Does Gender Matter When It Comes to Omega-3?

by Edward Lucas Business Development Head

Gender may matter when it comes to reaping the benefits of omega-3 fish oil supplement. Medical research has long avoided the possibility of how gender affects the way participants respond to drugs and nutrients. Now, that's beginning to change as nutrition-health researchers have started to pay more attention toward the gender gap to analyze how omega-3 fatty acids benefit men and women separately.

Omega-3s EPA, DHA, and ALA that are commonly found in the seafood are essential for regular functioning of the body. However, scientists were examining the participants as a whole rather than defining them in gender-based categories. While personalization is promising, it can be quite complicated. One common question that appears is whether or not talking is actually tailored to gender actually. The answer is YES! it matters.

What science says about it?

Both men and women have unique nutrient needs. You may have come across the Recommended Dietary Allowance or RDA. The guidelines of RDA are set forth by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine of The National Academies. The actual purpose of publishing this is to inform people how much minerals, vitamins and nutrients we need in a day. The guidelines vary by age, and gender as both men and women require different levels of vitamins and nutrients to fill the body gap. It only makes sense that omega-3 works differently on men and women.

The results of a new trial have marked three important things: -

First: Omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) offer gender-specific benefits.

Second: This gender benefits further varies by body structure.

Third: both genders can benefit from omega-3 fatty acids through each fatty acid affects men and women differently.

Thus, the new finding opens the doors for the trend of customizing fish oil supplements as per separate gender needs.

Omega-3 offers distinct benefits to a different gender

In 2013, British researchers found that brain-benefits offered by omega-3 differs from men to women. Scientists from the Australia's University of Newcastle have decided to take this research one step ahead with omega-3 health and dietary supplement. Throughout their research, they've found men and women reacting differently on the omega-3s (EPA and DHA) in fish oil. More specifically, the 2010 clinical trial showed that EPA and DHA exerted different gender-specific effects on the tendency for platelets in the blood clump together to form dangerous clots called- platelet aggregation.

They found the combination of EPA and DHA efficiently reduced platelet aggregation; there was a gender difference. While EPA was effective on men, DHA was more effective on women. The University of Newcastle team further suggested that it could be due to the interaction between omega-3 and male and female hormones.