A longtime listener wrote in after seeing a social media post warning that fish oil supplements

are often rancid. And understandably, that raised some concerns. And while rancid supplements

are a real issue, there's another larger question that I think we should also talk about.

Even if your fish oil is fresh,

is it actually doing you any good?

Welcome to the Nutrition Diva podcast, where we take a closer look at nutrition

headlines, research, and trends, so that you can make

more informed decisions about what you eat. I'm your host, Monica Rineagle, and today we're

talking about fish oil supplements, whether they are safe, and whether they are even worth

taking. Kat, a longtime listener, wrote in after she saw a social media post warning people not to buy

their fish oil supplements at certain big box stores. And the claim was that these supplements

are often rancid and they could even be doing more harm than good. Well, that got her wondering

whether she should even keep taking them,

especially since she knows her diet is relatively low in omega-3s, and she doesn't really like

cooking fish. Concerns about rancid omega-3 supplements are not new, and they're also not

unfounded. But there is a larger question here

as well. Are fish oil supplements actually doing what you hope they're doing for your health?

Despite decades of conventional wisdom that linked omega-3 fatty acids with heart health. More recent research suggests that the

benefits of supplementation may not be as clear-cut as we once believed. So let's take a look

first at this problem of rancidity in fish oil supplements and how you can tell if yours has gone bad,

and then what the latest science says about the actual benefits and potential risks of omega-3 supplementation. So we'll

start with Kat's original question. Are concerns about rancid fish oil supplements legitimate?

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