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I took a plain fish oil supplement for years before switching a few months ago to Omega 3-6-9 Fish Oil 3600mg, 120 softgels — a blend of wild-caught fish oil, flaxseed oil and borage oil, providing ALA, EPA, GLA and DHA. It’s still early days for me with this specific product, but I wanted to explain what actually changed, and why, rather than just say “3-6-9 sounds more complete than 3 alone.”
The part that’s genuinely well-evidenced: omega-3
EPA and DHA (the two main omega-3s from fish oil) have decent research behind them for reducing triglycerides, offering modest benefits for blood pressure, and helping with inflammatory joint conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. Interestingly, the evidence for fish oil supplements specifically preventing heart disease is weaker than you might expect — it’s eating oily fish itself that’s most strongly linked to lower heart disease risk, with supplement studies showing more modest effects. That doesn’t make omega-3 supplementation pointless, especially if you don’t eat much oily fish, but it’s worth knowing the evidence is nuanced rather than a slam dunk.
The honest bit about “6” and “9”
I think it’s worth being straightforward here rather than implying all three are equally essential to supplement, because they’re not. Most people on a typical Western diet already get far too much omega-6, not too little — the average ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is somewhere between 15:1 and 17:1, when a healthier ratio is closer to 1:1 to 4:1. So simply adding more generic omega-6 wouldn’t make sense.
The reason this particular blend still earns its place is the source: it uses borage oil, which provides GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) — a specific type of omega-6 that, unlike most omega-6 sources, actually behaves in an anti-inflammatory way rather than a pro-inflammatory one. That’s a genuinely useful addition, not just “more omega-6 for the sake of it.”
Omega-9, meanwhile, is technically non-essential — your body can manufacture it itself, and it’s abundant in things like olive oil. So its inclusion here is more of a bonus than something you specifically need to supplement. The way I look at it: the real value in a formula like this is the combination of EPA/DHA plus the anti-inflammatory GLA from borage oil, with the omega-9 along for the ride rather than doing the heavy lifting.
Why I made the switch
I’d been taking a plain omega-3 fish oil for a long time and felt it was time to look at whether I could do better rather than just staying on autopilot. This blend appealed to me because it combines wild-caught fish oil with flaxseed (a plant-based ALA source) and borage oil in one softgel, so I get a broader spread of healthy fats without taking multiple separate supplements.
What I’ve noticed so far
I want to be honest that I’ve only been taking this specific product for a few months, so I don’t have the same length of track record as with some of the others I’ve written about. What I can say is that I feel it’s an excellent, well-thought-out combination of healthy fats, and it’s slotted into my routine easily as a straightforward one-a-day upgrade from what I was taking before.
How I take it
One softgel a day, in the evening after food — taking it with a meal helps with absorption, since these are fat-soluble compounds, and reduces the chance of any fishy aftertaste or mild digestive upset.
A quick safety note
Fish oil can mildly increase bleeding risk at higher doses and may interact with blood-thinning medication, blood pressure medication, or vitamin E supplements, so it’s worth a quick check with your doctor if any of that applies to you. If you have a seafood allergy, it’s also worth being cautious, as it isn’t fully clear whether fish oil is safe in that case.
Should you try it?
If you’re already taking a plain fish oil and want a more complete formula, or you’re starting from scratch and want fish oil plus a genuinely useful (rather than gimmicky) anti-inflammatory omega-6 source, this is a sensible option. Just don’t assume every “3-6-9” product is automatically better than plain omega-3 — check that the omega-6 source is something like GLA, not just generic vegetable oil.
