ISSN paper lays out omega-3s benefits for athletesISSN paper lays out omega-3s benefits for athletes

Omega-3 supplementation can be beneficial for athletes, a new ISSN position paper maintains. The strongest evidence supports improvements in aerobic exercise.

Hank Schultz, Senior Editor

January 22, 2025

5 Min Read

At a Glance

  • ISSN position paper lays out evidence for omega-3s benefits for athletes.
  • Strongest evidence is in area of endurance exercise.
  • Other areas evaluated include strength gains, better recovery and immune health.

Recent research has revealed several benefits for omega-3s in sports nutrition, which has been summed up in a new position report from the category’s most influential scientific consortium.

This week the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) published a position paper on omega-3s, which gathers the latest information on all the indications relevant to sports nutrition for these legacy, market-leading ingredients.

The position paper was published on Jan. 15, 2024, in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.  It was the work of a team of ISSN members headed by Ralf Jäger, PhD, principal in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based scientific consulting firm Increnovo.

The publication is broken in into topic sections. Those include endurance exercise; body composition, strength and power; recovery and muscle soreness; immune health; cognitive and psychological health; traumatic brain injury; sleep and gut health.

Endurance exercise

On the endurance exercise front, the authors evaluated 19 published studies and noted the research on omega-3s presents a mixed bag. On the one hand, these essential fatty acids have shown some benefits within aerobic exercise, including improvements in running economy and cardiovascular function during exercise. Part of that cardiovascular benefit can be attributed to improvements in red blood cell deformability, or the ability of red blood cells to easily squeeze through tight spaces at the high pressures and flow rates typical of aerobic exercise.

The authors also noted that omega-3 supplementation raised the level of these important nutrients in the sarcolemma, a membrane that surrounds muscle tissue that is important in muscle contractions during exercise and recovery afterward.

Even with those benefits, though, omega-3 supplementation doesn’t confer a clear-cut advantage for endurance athletes. “[The] direct impact on endurance performance remains inconsistent,” they noted.

Body composition and strength

On the body composition and strength front, the main benefit of omega-3s seems to be in their incorporation into the cell membranes of muscle tissue, where they may contribute to a reduction in pro-inflammatory cytokines, enhanced neural activation, and reduced activation of pathways involved in protein degradation, among other benefits.

However, the authors’ consensus from the 11 studies evaluated for this portion of the position stand was that “the exact mechanisms remain elusive.”

Recovery

On the recovery front, the authors found even less support for the action of omega-3s. The research indicates that omega-3s “may attenuate indirect measures of muscle damage following intense exercise.”

However, the authors went on to say that the available research suggests that they neither cut delayed onset muscle soreness, nor cut measures of inflammation associated with exercise induced muscle damage (EIMD).

Immune health

A suppressed immune system response is a serious consideration for athletes undergoing hard training or intense competitions. Respiratory or intestinal infections have derailed many Tour de France competitors, for example. So, staying healthy can be a winning difference. The ISSN authors evaluated 11 scientific papers for this section. They noted that omega-3s give rise to metabolites that are important in immune system function such as prostaglandins, leukotrienes, thromboxanes, maresins, protectins and resolvins. While omega-3s don’t affect immune system performance directly, they are key components of the membranes of immune system cells and thus can affect the signaling mechanisms of the system. Omega-3s can “influence the production and regulation of various inflammatory cytokines, which may lead to further physiological consequences for the athlete,” the authors said.

Cognitive health

The authors noted that most studies on the effects of omega-3s on cognitive health have been done in children.  It’s an established fact that higher DHA intake levels on the part of expectant mothers can help ensure proper brain development in children. The authors also cited research that shows diets low in omega-3s are associated with lower levels of some neurotransmitters in adults.  However studies investigating how omega-3 supplementation could affect sports-specific areas of cognition are lacking.

Traumatic brain injury

There is more research related to the potential protective effects of omega-3s against traumatic brain injury. A possible mode of action is the way in which omega-3s help ensure the integrity of cell membranes of all sorts, particularly for nerve cells in the brain.

The main marker that these studies have measured is serum neurofilament light, a measure of axonal damage.  A metanalysis of three studies in this area done with Division 1 football players found omega-3 supplementation was associated with a reduction in this measure after a concussion. In addition, a placebo-controlled randomized trial found athletes supplemented with omega-3s were symptom-free on average five days sooner than placebo.

Sleep and gut health

In both areas the ISSN authors noted that there are few studies overall to evaluate and sports-specific studies are lacking. Some studies suggest omega-3 supplementation is associated with better quality sleep, but the results are equivocal.

In the area of gut health, the authors noted that omega-3s are now included in the stable of noncarbohydrate substances that can meet the definition of a prebiotic as set out by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAAP). This is potentially important for athletes, because intestinal complaints are right behind respiratory infections among conditions that can limit athletic performance. However, while omega-3 supplementation has been shown to improve the makeup of the microbiome, the authors noted that “studies in exercising athletes are needed.”

Conclusions

The authors noted that competitive athletes as a group are liable to lower levels of omega-3s in their tissues. Supplementation with any of the main commercially available forms (fish, algal and krill oils) has been found to be effective in raising these levels.

Taken together, the research says that omega-3 supplementation could be beneficial for athletes, with the strongest evidence linked to improvements in aerobic sports.

About the Author

Hank Schultz

Senior Editor, Informa

Hank Schultz has been the senior editor of SupplySide Supplement Journal (formerly Natural Products Insider) since early 2023. He can be reached at [email protected]

Prior to joining the Informa team, he was an editor at NutraIngredients-USA, a William Reed Business Media publication.

His approach to industry journalism was formed via a long career in the daily newspaper field. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin with degrees in journalism and German, Hank was an editor at the Tempe Daily News in Arizona. He followed that with a long stint working at the Rocky Mountain News, a now defunct daily newspaper in Denver, where he rose to be one of the city editors. The newspaper won two Pulitzer Prizes during his time there.

The changing landscape of the newspaper industry led him to explore other career paths. He began his career in the natural products industry more than a decade ago at New Hope Natural Media, which was then part of Penton and now is an Informa brand. Hank formed friendships and partnerships within the industry that still inform his work to this day, which helps him to bring an insider’s perspective, tempered with an objective journalist’s sensibility, to his in-depth reporting.

Harkening back to his newspaper days, Hank considers the readers to be the primary stakeholders whose needs must be met. Report the news quickly, comprehensively and above all, fairly, and readership and sponsorships will follow.

In 2015, Hank was recognized by the American Herbal Products Association with a Special Award for Journalistic Excellence.

When he’s not reporting on the supplement industry, Hank enjoys many outside pursuits. Those include long distance bicycle touring, mountain climbing, sailing, kayaking and fishing. Less strenuous pastimes include travel, reading (novels and nonfiction), studying German, noodling on a harmonica, sketching and a daily dose of word puzzles in The New York Times.

Last but far from least, Hank is a lifelong fan and part owner of the Green Bay Packers.

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