Should I take Fish Oil if I am sick?

Written by and verified by the Examine.com Research Team. Last updated on Apr 30, 2012.

While Fish Oil is a fantastic supplement, one of fish oil's effects is that it acts as an anti-inflammatory.

While there has been no direct research done on humans, testing on rats has shown that fish oil can delay your recovery from influenza.[1][2][3]

References

  1. Byleveld PM, et al. Fish oil feeding delays influenza virus clearance and impairs production of interferon-gamma and virus-specific immunoglobulin A in the lungs of mice . J Nutr. (1999)
  2. Schwerbrock NM, et al. Fish oil-fed mice have impaired resistance to influenza infection . J Nutr. (2009)
  3. Byleveld M, et al. Fish oil feeding enhances lymphocyte proliferation but impairs virus-specific T lymphocyte cytotoxicity in mice following challenge with influenza virus . Clin Exp Immunol. (2000)