Fish oil is supposed to help with everything from heart disease to arthritis, but a Gettysburg College professor and his students decided to dig a little deeper.
"There is limited research that has specifically looked at fish oil's effects on body composition," added Noreen. "I wanted to build on that previous research and make connections to cortisol production."
Increased cortisol, a stress hormone produced by the adrenal gland, is connected to obesity. Previous research suggested that fish oil could reduce cortisol, thereby leading Noreen to suspect that fish oil could decrease body fat. To help prove this point, he asked his health sciences colleague Prof. Josef Brandauer, to lend his expertise for analysis of the cortisol samples.
As Noreen hypothesized, based on previous research, participants who took fish oil gained lean muscle and lost fat.
Similarly, Noreen said the fish oil group's cortisol levels tended to decrease over time, while the safflower group's levels didn't. This result was significant, as Noreen's study was the first to show a reduction in cortisol and body fat percentages with fish oil supplementation.
One aspect of the study's results did surprise Noreen, however. There were no changes to the resting metabolic rate of either group, despite his expectation that the fish oil group's might rise due to that group's increased lean muscle mass.
This study is not the end of research on the effects of fish oil for Noreen. His research sparked more questions about the benefits of fish oil supplements, and he continues to examine the data collected during this study and explore new ideas.
Read the complete article from Gettysburg College
Read the study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition