When is the best time to take fish oil and vitamin d?

The fat-soluble shelf and its one rule, with fish oil and vitamin D as the two that most need it

When is the best time to take fish oil and vitamin D, and the variants asking about fish oil with vitamins generally and with vitamin E, are answered by one rule that covers a whole shelf, because fish oil, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, vitamin A, coenzyme Q10 and curcumin are all fat-soluble, all absorb by the same route, dissolved into the mixed micelles that a meal's fat and bile create, and all follow the same instruction: with the fattiest meal of the day. Fish oil most needs it: an ethyl ester fish oil, which many standard and mid-priced oils are, absorbs markedly better with a high-fat meal and poorly fasted, the classic absorption work finding several-fold differences, a triglyceride oil absorbs well with any meal and a little better with fat, and both burp less when taken with a meal rather than before it, since the oil is emulsified with the food rather than floating on an empty stomach, so the fish oil goes with the fattiest meal on both counts. Vitamin D needs it next: vitamin D's absorption from a supplement is markedly better with a fat-containing meal than fasted, the vitamin D absorption literature finding a substantial difference, and a reader who takes their vitamin D with black coffee on waking absorbs a fraction of what the same tablet with eggs or a fish oil softgel delivers, the three-tub page's finding that the softgel itself supplies part of the fat. Vitamin E follows the same rule for the same reason, as do vitamin K, vitamin A, CoQ10 and curcumin, the whole shelf going with the same plate.

No clock of their own, morning or evening by adherence, the sleep folklore retired, and the rule filed

None of the shelf has a clock of its own: fish oil's EPA and DHA build into cell membranes over weeks and its index changes over months, vitamin D's status is a store measured in weeks, vitamin E and K and CoQ10 likewise, so the hour of the day changes nothing about what any of them does and the only questions are which meal is fattiest and which meal a reader never forgets. For most lifters both answers are the evening meal, the largest and fattiest plate of the day and the anchor the magnesium pages already use, so the fish oil, the vitamin D and anything else fat-soluble go beside dinner with the magnesium, one habit at one plate. A reader whose fattiest meal is breakfast, eggs and avocado, takes the shelf then and loses nothing, and a reader who splits, fish oil at dinner and vitamin D at breakfast, is fine on both provided each meal has fat, the split being a matter of memory rather than physiology. The folklore that vitamin D taken at night disturbs sleep deserves retiring: it rests on a theory about vitamin D and melatonin and on thin observational evidence, no controlled trial showing that evening vitamin D worsens sleep, and a reader who sleeps well after evening vitamin D has no reason to move it, while a reader who prefers the morning has no reason not to. The rule filed: the fat-soluble shelf, fish oil, vitamin D, E, K, A, CoQ10 and curcumin, goes with the fattiest meal of the day, no member has a clock of its own, morning or evening is decided by fat and by adherence, and the sleep folklore is retired, with the worked example being the fish oil half of the shelf at the fattiest meal, one softgel with food at 17p, £14.99 for 90.

The verdict, one shelf, one rule, one plate

When is the best time to take fish oil and vitamin D: with the fattiest meal of the day, the one rule that covers the whole fat-soluble shelf, fish oil absorbing markedly better with fat if it is an ethyl ester and burping less with food, vitamin D absorbing markedly better with a fat-containing meal than fasted, and vitamin E, K, A, CoQ10 and curcumin following the same rule for the same reason, with no member of the shelf having a clock of its own so that morning or evening is decided by which meal is fattiest and which is never forgotten, the evening meal for most lifters, and the story that vitamin D at night disturbs sleep retired for want of evidence. The fish oil half of the shelf: Futuro Labs Omega 3 Fish Oil, one softgel with food, 180mg EPA and 120mg DHA, 90 for £14.99 at 17p a day.

What to check on the label

Questions people also ask

Should fish oil and vitamin D be taken together?

Yes, at the fattiest meal of the day: both are fat-soluble and absorb better with fat, the fish oil softgel itself supplying part of the fat the vitamin D needs, and neither has a clock of its own, so the same plate suits both.

Is it better to take vitamin D in the morning or at night?

Whichever meal has fat and is never forgotten: vitamin D's status is a store measured in weeks, the hour changes nothing, and the folklore that evening vitamin D disturbs sleep rests on thin observational evidence with no controlled trial behind it.

Can I take fish oil and vitamin E together?

Yes, and at the same fatty meal: vitamin E is fat-soluble and follows the same rule as fish oil and vitamin D, absorbing through the micelles a meal's fat and bile create, with no interaction between them.

What happens if I take fish oil on an empty stomach?

An ethyl ester oil absorbs poorly, several-fold less than with a high-fat meal in the classic absorption work, a triglyceride oil absorbs a little less well, and both are more likely to produce fishy burps from oil floating in an empty stomach.

What is the best meal to take fat-soluble supplements with?

The fattiest one you reliably eat, usually the evening meal for a lifter, with eggs and avocado at breakfast an equally good alternative, and a split between two fatty meals fine for a reader who remembers one better than the other.

Sources

1. Classic absorption work on fish oil ethyl esters: uptake is markedly higher when ethyl ester omega-3 is taken with a high-fat meal, narrowing the gap to triglyceride forms. PubMed record
2. The vitamin D absorption literature: vitamin D is fat-soluble and its absorption from supplements is improved when taken with a meal containing fat. PubMed record
3. Dyerberg J, Madsen P, Møller JM, Aardestrup I, Schmidt EB. Bioavailability of marine n-3 fatty acid formulations. Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids 2010;83(3):137-141. PubMed record
4. The habit formation literature: anchoring a new behaviour to an existing daily routine is the best-documented adherence strategy, with consistency outperforming timing choices. PubMed record

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