People have been aware of nutritional supplements over the past few years, and this popularity made some people to consume supplements that they think can be beneficial to them. They were looking for some alternative ways to improve their overall health so that they can avoid really high medical bills.

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One of these supplements is fish oil, which is taken from eating the fish itself or by taking fish oil supplements. Fish oil supplements are usually made of oil from mackerel, tuna, salmon, seal blubber or whale blubber, according to WebMD.

The NY City News has learned that according to the researchers' analysis on the 24 studies based on the randomized trials that was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine in 2014, they found that on an average, Americans spend almost $1.2 billion every year on fish oil pills. The researchers also found that fish oil supplements were not effective across a range of health outcomes.

In a study conducted in 2013, researchers concluded that an estimated 10 percent of Americans were taking fish oil supplements. Though these supplements containe good fatty acids, also known as omega 3 fatty acids, that made these supplements safe to take, many noted that they do not offer the soft tissue benefits that these supplements promise, Pioneer News reports.

Former AHA president Robert Eckel said that the studies on fish oil supplements should be updated every so often. He noted that almost all of the fish oil supplements studies show that fish oil has no health benefits, but he still feels that these studies remain unproven for the most part, Pioneer News has learned.

Paul R. Thomas, NIH's Director Supplements Scientific Consultant, said, "Their conclusion that fish oil omega-3s are likely effective for heart disease is generous. Whether fish oil can help healthy people prevent or reduce their risks of cardiovascular disease when taken over months and years is still an open scientific question."

At least two dozen studies were done on fish oil from the year 2005 to 2013, all but two of those studies were found to have same effect as the placebo effect. In order to establish the true worth of their studies, researchers called for further investigation of the actual benefits of the fish oil supplements, NY City News reports.

According to PJ Media, the popularity of fish oils may reflect the human weakness for anything that are being sold as life-extending alternative medicines.

TagsFish Oil, supplements, Medical Bills