The Study
Fish oil administration combined with resistance exercise training improves strength, resting metabolic rate, and inflammation in older adults
This study gave some older people fish oil and exercise, others just exercise, and saw what changed. It shows fish oil might help a little more than exercise alone, but it doesn't prove it for everyone — just these 28 people.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Older adults who lifted weights got stronger and burned more calories at rest. Those who also took fish oil pills burned even more fat and had less body inflammation.
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 547 / 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 — this means fish oil helps older adults burn fat more efficiently and reduces harmful inflammation that comes with aging, beyond what exercise alone does.
- 2After 12 weeks: Strength and resting metabolism improved in both weight-training groups.
- 3Only the fish oil + weights group had higher fat burning and lower IL-6 and CRP (inflammation markers).
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Aging Clinical and Experimental Research
Year
2022
Authors
Sang-Rok Lee, Dean Directo, A. V. Khamoui
Related Content
Claims (6)
Higher energy expenditure from physical activity increases metabolic rate and improves the efficiency of achieving a caloric deficit.
In healthy older adults, combining daily fish oil supplements with 12 weeks of resistance training increases fat burning at rest and lowers levels of the inflammatory markers interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein compared to resistance training without fish oil.
In healthy older adults, 12 weeks of resistance exercise training maintains maximal muscular strength and resting metabolic rate, while remaining sedentary causes both to decrease.
In healthy older adults, taking fish oil along with resistance training lowers levels of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein in the blood, while resistance training without fish oil does not lower these markers.
In healthy older adults, taking fish oil supplements while doing resistance training leads to higher rates of fatty acid oxidation than resistance training by itself, and this combined effect is not seen with either intervention alone.
In healthy older adults, 12 weeks of resistance training increases maximal muscle strength and resting metabolic rate, but does not change fatty acid oxidation or levels of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.