Effect of ingesting fish oil on serum lipid and lipoprotein concentration in exercising and nonexercising women

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of ingesting a fish oil supplement, taking exercise with a fish oil supplement, or taking exercise alone on serum lipid and lipoprotein fractions in premenopausal and postmenopausal women during a 12‐week period. Premenopausal (n = 30) and postmenopausal (n = 30) subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups: exercise, exercise and fish oil, and fish oil only. Both exercise groups attended an exercise session twice weekly for 12 weeks. A control group (n = 10) followed their normal habitual lifestyle for the same period. Group 3 (fish oil) were required to ingest one fish oil capsule daily, which contained 171 mg eicosapentanoic acid and 114 mg of docosahexanoic acid. Serum lipid and lipoprotein concentrations were determined in venous blood (12‐hour fasted) at baseline and at four intervals of 1 week in all subjects. Body fatness was determined by near infrared interactance. Premenopausal subjects demonstrated a significantly lower mean (± S...