Omega-3 fatty acids (EPA/DHA) and skeletal muscle
Mechanistic review (Tachtsis 2018); performance and dosing evidence not carried here
Key Findings (evidence summary)
n-3 PUFAs (the fish-oil fatty acids) have known anti-inflammatory properties and, more recently, evidence of altering skeletal-muscle function
The review covers how n-3 PUFAs modulate molecular signalling for growth and hypertrophy and the activity of muscle satellite cells, which drive repair after damaging stimuli such as exercise contraction
Human evidence on n-3 PUFAs and satellite-cell content/activity is scarce — the review's mechanistic case is built on in-vitro work
The authors' hope: understanding these mechanisms could lead to supplementation strategies that increase muscle mass and strength and reduce age-related muscle wasting — a research direction, not a result
Practical Application
Tachtsis et al. 2018 is a mechanism paper: omega-3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory and, in cell studies, influence growth signalling and satellite-cell activity in muscle — human evidence on this is described as scarce, and no dose, recovery or performance effect is reported. Omega-3 stays a "plausible, unproven" supplement in this base; it is not a substitute for energy, carbohydrate or protein.
Not from this paper; the base's own practice: if an athlete takes fish oil, choose a third-party-tested product (oxidation and contamination vary) and treat it as a diet-quality measure, not as a performance intervention. The base carries no verified dose for athletes.
Nutritional hierarchy stays: energy availability (REF-345, REF-341) > protein (REF-348) > anything in this entry
Limitations
Mechanistic narrative review; in-vitro evidence dominates, human data described as a paucity
No performance, recovery or muscle-protein-synthesis effect sizes in the abstract; the entry's earlier figures could not be traced and were removed
EPA vs DHA dose-response not addressed here
Product quality varies widely (base's caution, not a finding of the paper)
How this entry was checked and changed
Why this level
regraded 2026-09-27 from B+: narrative review of mechanisms with no performance outcome; the entry's earlier dose and effect numbers were untraceable
Content correction 2026-09-27
"2-5 g/day EPA+DHA reduces soreness and CK/IL-6 by 15-30%", "~20% increase in MPS after 8 weeks loading", "default 2-3 g/day, 3-5 g/day for masters", "2-4 servings fatty fish/week", "omega-3 index target >8%", "small VO2max/efficiency effects", "mood effects" -> none in the Tachtsis abstract (a mechanistic review) and McGlory 2019 has no DOI to check; removed.
Level B+ -> C+ (mechanistic narrative review, no performance outcome). Title reworded to the paper's scope.
Cross-reference descriptions checked against the cited entries' current content; wrong years, wrong entries and claims the cited entry does not make were corrected.
DOI line added for the anchor paper: the DOI was already in the entry and resolves (Crossref) to Tachtsis, Camera & Lacham-Kaplan 2018, Nutrients — the entry's byline.
2026-09-28: added Journal line from the Europe PMC record (DOI 10.3390/nu10030309, PMID 29510597).
2026-10-01: cross-reference repointed from a merged framework to the one that replaced it (SYNTH-01→31, 05→34, 09→70, 12/15→32, 19→26).