Elderly women can more than double their muscle strength by taking fish oil pills, a study shows.
A daily dose boosts muscle power - offering hope of improving quality of life into old age and preventing unnecessary falls and loss of independence.
Scientists found supplementing their diet with 3 grams of Omega-3 made them 34 per cent stronger when they coupled the programme with gentle physical exercise.
This compared with an average strength increase of 16 percent when they did only the training.
Interestingly, fish oil had no effect on the strength of men who took part in the research.
The primary function of skeletal muscle is carry out many daily tasks, such as rising from a chair or getting on a bus, tasks often referred to as functional abilities.
However, both size and function progressively decrease as a normal part of healthy ageing.
This decrease in function can result in a reduction in quality of life, increased falls risk and loss of independence.
Dr Stuart Gray, of Glasgow University's Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, said: "These findings provide important information for nutritional guidelines in older people where policy makers may want to consider recommendations for fish oil supplements to be consumed by older women.
"Why men do not see the same benefit as women is important to understand and the underlying mechanisms need to be studied."
Dr Gray and colleagues at Aberdeen University, where he formerly worked, recruited 50 people - 23 of them women - who were randomly assigned to take either the fish oil supplement or a 3g safflower oil placebo.
The participants aged 65 to 81 all undertook the exercise training programme during the 18 week study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,
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