Monday, June 11, 2012

Height Augmentation with Fish Oil

Fish Oil is widely popularized in the bodybuilding community as a test booster but could it have height increasing effects? Nature Made Fish Oil Omega-3 1200mg, 300 Softgels.

Decreased cord blood IL-4, IL-13, and CCR4 and increased TGF-beta levels after fish oil supplementation of pregnant women.

"We performed a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Three hundred eleven pregnant women received daily either FO[Fish Oil] with 0.5 g of docosahexaenoic acid and 0.15 g of eicosapentaenoic acid, 400 mug of methyl-tetra-hydrofolic acid, both, or placebo from the 22nd gestational week. T(H)1/T(H)2-related molecules were quantified in 197 maternal and 195 cord blood samples by using real-time RT-PCR. Data are given as geometric means [95% CIs].
FO supplementation was associated with increased TGF-beta mRNA in maternal (0.85 [0.8-0.89]; placebo: 0.68 [0.64-0.72]) and cord blood (0.85 [0.81-0.9]; placebo: 0.75 [0.71-0.79]). IL-1 (0.69 [0.66-0.73]; placebo: 0.83 [0.79-0.88]) and IFN-gamma (0.54 [0.51-0.57]; placebo: 0.65 [0.61-0.69]) were decreased in mothers only (P < .001). Cord blood mRNA levels of IL-4 (0.54 [0.52-0.57]; placebo: 0.64 [0.61-0.68]), IL-13 (0.61 [0.58-0.65]; placebo: 0.85 [0.80-0.89]), CCR4 (0.70 [0.67-0.73]; placebo: 0.88 [0.84-0.92]; all P < .001), and natural killer (P < .001) and CCR3+CD8+ T cells (P < .04) were decreased in the FO group.
Supplementation with FO during pregnancy is associated with decreased mRNA levels of T(H)2-related molecules in the fetus and decreased maternal inflammatory cytokines. We speculate that both effects are mediated by TGF-beta."

TGF-Beta upregulates Sox9 which is important for chondrogenesis.  So fish oil could be important to take if you want a taller child or you want to be taller yourself.  It's unclear with how much TGF-Beta mRNA can increase with Fish Oil supplementation.

The birth length of the FO + MHTF combined group was the highest despite having the second tallest maternal height.  The birth length of the FO and MHTF groups individually had about equal lengths to the placebo group despite the placebo group height being an average 3cm taller.

Fish Oil and MHTF decreased the catabolic proteins IL-1 and IFN-lambda while increasing the anabolic gene TGF-Beta in the mothers.  However, it had very little effect in the children except for FO increasing TGF-Beta.

1 comment:

  1. not about fish oil but have you looked into kartogenin?.
    Stem Cell–Based Approach to Cartilage Repair

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