In addition to getting patients out of pain quickly, I always want to address some of the underlying health concerns that might be causing their pain. For this reason, I recommend my patients take fish oil regularly. Fish oil is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids which reduces inflammation in the body. Excessive inflammation is behind arthritis (joint pain) and many of the other chronic diseases such as heart disease and even cancer.
One concern is that most people do not take enough. For those with pain, the research indicates that at least 2700-3000 mg/day of EPA + DHA should be taken. EPA and DHA are the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil. Check the bottle to see how much that is. It is usually difficult to take enough capsules to reach this amount. For this reason, I recommend taking fish oil in liquid form. If it’s fresh, it won’t taste rancid.
Having done some research into the best brands out there, I recommend the brand Nordic Naturals. I recently read a post by Dr. Centeno, M.D. that addresses some of the issues with using low-quality fish oils. For this reason, I will continue to recommend spending a little more and getting the “good stuff”.