What's the right height for a boy? Or the right weight for a girl? How much food is right for you every day? The answer to these questions, as for that on the right dosage of fish oil, is the same: It depends.

A list of benefits from taking fish supplements, most related to their anti-inflammatory activity, includes protection from colon cancer, depression, asthma, menstrual cramps, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Fish lowers triglyceride levels and reduces heart disease risk.

If you are taking it for the health promotion effect, then 3 grams of fish oil a day is the right dosage. It will provide you with 1 gram of DHA, a long-chain omega 3 fatty acid that's the critical ingredient of this supplement.

Omega 3 is found predominantly in fatty fish - trout, white tuna, halibut, mackerel and salmon. Other seafoods rich in omega 3 are oysters, sardines and herring. Consuming any of these fatty fish can significantly reduce triglycerides.

However, if you are taking it for treatment of a medical condition, the dosage of fish oil will differ and you must consult your medical advisor or practitioner to decide on what's right for you. An option that allows you to enjoy the benefits, without the risks, is to take it in the form of capsules.

Another alternative to fish for your omega 3 requirements is to take ample amounts of ground linseeds or linseed oil (1 to 2 tablespoons a day) in your diet. Plant sources, however, are a poorer source of long chain omega 3 fatty acids like DHA and EPA. Supplementary DHA derived from algae is also available as a commercial product, as Omega Zen-3.

Once you have decided on the ideal dosage of fish oil you need, you can pick from among several brands. Choose one that uses oil from fish caught in the cleanest and coldest waters, preferably those far from commercial shipping lines and industrialized countries where the highest risk of water contamination by wastes exists.

Capsules are made safer by molecular distilling, which removes any mercury or other heavy metals, dioxins, PCBs and other contaminants. So a lower dosage of fish oil will deliver all the benefits.

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