Omega-3 fatty acids (omega-3) have anti-inflammatory properties. Although dietary omega-3 supplementation has been shown to be beneficial for inflammatory conditions such as coronary heart disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis, it is not known if omega-3 supplementation attenuates exercise-induced inflammation. PURPOSE: To determine if omega-3 supplementation reduces inflammation as measured at 48-hours after eccentric arm curl exercise. METHODS: Eleven healthy adult men and women (age: 35 ± 10 y; BMI: 22.9 ± 2.0 kg/m2) underwent eccentric biceps curl exercise to induce inflammation on two occasions, once after 14 days on a omega-3 restricted diet (control trial) and then again after 7 days of 3000 mg/d omega-3 supplementation (omega-3 trial). Immediately before and 48h after eccentric exercise, inflammation was assessed by measuring soreness ratings (visual analog scale), swelling (arm circumference and arm volume), and temperature (infrared skin sensor). RESULTS: Arm volume and skin temperature did not change in response to eccentric exercise in either trial. Arm soreness increased (p<0.0001) in response to eccentric exercise; however, the magnitude of increase in soreness was 15% less in the omega-3 trial (p= 0.004). Although arm circumference increased after eccentric exercise in the control trial (p= 0.01) but not in the omega-3 trial (p= 0.15), the difference between trials was not significant (p= 0.45). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that omega-3 supplementation decreases soreness after eccentric exercise. However further research needs to be done using more sensitive objective measures of inflammation, as most of the objective measures in the present study were not sensitive enough to pick up an inflammatory response.
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Burke et al. (2009) studied this question.