 fatty acids makes you have diarrhea, make sure you take your supplements with food and think about lowering your dose to see if the diarrhea goes away.
Fish oil is known to be very good for your heart, but many people say they get heartburn after starting to take fish oil supplements (12).
Other acid reflux symptoms, like belching, nausea, and stomach pain, are common side effects of fish oil. This is mostly because it is high in fat. Fat has been shown to trigger indigestion in several studies (13, 14).
Taking supplements with meals and sticking to a moderate dose can often help reduce acid reflux and ease its symptoms.
Additionally, splitting your dose into a few smaller portions throughout the day may help eliminate indigestion.
A hemorrhagic stroke is when there is bleeding in the brain, which is usually caused by blood vessels that aren’t strong enough.
Some animal studies have found that a high intake of omega-3 fatty acids could decrease the blood’s ability to clot and increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke (15, 16).
These findings are also consistent with other research showing that fish oil could inhibit blood clot formation (17).
However, other studies have turned up mixed results, reporting that there is no association between fish and fish oil intake and hemorrhagic stroke risk (18, 19).
More research with real people is needed to find out how omega-3 fatty acids might affect the risk of hemorrhagic stroke.
High Blood Sugar
Some studies show that giving people with diabetes supplements with a lot of omega-3 fatty acids might make their blood sugar levels rise.
One small study, for example, found that taking 8 grams of omega-3 fatty acids per day led to a 22% increase in blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes over an eight-week period (2).
This is because large doses of omega-3s can stimulate the production of glucose, which can contribute to high levels of long-term blood sugar levels (3).
However, other research has turned up conflicting results, suggesting that only very high doses impact blood sugar.
In fact, another analysis of 20 studies found that daily doses of up to 3.9 grams of EPA and 3.7 grams of DHA — the two main forms of omega-3 fatty acids — had no effect on blood sugar levels for individuals with type 2 diabetes (4).
Bleeding gums and nosebleeds are two of the hallmark side effects of excess fish oil consumption.
One study in 56 people found that supplementing with 640 mg of fish oil per day over a four-week period decreased blood clotting in healthy adults (6).
Additionally, another small study showed that taking fish oil may be linked to a higher risk of nosebleeds, reporting that 72% of adolescents taking 1–5 grams of fish oil daily experienced nosebleeds as a side effect (7).
Because of this, many people are told to stop taking fish oil before surgery and to talk to their doctor before taking supplements if they are on blood thinners like Warfarin.