{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T20:21:21Z","timestamp":1791922881050,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,25]],"date-time":"2021-10-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1635120000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Brain Armor","award":["000000"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["000000"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: EPA and DHA n-3 FA play crucial roles in both neurological and cardiovascular health and high dietary intakes along with supplementation suggest potential neuroprotection and concussion recovery support. Rugby athletes have a high risk of repetitive sub-concussive head impacts which may lead to long-term neurological deficits, but there is a lack of research looking into n-3 FA status in rugby players. We examined the dietary n-3 FA intake through a FFQ and n-3 FA status by measuring the percentage of n-3 FA and O3I in elite Canadian Rugby 7s players to show distribution across O3I risk zones; high risk, &lt;4%; intermediate risk, 4 to 8%; and low risk, &gt;8%. Methods: n-3 FA profile and dietary intake as per FFQ were collected at the beginning of the 2017\u20132018 Rugby 7s season in male (n = 19; 24.84 \u00b1 2.32 years; 95.23 \u00b1 6.93 kg) and female (n = 15; 23.45 \u00b1 3.10 years; 71.21 \u00b1 5.79 kg) athletes. Results: O3I averaged 4.54% \u00b1 1.77, with female athlete scores slightly higher, and higher O3I scores in supplemented athletes (4.82% vs. 3.94%, p = 0.183), with a greater proportion of non-supplemented athletes in the high-risk category (45.5% vs. 39.1%). Dietary intake in non-supplemented athletes did not meet daily dietary recommendations for ALA or EPA + DHA compared to supplemented athletes. Conclusions: Overall, despite supplementation, O3I score remained in the high-risk category in a proportion of athletes who met recommended n-3 FA dietary intakes, and non-supplemented athletes had a higher proportion of O3I scores in the high-risk category, suggesting that dietary intake alone may not be enough and athletes may require additional dietary and n-3 FA supplementation to reduce neurological and cardiovascular risk.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu13113777","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,25]],"date-time":"2021-10-25T21:42:05Z","timestamp":1635198125000},"page":"3777","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["An Evaluation of Omega-3 Status and Intake in Canadian Elite Rugby 7s Players"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Ashley","family":"Armstrong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Canadian Sport Institute Pacific, Victoria, BC V9E 2C5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anthony J.","family":"Anzalone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wendy","family":"Pethick","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Canadian Sport Institute Pacific, Victoria, BC V9E 2C5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Holly","family":"Murray","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Canadian Sport Institute Pacific, Victoria, BC V9E 2C5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dylan T.","family":"Dahlquist","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Red Bull Athlete Performance Center, Los Angeles, CA 90404, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0757-8943","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrew T.","family":"Askow","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7071-9238","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jeffery L.","family":"Heileson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lyn M.","family":"Hillyer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1165-5972","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"David W. L.","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jonathan M.","family":"Oliver","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Sport Science Center, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX 76129, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1272","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2016-097301","article-title":"2016 Rio Olympics: An epidemiological study of the men\u2019s and women\u2019s Rugby-7s tournaments","volume":"51","author":"Fuller","year":"2017","journal-title":"Br. J. 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