Research
Hormonal
Supplemental intakes of EPA and DHA combined up to 5 g/day, and EPA alone up to 1.8 g/day, do not raise safety concerns for adults.
For adults, taking up to 5g/day of combined EPA/DHA or up to 1.8g/day of EPA alone does not raise any safety concerns. There is no official upper limit because these doses are considered safe.
StrongRefutesVERY_HIGH confidence
The Panel considers that supplemental intakes of EPA and DHA combined at doses up to 5 g/day, and supplemental intakes of EPA alone up to 1.8 g/day, do not raise safety concerns for the adult population.
Why this rating
Authoritative body (EFSA) review of extensive human data.
Source
Scientific Opinion on the Tolerable Upper Intake Level of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA)
EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products et al. · EFSA Journal · 2012
DOI 10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2815
Meta-analysisCited 358×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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- Long-term supplemental intakes of combined EPA and DHA up to 5 g/day do not increase the risk of spontaneous bleeding episodes or bleeding complications, even in subjects at high risk of bleeding.Good
- Supplemental intakes of EPA and DHA combined at doses of 2-6 g/day, and DHA at 2-4 g/day, increase LDL-cholesterol by about 3%, but this increase is accompanied by a decrease in triglycerides and does not adversely affect cardiovascular disease risk.Good
- Supplemental intakes of EPA and DHA combined up to 5 g/day do not significantly affect glucose homeostasis in healthy or diabetic subjects.Good
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