Nov 3rd 2025

Live Longer and Better with Fish Oil

Fish oil can help you live a long life and, even better, a long and HEALTHY life.

Based on their analysis of 23 different studies involving more than a million participants, Chinese researchers recently concluded that Omega-3 fatty acids (such as are found in fish oil) reduced the risk of all-cause mortality by 7% for every 200 mg per day consumed.

But what is a long life worth if it’s not healthy? The good news is that fish oil increases longevity because it makes us healthier. Not only has fish oil been shown to help prevent all kinds of disease including cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders like diabetes, neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s, autoimmune disease, kidney and pancreas disorders, periodontal disease and cancer, it helps keep our telomeres long!

What are telomeres? Telomeres are caps at the ends of chromosomes found in each cell. Like the tips on the ends of shoestrings, they keep DNA strands together so they don’t unravel. Telomeres tend to shorten over time as cells divide and reproduce. If they become too short, they can no longer keep DNA strands together, and cells no longer produce healthy new cells, resulting in cell death, cancer and/or loss of function associated with aging.

Long telomeres are not only a promise of longer life, but they are also an indication of health and strength.

Our bodies have an enzyme called telomerase that works to repair telomeres and even lengthen them. Unfortunately, as we get older, our telomerase doesn’t work as well. Fish oil may promote both longevity and health by improving the way telomerase works.

In 2008, Dean Ornish showed that a healthy diet and lifestyle along with 3 grams a day of fish oil significantly increased telomerase activity. Meanwhile, another study found supplementing with fish oil lengthened telomeres.

There is the widespread deficiency of the Omega-3s—some have estimated up to 90% of our population here in the US is deficient. It’s hard to get enough Omega-3s from diet alone. Two servings of fish per week have been the standard advice, but due to the pollution of our lakes, rivers and oceans, fish is no longer the healthy food it was. There is some Omega-3 in green leafy vegetables, and more in nuts and seeds, especially flaxseed, but plant source Omega-3s need to be converted into two of the most important Omega-3s, EPA and DHA (eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid), with enzymes that sometimes don’t function well. Fish have already made this conversion and offer a rich source of EPA and DHA in their oils.

The problem then becomes finding a quality fish oil supplement. We’ll have more to say about this in our next Newsclip, but Beyond Health’s Fish Oil Formula fulfils all of our picky standards for what a fish oil supplement should be. We recommend three capsules a day for most healthy adults, and more to address specific health problems.

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