A spotlight on head injuries—and an overlooked line of defense
As Super Bowl week grabs the headlines, another football story keeps surfacing: repeated head impacts are common, often missed, and too rarely addressed early. Leagues have added rules and protocols, but there’s a quieter strategy that deserves attention alongside those changes. The long-chain omega-3 fats EPA and DHA—best known for heart and brain support—may help protect players both at the moment of concussion and years later as risks evolve.
CTE, explained without the jargon
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive brain disease linked to repetitive head trauma. In CTE, abnormal tau protein accumulates and spreads, damaging brain cells over time. The Concussion Legacy Foundation, drawing on work led by Dr. Ann McKee at the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank, reports striking numbers: in a 2018 series, 190 of 202 former college or NFL players examined after death showed CTE pathology, and even among athletes who never went pro, the majority had evidence of disease. Symptoms often emerge years after a player’s final snap.
Where policy and player experience collide
Legal challenges continue to test what governing bodies knew and when they acted. Recent lawsuits argue the NCAA lagged on concussion safeguards despite early warnings; formal requirements for school concussion policies didn’t arrive until 2010. However those cases resolve, the conversation has widened beyond rules and helmets to include what players put in their bodies.
Omega-3s as smart protection for high-impact sports
Why EPA and DHA belong in the playbook
EPA and DHA integrate into cell membranes throughout the brain and cardiovascular system. In animal and human studies, they’ve been tied to resilience in inflammatory and vascular pathways—the same systems stressed by head impacts and intense training. That biology has nudged coaches, dietitians, and researchers to ask: are athletes actually getting enough?
What the labs are showing in Division I football
A multi-school survey of more than 400 NCAA football players measured their Omega-3 Index—the percentage of EPA+DHA in red blood cell membranes. The results were sobering. About one-third fell into a high-risk range (below 4%), two-thirds were in the mid-range (4–8%), and not a single athlete hit the commonly cited low-risk zone (8% or higher). A separate poster presentation in another football cohort reported an average around 4.35%, essentially mirroring the general U.S. population. In short, elite facilities and training tables haven’t automatically translated to robust omega-3 status.
Measuring what matters: the Omega-3 Index
Because diet records are imperfect and needs vary by body size, position, and workload, a blood-based marker offers a cleaner view. The Omega-3 Index is minimally invasive to collect, stable over weeks, and directly reflects tissue levels. For teams concerned with heart health, recovery, and brain resilience, it’s a practical baseline and a way to gauge whether food plans or supplements are doing their job.
Safety, sourcing, and the “banned substances” problem
College athletes don’t have free rein with supplements, and that hesitation isn’t misplaced. The safest path is to use products vetted by independent programs that screen for contaminants and prohibited compounds. NSF International’s Certified for Sport® standard is the most widely adopted in North American pro sports; several leagues restrict recommendations to products with that seal. This gives sports dietitians room to support omega-3 intake without compromising compliance.
A rules change that could shift the field
Momentum is building to make omega-3s easier to access in college programs. Power Five conferences have discussed policy updates that would allow schools to provide omega-3 supplements, moving them alongside the limited set of permissible products already supplied. Even before rules evolve, nothing prevents athletes from choosing their own EPA+DHA sources—but institutional support could close gaps faster and more safely.
The practical takeaway for players and programs
Football collides with two risk fronts—cardiometabolic strain and head impacts—where EPA and DHA plausibly help. Current data show most players fall short. Testing with the Omega-3 Index, emphasizing oily fish at training tables, and—where allowed—using third-party-certified omega-3 supplements are straightforward steps with minimal downside and potentially meaningful upside. In a sport where details decide outcomes, this is a small, measurable change that could matter on and off the field.
