Are all fish oils created equal?

[Hockey Playa]

I have been taking fish oil pills for a good while now. It seems like everyone here raves about them. I dont think ive seen any noticeable difference. Ive been taking them as directed on the bottle, 2 capsules per day with breakfast and dinner. Im going to post a link for the specific one im taking, so you guys can see the ingredients and ratio of EPA etc...im not too educated on what a good ratio is
http://www.progressivenutritional.com/efa/
http://www.progressivenutritional.com/efa/research.htm


Thanks

 

[simon]

A quality fish oil should be: molecularly distilled; tested to be free of cadmiun, lead, PCBs, mercury and other contaminants; blended with antioxidants such as tocopherols, ascorbates and rosemary extract; have a high concentration of omega-3 fatty acids per gram of oil.

Your fish oil is molecularly distilled and probably free of contaminants, though you should ask the company for some third party analysis results, and has a decent blend of antioxidants. It should tell you on the packaging how much EPA and DHA it has per serving. Two capsules a day isn't very much at all. You'd be better off buying a liquid oil (Carlson's, Nordic Naturals, Nutrasea) as it's cheaper and easier than swallowing a whole bunch of capsules. Shoot for at least 3g of EPA and DHA combined a day, which probably equates to 15g of fish oil depending on the brand.

 

[Bible_Belt]

I just started taking fish oil. I bought Barlean's
http://www.barleans.com/fishoil.asp

It seemed to be the highest quality I could find in a store. They came from a health-food store. The trend now seems to be to flavor the oils with citrus. If you burp, it takes like oranges instead of fish.

A random guy in the store told me that the cheap fish oil from Wal-Mart is the most likely to be contaminated with heavy metals, which makes sense.

 

[Omen]

A quality fish oil should be: molecularly distilled; tested to be free of cadmiun, lead, PCBs, mercury and other contaminants; blended with antioxidants such as tocopherols, ascorbates and rosemary extract; have a high concentration of omega-3 fatty acids per gram of oil.

Your fish oil is molecularly distilled and probably free of contaminants, though you should ask the company for some third party analysis results, and has a decent blend of antioxidants. It should tell you on the packaging how much EPA and DHA it has per serving. Two capsules a day isn't very much at all. You'd be better off buying a liquid oil (Carlson's, Nordic Naturals, Nutrasea) as it's cheaper and easier than swallowing a whole bunch of capsules. Shoot for at least 3g of EPA and DHA combined a day, which probably equates to 15g of fish oil depending on the brand.

I'd agree with that post for the most part except for the last part about how you need 3g of EPA/DHA combined. You dont need 15g of fish oil.

Take your 2-3 softgels per day, and you'll be just fine.

 

[simon]

If you want your omega-3 : omega-6 ratio as small as possible, which is ideal, you need 15g of fish oil, most likely more. 2.8g of EPA/DHA per day also has fatloss benefits.

 

[Hockey Playa]

so does the brand im using cover that?

p.s i dont mind swallowing capsules at all

 

[Omen]

Adult

EPA and DHA

* The adequate daily intake of EPA and DHA for adults should be at least 220 mg of each per day.
* Two to three servings of fatty fish per week (roughly 1,250 mg EPA and DHA per day) are generally recommended to treat certain health conditions.

Fish oil supplements

* 3,000 to 4,000 mg standardized fish oils per day. (This amount corresponds to roughly 2 to 3 servings of fatty fish per week.)
* Typically, a 1,000 mg fish oil capsule has 180 mg EPA and 120 mg DHA

Precautions

Omega-3 fatty acids should be used cautiously by people who bruise easily, have a bleeding disorder, or take blood-thinning medications because excessive amounts of omega-3 fatty acids may lead to bleeding. In fact, people who eat more than three grams of omega-3 fatty acids per day (equivalent to 3 servings of fish per day) may be at an increased risk for hemorrhagic stroke, a potentially fatal condition in which an artery in the brain leaks or ruptures.

I'd highly suggest thinking before you go popping 15g of fish oil supplements per day. I'd also suggest not taking the advice from above which is just bad advice.

I'll never understand where some people get their information from.

 

[Throttle]

simon is attempting to balance his omega3 & omega6. emerging evidence & consideration of historical human eating patterns suggests that a ratio of 1:1 would be ideal, but even 1:2 would be better than the standard american 1:20. you can either cut as much omega6 as possible (a good idea anyway) or add lots of fish oil. simon is advocating the latter route. i'd suggest somewhere in between, based only a principle of moderation, not any specific evidence.

 

[Throttle]

A random guy in the store told me that the cheap fish oil from Wal-Mart is the most likely to be contaminated with heavy metals, which makes sense.

where heavy metals are concerned, i'd rather see independent testing over the word of "some guy" -- especially since the brand names are considerably more expensive, and most of us are talking about taking this stuff the rest of our lives.

 

[Omen]

Then i'd suggest balancing it out and cutting Omega-6 out and not trying to create the ratio of what we need by consuming extra Omega-3.

I think for people like us, that should be no problem at all, and I can say for me isn't even a problem because of my diet. The average Joe may have a problem, but none of us should if we eat right.

Yeah, the "some guy" deal at your Wal-Mart or Grocery store. lol One of them told my grandma once Lycopene was a vitamin.

 

[simon]

I eat nuts sparingly, use butter from pasture fed cows and don't use any oils apart from coconut and olive. So I've reduced my omega-6 intake as much as is currently feasible. Unfortunately I can't afford omega-3 eggs, pasture fed meat or grass/insect fed chicken.

 

[Throttle]

Unfortunately I can't afford omega-3 eggs

I'm not sure that's true, somebody check my math here (numbers based on my latest shopping trip to Kroger):

standard fish oil

each capsule contains 300 mg of EPA/DHA

60 capsules, US$8

2.25 grams per dollar


omega 3 eggs

each egg contains 660 mg O3

12 eggs, $1.99 (regular eggs cost $.97 per dozen or thereabouts)

~4 grams per dollar

Looks to me like you're getting your money's worth out of the O3 eggs. Not only that, but since many of us (like, say, WBA) are eating eggs literally by the dozen, and each O3 egg substitutes for an industrially produced egg with an appx. 1:10 ratio O3 to O6, you'd significantly reduce your need for fish oil. Of course, you'd still need some fish oil supplementation to balance out all the other excess O6 in your diet (beef, etc).

Now, you UK guys may not be able to get O3 eggs as cheaply as I can, or I may have made a math mistake here, but this looks like a pretty good case for O3 eggs.

 

[simon]

Omega-3 eggs from the supermarkets over here cost ~ £1.50 for a half dozen, and they're not even all large! That translates to £3 for a dozen, which is about $6. I can get free range eggs from a farmer much cheaper than supermarket prices, but they're fed standard chicken feed.

 

[mrRuckus]

Don't buy capsules. The straight up oil is cheaper. I'm really not sure about which oil is the safest but Now Lemon flavored fish oil tastes fine. I also have some cherry cod liver oil.

 

[simon]

The NOW Lemon stuff is a good quality oil.

 

[Bible_Belt]

where heavy metals are concerned, i'd rather see independent testing over the word of "some guy" -- especially since the brand names are considerably more expensive, and most of us are talking about taking this stuff the rest of our lives.

That's why I bought the Barleans. It is third-party tested. That guy knew the store owner and was helping us read the labels. The owner told me that he had just ridden his bicycle cross-country, 100 mi/day for thirty days. Dude looked about forty-something, so he seemed to know his health & fitness, lol.

 

[MrS]

Fish oil is magic.
As in, POOF! No more acne.