Omega-3 vs Vitamin E for skin & hair
Short answer: For skin & hair, more users report improvement with Omega-3 — 90% of 48 reports, versus 80% of 5 for Vitamin E.
Omega-3 has 1,341 meta-analyses and 3,093 randomized trials on PubMed; Vitamin E has 680 and 1,761.
Based on 3,026 reports about Omega-3 and 212 about Vitamin E. Not medical advice.
| Omega-3 Supplement | Vitamin E Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 69%helped968 reports · high confidence | 47%helped36 reports · medium confidence |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mixed |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 1,341 / 3,093 | 680 / 1,761 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Mood % reporting improvement | 86% (289) | — |
| Focus % reporting improvement | 85% (172) | — |
| Pain & inflammation % reporting improvement | 93% (112) | — |
| Heart & lipids % reporting improvement | 83% (108) | 100% (2) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 74% (84) | 100% (2) |
| Common side effects | fish burps, stomach issues, vivid dreams, fishy burps | carcinogenic at, cancer risk, diarrhea, dizziness |
| Typical dose reported | 500/250 mg / daily | 400 mg |
For glycated hemoglobin, there was no significant effect in the meta-analysis. This systematic review with meta-analysis demonstrated that supplementation with omega-3 has protective effects on diabetes parameters.
Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 2022 ↗“I do supplement a lot of fish oil and vitamin A as retinyl palmitate though. It has really helped my depression, anxiety and ADHD and has enabled me to stop using more serious psychiatric drugs for those things.”
This study suggests the potential ability of vitamin C and E in alleviating pain symptoms experienced by individuals with endometriosis.
PLoS One, 2024 ↗“Vitamin E is the most effective supplement I've taken for anxiety, depression, lethargy, and anhedonia...even more effective than the SSRI.”
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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate