Fish Oil

I've been using a linear programming model to look at how different foods combine to provide nutritional requirements that both meet minimums for nutritional items and avoid going over limits for some items for a diabetic with bad kidneys and hypertension.

The model I've been using has some pretty tight restrictions on fat (65 g. on an 1,800 calorie diet). That's not really achievable, especially since the model also calls for a minimum level of omega-3 fats of 1,600 mg. It seems to be impossible to achieve that level of omega-3 fats from the foods I normally eat without exceeding 65 g. of fat by quite a bit.

Such a confilict isn't really unusual when trying to formulate a diet with multiple objectives (In my case, weight loss, low sugar, low protein, low sodium, and meets minimum nutritional requirements otherwise). Such conflicts are why I started using the linear programming formulation to put together a personal diet plan in the first place.

The linear programming formulation helps answer questions such as “Does adding a fish oil supplement to my diet help me achieve minimum levels of omega-3 oils without exceeding desired levels of overall fat?”

The answer is No.

Using olive oil in my food preparation works better than taking a fish oil supplement.

My optimal daily diet plan is a mixture of

pinto beans
bread
fat free margarine
spaghetti
tuna
grilled peppers
olive oil
tomato
spinach

and that provides daily requirements of omega-3, fiber, vitamin A and vitamin C (it's actually just a little light in fiber) without exceeding dietary restrictions on calories, sodium, saturated fats, sugar, and protein. The diet does, however, exeed restrictions on total calories from fat (123 g. fat).

Forcing one 1200 mg fish oil tablet doesn't really change things much. The adjusted diet with that one pill added is the same as the above an addition of some carrots (the quantities of the food list isn't the same) and the only nutritional change is that the diet with the fish oil tablet has slightly higher overall fat (124g) and doesn't quite meet the daily requirement for magnesium and fiber).

My conclusion is that fish oil supplements won't do anything for you that just using olive oil doesn't already do.