EPA

No summary available for this substance.

Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA)

Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) is an omega-3 fatty acid commonly found in the flesh of cold-water fish, including mackerel, herring, tuna, halibut, salmon, and cod liver. It is often used as a supplement for its anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular benefits.

Category
Dietary Supplement
Molecular Formula
C20H30O2
Mechanism of Action
EPA works by reducing the production of molecules and substances that cause inflammation in the body. It also helps to reduce blood clotting and may lower the risk of heart disease.
Evidence Grade
A - Strong scientific evidence for this use

Other Names

  • Marine Lipid Concentrate
  • Omega-3 Fatty Acid
  • Icosapent
  • Fish Oil

Primary Benefits

  • Reduces inflammation
  • Lowers risk of heart disease
  • Improves mental health
  • Supports eye health

Recommended Dosage

Adults 1,000-2,000 mg per day
Children Not recommended for children unless under the guidance of a healthcare provider

Side Effects

  • Nausea
  • Diarrhea
  • Heartburn
  • Rash

Precautions

  • People with bleeding disorders
  • People preparing for surgery
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding women

Interactions

  • Anticoagulant or antiplatelet drugs
  • Blood pressure drugs
  • Contraceptive drugs

Key References

  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6357022/
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257651/
How to Optimize Female Hormone Health for Vitality & Longevity | Dr. Sara Gottfried
Optimizing Women's Health: Hormones, Nutrition, Exercise, and Genetics Insights 1:48:42 0
“I've encouraged podcast listeners to consider, depending on what they're eating, to try and get a gram of EPA or more per day.”

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Dr. Bill Harris on the Omega-3 Index: Increasing Omega-3 to Promote Longevity & Transform Health
Understanding Omega-3 Impact: Health Benefits Through Diet and Research 13:19 0
“Lovaza is the EPA plus DHA ethyl ester, Vascepa is an EPA-only ethylester.”

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Dr. Bill Harris on the Omega-3 Index: Increasing Omega-3 to Promote Longevity & Transform Health
Understanding Omega-3 Impact: Health Benefits Through Diet and Research 19:44 0
“vegetarian or vegan would be an algal oil so the original source of epa and dha in a fish is not that they make omega-3 they don't really make omega-3 any better than we do or make epa and dha they eat pre-formed epa and dha and it comes from their food sources which at the bottom of the food chain is these micro single celled micro”

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Dr. Bill Harris on the Omega-3 Index: Increasing Omega-3 to Promote Longevity & Transform Health
Understanding Omega-3 Impact: Health Benefits Through Diet and Research 20:30 0
“different companies have identified which strains specific strains of algae microalgae will make dha or epa or both and they've commercialized or they've industrialized it and they harvest the oil it's an expensive process at this point”

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Dr. Bill Harris on the Omega-3 Index: Increasing Omega-3 to Promote Longevity & Transform Health
Understanding Omega-3 Impact: Health Benefits Through Diet and Research 20:50 0
“if we can get over the gmo issue there are two or three groups that have found ways to put genes into plant or land plant animal land plants that can be grown you know as long as you've got ground you can grow them um camelina is one even soybean oil which starts with ala you can get up to a fair amount of dha epa and dha with genetic engineering of these plants”

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Dr. Bill Harris on the Omega-3 Index: Increasing Omega-3 to Promote Longevity & Transform Health
Understanding Omega-3 Impact: Health Benefits Through Diet and Research 25:52 0
“we called it the omega-3 index we didn't really know what to call it didn't want to call it red blood cell epa plus dha is too much and we picked red blood cells because that had been used in past studies and it makes sense because it's a long-term marker of omega-3 status because the omega-3s are in the membrane of the red cell and in most other tissues in the body all other tissues”

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Dr. Bill Harris on the Omega-3 Index: Increasing Omega-3 to Promote Longevity & Transform Health
Understanding Omega-3 Impact: Health Benefits Through Diet and Research 28:41 0
“the plasma has certainly has omega-3 and you can express the plasma omega-3 content as a percent of total plasma fatty acids it's just that the number you get like in normal might be two percent for plasma epa dha whereas for red blood cell epa dha which is just the red cell membrane it might be five or six percent would be normal”

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Dr. Bill Harris on the Omega-3 Index: Increasing Omega-3 to Promote Longevity & Transform Health
Understanding Omega-3 Impact: Health Benefits Through Diet and Research 41:00 0
“the most successful omega-3 trial in years was reduce it with four grams of epa and they they reported that the most the only risk factor they could measure or thing in the blood that they measured that would predict outcomes it was better than cholesterol better than triglycerides was the omega-3 level was the omega-3 level achieved that was the strongest predictor of benefit in the reduced trial”

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Dr. Bill Harris on the Omega-3 Index: Increasing Omega-3 to Promote Longevity & Transform Health
Understanding Omega-3 Impact: Health Benefits Through Diet and Research 45:27 0
“average americans roughly 5 omega-3 index which is epa and dha in red cells as a percent of the total fatty acids in the red cells so five percent of the fatty acids in the red cell membrane epa and dha japan it's on average nine percent”

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Dr. Bill Harris on the Omega-3 Index: Increasing Omega-3 to Promote Longevity & Transform Health
Understanding Omega-3 Impact: Health Benefits Through Diet and Research 49:46 0
“correlated the omega-3 index to cause mortality is able to even predict uh mortality very very interesting study um i shared it on social media but i would love to talk about it yeah yeah sure that was a it's gonna be probably one of my capstone studies i think in in hindsight um it was a collaboration among 17 different cohorts like like the framingham studies of cohort women's health initiatives mesa epic these are all and from all around the world these are groups that have been recruited at one point in time blood samples taken fatty acid levels measured in that blood and then the investigators just follow this group of people over time to see what happens what kind of diseases they get you know who gets who dies who doesn't and so we had 17 of those pooled together and around 40 45 000 people all together where we had omega-3 levels at the beginning and then roughly um the total follow-up time when you're when you're looking at risk for death all cause mortality you obviously look in a given window of time because if you wait long enough it's one hundred percent everybody…”

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Dr. Bill Harris on the Omega-3 Index: Increasing Omega-3 to Promote Longevity & Transform Health
Understanding Omega-3 Impact: Health Benefits Through Diet and Research 1:03:54 0
“it's actually a bewildering array of molecules that have been discovered made from epa and dha that operate on different cell types and different receptors through different mechanisms but at the end of the day they suppress an inflammatory response and keep it from getting out of control.”

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Dr. Bill Harris on the Omega-3 Index: Increasing Omega-3 to Promote Longevity & Transform Health
Understanding Omega-3 Impact: Health Benefits Through Diet and Research 1:28:47 0
“epinova which is a epa plus dha same ratio is in lavazza except they're free fatty acids not ethyl esters so they're unasterified epa and dha which which they had previously shown are more readily absorbed.”

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Why Exercise Intensity Matters for Longevity | CrossFit for Health 2024
The Power of Exercise: Boost Longevity, Health, and Wellness 40:15 0
“the question is like what type of Omega-3 was involved and then disuse atrophy study coming out of Dr Chris MC glor's Lab at Queens University”

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276 ‒ Special episode: Peter on longevity, supplements, protein, fasting, apoB, statins, & more
Longevity, Health Tools, Proactive Management: Nutrition, Exercise, Supplements, Genetic Insights 27:59 0
“I take EPA and DHA so I take fish oil... by taking four of these capsules a day I'm taking roughly 2 grams of EPA a day and probably a gram and a half of DHA.”

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Bruce Ames on Triage Theory, Longevity Vitamins & Micronutrients
Understanding Nutritional Essentials for Optimal Health and Longevity 0:39 0
“And the second paper which was just recently accepted for publication is on vitamin D and the marine omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, and what role they play in ADHD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and impulsive behavior.”

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Rhonda Patrick at Orthomolecular Medicine Congress in Bussum, Netherlands (Keynote Oct. 3rd, 2015)
Optimizing Health Through Micronutrients: Key Role in Disease Prevention 34:33 0
“another study recently that elaborates on my first study and talks about the role of vitamin D in producing serotonin in the brain and activating the enzyme in the brain and also how omega-3 fatty acids specifically the Marine omega-3 fatty acids icosapent anuic acid EPA and doah hexenoic acid DHA also regulate the serotonin system and how this is relevant for brain function and brain dysfunction”

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Rhonda Patrick at Orthomolecular Medicine Congress in Bussum, Netherlands (Keynote Oct. 3rd, 2015)
Optimizing Health Through Micronutrients: Key Role in Disease Prevention 38:49 0
“icosapent enoic acid the Marine fatty acid EPA stops the production of E2 series prostaglandins and because it dampens that production of E2 series progins it allows serotonin to be released from the presynaptic neuron”

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Rhonda Patrick at Orthomolecular Medicine Congress in Bussum, Netherlands (Keynote Oct. 3rd, 2015)
Optimizing Health Through Micronutrients: Key Role in Disease Prevention 50:28 0
“I think that because EPA is more of the anti-inflammatory it's involved in preventing the prostaglandin production and inflammation plays a major role in depression and we know this because of several studies have shown even injecting people with a pro-inflammatory cytokine like interferon they inject people with that and they immediately become depressed but if they co-administer EPA with that they don't get depressed.”

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Leading Cardiologist: Your Doctor Is WRONG About Cholesterol | Dr. William Davis
Challenging Health Myths: Nutrition, Heart Health, and Gut Microbiome Insights 36:39 0
“And I think the dosage you recommended was 3000 milligrams of EPA, DHA in combo.”

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Leading Cardiologist: Your Doctor Is WRONG About Cholesterol | Dr. William Davis
Challenging Health Myths: Nutrition, Heart Health, and Gut Microbiome Insights 37:46 0
“There's the JELIS trial. J-E-L-I-S from Japan, 19,000 participants. And EPA added to a fish-rich diet, seafood-rich diet in Japan had additional benefits.”

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Leading Cardiologist: Your Doctor Is WRONG About Cholesterol | Dr. William Davis
Challenging Health Myths: Nutrition, Heart Health, and Gut Microbiome Insights 42:42 0
“their lipoprotein molecule was much less likely to cause heart disease and they got about 5000 milligrams of EPA and DHA per day.”

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Gary Brecka: The TRUTH About Biohacking, Light Therapy, and Nutrients
Optimizing Health: Lifestyle, Nutrition, Sleep, Exercise, and Social Connections 1:13:20 0
“the most important nutrients that we're missing and what are the supplements that we should be taking okay um so you know when you call something essential um that means it's necessary for life right so if you we have two essential fatty acids you know if you don't get these fatty acids they're they're essential for Life Omega-3s yeah Omega-3s omega-3 fatty acids um EPA dhas they're eight essential amino acids.”

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Simple Fixes For A Good Night’s Rest – Shawn Stevenson (4K)
Improving sleep quality through lifestyle choices and health awareness tips 41:43 0
“people who ate less than four grams of DHA and EPA had the highest rate of brain shrinkage.”

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The Truth About Microplastics – Dr Rhonda Patrick
Understanding Microplastics and Toxin Exposure in Everyday Health and Environment 1:48:39 0
“glucose what it's doing when you when you have a constant intake of glucose and that glucose let's say you're not exercising enough to have that glucose get get disposed into your muscle which is really where you want it right you want it to go get taken up into your muscle exercise really helps with that when you exercise you cause a lot of glucose Transporters to come up to your muscle which opens up the gates to allow glucose in you want it to go to your muscle instead of your adipose tissue if that doesn't happen if you're not exercising enough the glucose will stay around in your bloodstream and what happens is yes there's an insulin response and all that metabolic stuff but there's also something that happens that that's called the mailer reaction and it's where glucose reacts with lipids it reacts with um DNA in your body it reacts with proteins and damages them and when it reacts with proteins like for example collagen lining your your pericardium surrounding your heart your myocardium surrounding your heart lining your blood vessels it causes the collagen to become stiff it changes the properties of the protein…”

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Dr. Peter Attia: Improve Vitality, Emotional & Physical Health & Lifespan | Huberman Lab Podcast
Improving Healthspan Through Lifestyle Choices and Preventive Health Measures 2:20:35 0
“there's tons of supplements that I think about when it comes to brain health you know what about thumin what about magnesium with L3 and8 the transporter um what about methylated vitamins that lower homocysteine what about EPA and DHA.”

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Dr. Peter Attia: Supplements for Longevity & Their Efficacy
Supplements, Lifestyle, and Strategies for Longevity and Optimal Health 2:12:28 0
“I take EPA and DHA in the form of liquid or capsule fish oil capsules”

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Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Micronutrients for Health & Longevity | Huberman Lab Podcast #70
Optimizing Health and Longevity Through Nutrients and Lifestyle Choices 37:01 0
“So krill is a source mostly of a type of DHA and EPA that's in phospholipid form.”

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Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Micronutrients for Health & Longevity | Huberman Lab Podcast #70
Optimizing Health and Longevity Through Nutrients and Lifestyle Choices 40:00 0
“One of the major prescription omega-3s out there is, both of them actually, Lovaza, which is a mixture of DHA and EPA, as well as Vascepa, which is a highly purified EPA.”

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Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Micronutrients for Health & Longevity | Huberman Lab Podcast #70
Optimizing Health and Longevity Through Nutrients and Lifestyle Choices 44:41 0
“So I take four grams a day. I take two in the morning, two grams in the morning, and I take two grams in the evening. I take my EPA in the morning, and I take my DHA in the evening.”

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Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Micronutrients for Health & Longevity | Huberman Lab Podcast #70
Optimizing Health and Longevity Through Nutrients and Lifestyle Choices 48:31 0
“So, yeah, I try and get two grams per day of EPA from supplementation.”

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Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Micronutrients for Health & Longevity | Huberman Lab Podcast #70
Optimizing Health and Longevity Through Nutrients and Lifestyle Choices 49:02 0
“People that take these things in sufficient doses, meaning the EPAs, are able to get by with much lower dosages of SSRIs for depression relief or, in some cases, to come off their SSRIs completely or avoid going on antidepressant medication.”

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Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Micronutrients for Health & Longevity | Huberman Lab Podcast #70
Optimizing Health and Longevity Through Nutrients and Lifestyle Choices 1:01:03 0
“And ALA, it can be converted into EPA and DHA, but the conversion is very inefficient and very dependent on a variety of factors, including genetics.”

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Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Micronutrients for Health & Longevity | Huberman Lab Podcast #70
Optimizing Health and Longevity Through Nutrients and Lifestyle Choices 1:14:42 0
“We talked a lot about EPA, but are food sources of DHA that you find particularly attractive, either by taste or by potency for DHA, what are just a few that we could throw out?”

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Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Micronutrients for Health & Longevity | Huberman Lab Podcast #70
Optimizing Health and Longevity Through Nutrients and Lifestyle Choices 1:15:07 0
“Well, the fish is packaging the DHA and EPA in the ratio, but I also do eat salmon roe, which is very salty, and it's a really high source of the phosphatidylcholine DHA that we talked about.”

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How Vitamin D, Omega-3s, & Exercise May Increase Longevity | Dr. Rhonda Patrick
Essential Insights for Health and Longevity Through Diet and Lifestyle 21:13 0
“And it was calculated that about, I think it was something like 84,000 deaths per year were attributed to not getting enough EPA and DHA from the diet.”

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How Vitamin D, Omega-3s, & Exercise May Increase Longevity | Dr. Rhonda Patrick
Essential Insights for Health and Longevity Through Diet and Lifestyle 23:06 0
“The problem with that is that the conversion of ALA into EPA, and then subsequently DHA, it's very inefficient and there's widespread genetic differences with respect to that conversion.”

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How Vitamin D, Omega-3s, & Exercise May Increase Longevity | Dr. Rhonda Patrick
Essential Insights for Health and Longevity Through Diet and Lifestyle 25:34 0
“So, the omega-3 index is measuring omega-3 fatty acid levels, the EPA and DHA, and there's other fatty acids as well, but in red blood cell membranes.”

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World’s #1 Longevity Expert: How To Live Longer in 4 Simple Steps
Optimal Health: Key Pillars for Longevity and Well-being Essentials 1:33:48 0
“I'm not opposed to supplementation I just think it has to be very targeted and very thoughtful and if I can't answer those questions that I laid out then I don't it doesn't make sense.”

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