Dr. Rhonda Patrick has a PhD in biomedical sciences and has published a multitude of research papers. Rhonda has been featured on numerous podcasts, and went mainstream after being featured on Joe Rogan’s podcast. Rhonda is big on taking supplements, and she is a huge fan of fish oil because of it’s endless health benefits, as well as being heavily researched.
What Fish Oil Does Dr. Rhonda Patrick Use?
Rhonda’s recommended fish oil supplement is Nordic Naturals ProOmega 2000, which is in triglyceride form (making it up to 70% more bio-available than the commonly found ethyl ester form). In addition to her regular Omega-3 fish oil supplement, Rhonda takes Omega-3’s in phospholipid form as well, either through salmon roe cavier, or Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Phospholipids. She typically takes 2 of the Nordic Naturals ProOmega 2000 and 4 of the Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Phospholipids daily.
Rhonda has mentioned the Nordic Naturals brand on many podcasts when asked about her favorite fish oil brands. Nordic Naturals is the Ferrari of fish oil supplements. It is NSF-certified and delivers concentrated Omega-3s with a minimum of 1100 mg of EPA and DHA in 90% triglyceride form.
Research shows that fish oil products in the molecular form are absorbed up to 70% better than the ethyl ester form (which is typically what you will find in most fish oil supplements).
A recent review of Nordic Naturals on Amazon stated: “I came across these through reviews and I tried a bottle of these that lasted a month as I was taking 3 capsules per day as per other health website reviews. My Triglycerides came down to 122 with in a month!” So yeah, it’s top of the line stuff.
Dr. Rhonda Patrick’s Fish Oil Dosage & Brand
To quickly summarize before we going into more details on the benefits of supplementing with Omega 3’s, here is Dr. Rhonda Patrick’s Daily Fish Oil Stack:
- Fish Oil: Nordic Naturals ProOmega 2000 – 2 capsules/daily
- Omega-3 Phospholipids: Nordic Natural Phospholipids – 4 capsules/daily
She also describes her fish oil supplementation stack in the tweet below.
Currently taking nordic naturals omega-3 phospholipids (4) and nordic naturals promega 2000 (2).
— Dr. Rhonda Patrick (@foundmyfitness) June 4, 2016
RELATED READING: Dr. Rhonda Patrick’s Supplement List
Omega-3 Fish Oil Benefits
As you know, Rhonda loves supplementing with Omega-3 fish oil due to the unbelievable amount of health benefits. In the tweet below, Rhonda mentions a recent study that showed by supplementing with a high-dose of fish oil per day lowered triglyceride levels by 20-30% in people with high triglycerides. You can find a link to the study here.
A high dose of fish oil (4g/day) lowered triglyceride levels by 20-30% in people with high triglycerides according to an analysis of 17 randomized controlled trials reviewed by the scientific advisory council at the American Heart Association. https://t.co/taGd6vltsJ
— Dr. Rhonda Patrick (@foundmyfitness) August 19, 2019
Other than lowering triglycerides, fish oil supplementation has many other heart health benefits. According to studies, fish oil supplementation increases levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, as well as lowering blood pressure in those with high blood pressures.
Your brain is made up of almost 60% fat, and a majority of those fats are Omega-3 fatty acids. So they seem pretty important for brain health, right? It’s true, Omega-3 fatty acids are crucial for overall brain health. Even more, studies have suggested that people with certain mental disorders actually have lower levels of Omega-3 fatty acids in their brain. Research suggests that supplementing with an Omega-3 fish oil supplement can improve, as well as prevent the onset, of some mental disorders. Research has also shown that supplementing with fish oil – especially one rich in EPAs – may help reduce symptoms of depression.
RELATED READING: Dr. Rhonda Patrick’s Diet
Omega-3 fish oil also helps to reduce inflammation. Chronic inflammation has some nasty things that may come with it, such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and depression. Fish oil has powerful anti-inflammatory properties and can help reduce symptoms of these inflammatory diseases.
And for the fellas, Rhonda recently tweeted a link to a new study, which showed that taking fish oil for three months was associated with higher semen volume, higher total sperm count, larger testis, and higher free testosterone to LH ratio than men who didn’t supplement with fish oil.
Among the above benefits, Omega-3’s also improve eye health, improve bone and joint health, improve sleep, and help keep your skin, nails, and hair healthy.
RELATED READING: Dr. Andrew Huberman’s Supplement List
Rhonda Patrick’s Omega-3 Phospholipid Supplement
You can find Omega-3 supplements in three forms: ethyl ester, triglyceride, and phospholipid. Most fish oil on the market is in ethyl ester form, which is not absorbed nearly as well as triglyceride and phospholipid. Rhonda aims to get in both triglyceride form and phospholipd form. With that being said, in addition to Nordic Naturals ProOmega 2000, Rhonda also takes fish oil in phospholipid form via Nordic Naturals Phospholipids.
You may be wondering why Rhonda takes this in addition to her regular fish oil supplement, and it’s simply to increase the chance of DHA being absorbed. DHA is best consumed in the phospholipid form, which allows it to cross the blood-brain barrier. In fact, Rhonda even published her own paper in which she proposes a mechanism for the phospholipid form of DHA to play a role in the prevention of APOE4-associated Alzheimer’s Disease.
Be aware though, this supplement has a pungent smell and taste. So make sure to take these with a meal. You can pick up Nordic Naturals Phospholipids on Amazon.
RELATED READING: Dr. David Sinclair’s Supplement List for Longevity
Conclusion
As you can see, Dr. Rhonda Patrick takes quite a bit of fish oil per day – up to 5 to 6 grams per day. Many recommendations error on the side of caution by telling you to only take 250-1000 mg per day. Not only does this save supplement companies money by allowing them to make their fish oil in smaller doses, but it is simply not true. Accumulating research suggests that to get the full benefit of fish oil, you need to be taking it at a higher dose. For adults, this mean at least 3-4 grams per day. This is why Rhonda takes 5-6 grams of fish oil in both the phospholipid and triglyceride form daily.
Let’s face it, your large bottle of fish oil in ethyl ester form from Costco is simply not going to make much of a difference. So if you want to maximize the benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids by replicating Dr. Rhonda Patrick’s fish oil stack, take 2 capsules daily of Nordic Natural ProOmega 2000, and 4 capsules of Nordic Naturals Phospholipids. This will put you in the 5-6 gram daily range – and by taking it in triglyceride and phospholipid form, you will be able to reap the full benefits of Omega-3 fish oil like Dr. Patrick.