The Study
Lipid peroxidation during n−3 fatty acid and vitamin E supplementation in humans
This study gave people different pills and saw what happened to their blood — it found that fish oil pills made a certain chemical in the blood go up. Because people were randomly assigned to pills, we can say the fish oil probably caused that change.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists gave men fish oil pills to see if it made their body fats break down in a bad way (like rusting), and gave some also vitamin E to see if it could stop that.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 555 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — even though vitamin E went up, it didn't protect against the increased fat damage from fish oil, which might matter for long-term health.
- 2Fish oil (6.26g/day) raised bad fat breakdown markers (MDA and lipid peroxides) by 0.001 to 0.05 significance levels.
- 3Vitamin E (900 IU/day) raised vitamin levels but didn't lower the bad markers.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Lipids
Year
1997
Authors
J. Allard, R. Kurian, E. Aghdassi, R. Muggli, D. Royall
Related Content
Claims (3)
Taking 900 IU of vitamin E daily for six weeks raises levels of vitamin E in the blood of healthy adult men, but it does not lower the increase in certain oxidative stress markers caused by taking omega-3 fatty acids at the same time.
Taking 6.26 grams of n−3 fatty acids from menhaden oil daily for six weeks raises the levels of EPA and DHA in the fatty components of blood cell membranes in healthy adult men.
In healthy adult men, taking 6.26 grams of n−3 fatty acids from menhaden oil daily for six weeks raises levels of malondialdehyde and lipid peroxides in the blood, which are markers of lipid peroxidation, and taking 900 IU of vitamin E daily alongside does not stop this increase.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.