Fish oil helps reduce cravings for nicotine
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
A group of Israeli experts from Haifa University conducted a study on smoking, and as a result, it was found that most people who are hard to quit smoking have fatty omega-3 acids in their bodies. As a result of their work, scientists noted that fish oil will help fill the lack of physiologically necessary body fat and facilitate the process of fighting bad habits.
In their study, experts found that smoking not only increases the likelihood of developing cancerous tumors, but also provokes problems with the cardiovascular, immune, respiratory systems.
In earlier studies, experts found that the lack of omega-3 acids leads to problems with mental health, increases the risk of depression, reduces the body's ability to cope with stress.
As studies show, modern means that help people quit smoking are not effective enough, in addition, often the use of such drugs causes severe side effects. As experts noted, the cost of fish oil is not high and it can be bought without problems in the pharmacy, but thanks to this food supplement you can quit smoking much easier with little or no side effects.
The benefits of fish oil have long been studied by specialists. As another study on this topic has shown, capsules with fish oil contain low doses of omega-3 fatty acids, but their administration will help reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures in the case of ineffective drug therapy. Only three capsules of fish oil per day (just over 1000 mg of omega-3) can help people with epilepsy.
As studies have shown, omega-3, when penetrated into the central nervous system, makes brain cells less excitable, which helps reduce the number of epileptic seizures.
As already mentioned, fish oil has practically no contraindications and in moderate doses does not cause side effects, in addition, this food supplement is inexpensive.
Christopher Deneorgio, a researcher at a University of California, said the fish oil effect was studied on volunteers who were divided into three groups. Each group used its own method of treating patients with epilepsy.
In the first group, patients took small doses of fish oil for 10 weeks, in the second group - high doses of omega-3, in the third - a placebo drug. In addition, the scientists conducted an independent test in 24 patients, whose disease was not amenable to treatment with the usual antiepileptic drugs.
In the first group, where small doses of fish oil were taken, no two seizures occurred during the entire experiment (10 weeks), with epileptic seizures observed in all patients from the second and third group (where high doses of omega- 3 and placebo).
Now experts can not say exactly why fish oil in low doses reduces the likelihood of epileptic seizures, but animal studies have shown that using high doses of omega-3 is ineffective.
[