If you remember from earlier, we noted that there\u2019s approximately seven different things you need to look for when you\u2019re purchasing fish oil.<\/p>\n
Now obviously this one isn\u2019t crucial but you have to have a budget for what you\u2019re buying. The cost of the fish oil needs to be affordable for yourself. Don\u2019t buy something that\u2019s higher quality if you can\u2019t afford it but don\u2019t buy low quality at the exact same time.<\/p>\n
This is where a sketchy line is drawn because many companies will claim they meet the purity standards but they actually don\u2019t. Any oil used in fish must meet international standards for not only heavy metals but PCBs and dioxins. If other contaminants are in them, they must meet those standards as well. This is highly important and could be dangerous to your health if they don\u2019t meet purity standards.<\/p>\n
The problem with selecting fish and when they\u2019re out in the ocean, they\u2019re well known to concentrate toxic chemicals. It\u2019s not uncommon to find heavy metal components in fish oil or PBCs. These can cause serious diseases if left untested and they go into fish oil (which does happen and companies lie about it). The problem with taking more fish oil, like 20 grams a day that some people recommend, is that you\u2019re exposed to a higher dietary intake of these toxins such as PCBs. This exposes the body to a ridiculous amount of unwanted toxins. Fish oil ideally is only 9% of your dietary intake for these dangerous substances, but you still need to be concerned about the level of toxins in the purity. However, fish oil manufacturers do have a way to combat this through a scientific process called molecular distillation. This process will remove the toxins from the oil completely or at least greatly reduce the amount of toxins in them. Ideally, companies want to make sure they have acceptable standards of toxins defined by the EPA in their fish oil and no more. Any more will become a health hazard.<\/p>\n
The troubling part about purity is that almost every company seems to lie about their purity. Some lab analyzation and research has been done on popular fish oils to show that some companies just blatantly lie about the level of toxins in their fish oil. The supplement industry in general is well aware that companies lie and it\u2019s all too common. Unfortunately, making outrageous claims isn\u2019t quite illegal unless it poses a health hazard to the consumers. Now, how you can combat the lying and deception is you can ask for something what\u2019s known as a COA. This stands for Certificate of Analysis and will make any deceptive company crap their pants. You can go directly to the manufacturer and obtain a COA. Lap researchers and performance study groups are the ones that perform COAs to make sure that a product is up to standard and to make sure that any fish oil being sold measures up to EPA standards as being told by the company that they do. If the fish oil lives up to their claims, you\u2019ll definitely know when you ask for a COA.<\/p>\n
However, what do you do when a manufacturer refuses to provide you with a COA? Well, seeing as this is standard practice, it usually means that they have something to hide or they know that their product isn\u2019t up to quality standards as defined by the EPA. Now, you may think this is just being paranoid but do you want to buy a product from someone who won\u2019t provide you with authentication and proof that it\u2019s safe? Would you buy a car from someone who refuses to provide you with something such as a Carfax report? So now, we have to determine what levels of toxicity in fish oils are deemed safe for consumption. Among the community and experts, there isn\u2019t one ideal answer and there\u2019s a lot of disagreement on what\u2019s considered the right amount. The problem is, there\u2019s not really any kind of governing body that establishes what\u2019s accept and what isn\u2019t but researchers do know of decent acceptable levels based on independent research and study. When looking at dietary source, we have the Brazil nuts that score relatively high with 1917mcg of selenium per 100 grams. However, they have a downfall of their own as they\u2019re high in n-6 which isn\u2019t relatively good for you but not fatal.<\/p>\n
Oxidation is an unfortunate common side effect of fish oils and they\u2019re very susceptible to them. What this creates is a rancid and inflammatory effect which in turn will not only be counter-active for your current diet plans but will interfere in the prevention of diseases fish oil commonly prevents.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve covered a decent amount of why the toxicity of fish oils can be dangerous for human consumption and what they can do. What people don\u2019t understand though is just how deadly some of these toxicity levels can be and almost every single modern disease that\u2019s well and alive today can be attributed to high toxicity levels that you may find in some of these fish oils. If you have fat that\u2019s highly unsaturated, then the more vulnerable it is to oxidation and that\u2019s why you need to take the purity and the freshness seriously. When you look into long chain omega 3 fats, you\u2019ll find out that they\u2019re highly saturated and some of the most saturated of all the fats out there. This is why they\u2019re so easily damaged and more likely to contain chemicals or components that you don\u2019t want consumed. Making sure fish oil is not rancid and that fish oil is fresh is a number one priority. Not only for the quality and output of the fish oil but for your own health as well. Having fish oil in your body that becomes rancid will do the exact opposite of what you\u2019re trying to accomplish and you\u2019re not going to be too happy with the results. You may even develop or complicate health problems.<\/p>\n
When you obtain the COA and we went over the exact reasoning as to why you should and we also discussed how you can, you want to look for something called the peroxide value. This is one of the main things on the COA that we\u2019re going to be examining because this will ultimately determine how safe the product is to use. What does the peroxide value do? It measures how much rancid components and reactions have been recorded in storage. If you\u2019re looking at peroxide value, it needs to be less than 5 kg. Any more than that, it\u2019s not safe for human consumption. If you decide to go ahead with the purchase of the product and everything seems to check out from the quality end, the first thing you want to do when you get them is to break open one of the capsules. If you notice a fishy odor, you\u2019ve received bad fish oil because there should be absolutely no fishy odors what so ever. If it smells like a rotten fish, something is wrong because it should smell like a summer breeze (that might be a bit too exaggerated) or the summer ocean.<\/p>\n
Another particular smell that you\u2019ll want to look for is lemon or lime. They shouldn\u2019t have any kind of hint of lemon or lime in them. This is a trick that dirty manufacturers use when something is rancid and they want to hide the smell. They\u2019ll try to cover up unpleasant smells with pleasant ones so if you smell any kind of flavoring, then something could be up. Unfortunately, selling rancid material isn\u2019t illegal so they know they can just keep trying to cover it up. Thankfully, now you know better. There\u2019s also a myth floating around the community that you can actually determine what kind of quality is in fish oil by freezing it. It\u2019s a simple theory but a misguided one. People say that if you freeze it and you find the oil to be a bit cloudy, then you\u2019ll know it\u2019s rancid. This is completely false. The reason is, every single fish out there contains some levels of saturated and monounsaturated fats. Although the amount of the saturated fats are relatively small, they still contain some none the less so it\u2019s an inaccurate test. This is why some capsules appear to have a cloudy look to them.<\/p>\n
This is highly important that you pay attention to the specific levels of ingredients in fish oils. All fish oil that you want to take must contain the proper amounts and no more or no less of EPA and DHA. You might want to do some research on these because the right amount of DHA is highly important.<\/p>\n
Potency is yet another area that\u2019s not quite fleshed out and a lot of people argue over. There\u2019s no real way to determine the exact level of potency you should look for but there are some indicators out there to help you make a wise purchasing decision. What some researchers have done is they\u2019ve reached out to people that have heavy amounts of fish oil in their diet and decided to study the effects whether negative or positive of omega 3s. This was done at a time before any kind of supplemental fish oil ever existed. These clinical studied have been done for decades now. Now, here\u2019s where the problem lies because you\u2019re more than likely deficient in the long chain omega 3s because the study was shown to find that the conversion of ALA to EPA and DHA are relatively poor. You\u2019d have to just be eating fish for that to happen. We can also conclude from the line of reasoning that the DHA contained in the fish is highly important for the desired therapeutic effect.<\/p>\n
Now, if you\u2019re looking to take fish oil specifically for the purpose of being an anti-inflammatory, then you\u2019ll want to hover around the safe range of 1-3 grams and not the ridiculous 20 gram rule that some doctors subscribe to. What\u2019s a little bit odd and confusing is that in some cultures, they eat foods such as salmon roe because it apparently has healing powers or has some effects that are known to heal. Salmon roe has a large amount of DHA in it and this contributes to why they do what they do. In perspective, if you ordered a 6oz serving of salmon roe, then you\u2019re actually eating 1 entire gram of DHA. However, this isn\u2019t exactly a cheap meal or something that everyone\u2019s going to be able to afford because these salmon roe come in at about $28 for a single serving. Now, the recommended DHA dose that you should be taking will highly depend on exactly what\u2019s being treated. A lot of people use fish oil for different purposes so you\u2019ll want to research carefully for your specific issue and the recommended dose. Also, remember that this is a safe recommended limit and there\u2019s no official all-knowing guide out there that can tell you the exact amounts.<\/p>\n
So, if you have a chronic inflammatory condition, you\u2019ll want to take around 2 grams per day. However, if you\u2019re just using fish oil supplements or doing it to remain healthy, then you\u2019ll want to hover around 500mg. The unfortunate fact is, not a lot of fish oil products out there have a high amount of DHA. This means, you have to end up taking more capsules as a result. Remember, we want to avoid extremely high amounts of DHA for safety reasons, so stay away from those products that have unclear labelling.<\/p>\n
When looking at nutrients for fish oil, you\u2019ll notice that all fish oils contains some amount of EPA and DHA. However, when we\u2019re discussing fish liver oil or oil that comes from sharks, skates and cods, these particular oils will contain some fat-soluble vitamins that aren\u2019t commonly found in foods.<\/p>\n
As we\u2019ve clarified earlier, all fish oils have some levels of EPA and DHA in them. What\u2019s interesting though as far as nutritional value goes, is that some of these fish oils, especially liver oils contain a decent amount of vitamin A and D complexes. Vitamin A and D are crucial to your health and definitely aren\u2019t easy to find in most modern food out there. In addition to your diet, some vitamin A and D supplements may be a good choice. If you\u2019re looking for the most benefit possible, you\u2019ll want to get some fermented cod liver oil which contains Vitamin K2. It\u2019s a recently discovered vitamin and it\u2019s missing from a lot of people\u2019s diets. Some studies (old) suggest that all Vitamin K does is protects the heart from blood clots. However, there\u2019s been new studies done to suggest that they also help with bone structure, brain function, healthy skin, prevent cancer and support growth in young adults and kids.<\/p>\n
This is also something that\u2019s highly important to look for because how effective the fish oil is could very well be from this specific trait alone. The more stable the molecular structure is of the fish oil, the better it will be at absorbing vitamins and ingredients. Low molecular structure is a complete waste of money and will just turn into excrement with no real added benefit. How well fish oil absorbs the components that are beneficial to human health is based on the molecular structure. Specifically the shape of the molecules in the fatty acids. You should always be trying to obtain nutrients from food based sources whenever possible and not completely reliant on supplements as this gets expensive and excess just comes out as urine at the end of the day, costing you money and providing no benefit.<\/p>\n
When we examine the market in its current state, there\u2019s really only three different forms available at this point in time. First, you have your natural triglyceride oil<\/strong>. Imagine squeezing a lemon and collecting the juice. This is really the same concept as this oil is what comes out of a squeezed whole fish. This is the closest you can get to eating completely natural fish and it\u2019s bioavailable as well. The only real downside is that you\u2019ll find that this particular type of fish oil comes with low EPA and DHA.<\/p>\n Next we have Ethyl ester oil<\/strong>. When the above natural oil is concentrated and then distilled to remove any impurities, this is the result. There\u2019s still this semi-natural state because of the body\u2019s human functioning and process. However, there are some advantages to ester oil because it has been revealed to contain triple the amounts of EPA and DHA over triglyceride oil.<\/p>\n Finally, we have synthetic triglyceride oil<\/strong>. When we take the process above, we add one more step to make it synthetic. All we have to do is basically re-convert the above formula into synthetic triglycerides. This drastically alters the molecule\u2019s structure and makes it highly bioavailable. So, if we look at the three different types of fish, we can conclude that the natural triglyceride which is naturally better absorbed.<\/p>\n You want to look into how the fish are harvested for your particular fish oil because any fish that were harvested in an unsafe or uncleanly manner need to be avoided completely. This poses risk for diseases or bad fish oil. Any species that are under threat should ideally be avoided at all costs. This one is a bit difficult because the particular sustainability of different fish oils really isn\u2019t that easy to engage. It\u2019s particularly hard to measure because there\u2019s different kinds of fish, they all live in different clients, there\u2019s different methods of acquiring the said fish and so on. There\u2019s some oils that are produced alone as a byproduct of fish harvesting. Now, the reason that manufacturers do this is because if they weren\u2019t produced, they would simply be discarded. At least, that\u2019s what the manufacturers are saying.<\/p>\n This method is arguable far better than harvesting fish just for their oil but at the same time, it\u2019s not good fishing practice and it\u2019s not something that should ideally be in use. So, what kind of fish oil should you be using for sustainability? You ideally want to use fish oil that\u2019s made from the fish. There\u2019s an organization called NSF that can certify the method of fish oil making as well if you\u2019re worried about how the company is making the fish oil. For one example, a great sustainable product is called Vital Choice Wild Salmon and Jarrow Max DHA.<\/p>\n So, what about krill oil? Is it relatively safe to eat and is it superior to the other three? What makes it so much different and what makes it better or worse than the others? We\u2019ve gotten a basic overview of the three types of main fish oils you see and hear about above but one you don\u2019t commonly hear talked about is something known as krill oil. Some argue that there\u2019s a lot of hidden benefits the other three don\u2019t have and some people think it\u2019s basically just a crock and its companies making things up to sell more products. Right off the bat, we know that krill oil provides EPA and DHA just like the other three do, so it\u2019s definitely in the contesting for healthy consumption. Now, how is krill oil extracted and why is it never talked about? Krill oil is extracted from Anarctic krill, Euphausia superba, a zooplankton crustacean rich in phospholipids carrying EPA and DHA. What makes krill oil so great is that there\u2019s a lot of various potent antioxidants in it as well. This is something that a lot of fish oils lack these days, the antioxidants are essential for older people who are prone to getting sick a lot easier.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also quite a few elements that have some people shaking their heads such as some of the flavonoid properties that aren\u2019t quite understood by researchers yet but they are known to provide some health benefits. The biomolecular structure of krill oil is what sets it apart really because it\u2019s far different than the other three types of fish oil out there. A researcher named Werner successfully demonstrated that there\u2019s fatty acids in krill oil in the form of phospholipids and not only were they found but they were found to be far superior in fatty acids that are essential for the healthy living human body. When testing was done on mice, it was found that the levels of EPA and DHA were significantly increased but there\u2019s been limited testing done on humans due to potentials risks and health concerns. However, there have been some human studies done though because in one particular study, Bunea went on to compare the effect of krill oil on blood lipids. What he did was, he wanted to compare the krill oil and fish oil side by side on how particularly effective it was on blood lipids. He wanted to specifically look at cholesterol to see if there was any kind of a difference or benefit to the krill oil.<\/p>\n This had to be done in different dosages to ensure that the test was being done with various amounts of krill oil and to see if there\u2019s any kind of specific amount that will trigger the effects. Fish oil however was only given a single dose of 3g per day. The interesting results showed that krill oil was not only effective at all doses but it dramatically improved blood lipids, far better than the fish oil did and for that reason, krill oil is far more expensive, despite it being rarer as well. Now, since it is still in testing and isn\u2019t extensively tested yet, there\u2019s a lot of argument back and forth between the exact benefits of krill oil and if they\u2019re consistent every time. At this current point in time though, krill oil is far more effective.<\/p>\n Now, this question comes a lot in the community and it\u2019s reasonable to have concerns because a lot of companies do shady things to get their products out the door and some people are a bit concerned with the amount of mercury in fish. However, if you\u2019re in America, you shouldn\u2019t worry because the amount of mercury found in fish isn\u2019t nearly enough to pose any kind of risk. Measuring mercury though is a flawed practice because it ignores selenium. Selenium is found in the oceans and there\u2019s no short supply of it as well. The public isn\u2019t quite aware of this ingredient because it\u2019s not commonly talked about but it\u2019s highly protective against mercury. Now, this new substance when it\u2019s formed by the selenium will essentially make it difficult for the body to absorb mercury. You can kind of think of it as brain tissue, once selenium is bound to mercury, that mercury may not travel anywhere else and it has to stick to the selenium. So, try to take a guess at how many foods are high in selenium. If you guessed ocean fish, then you\u2019re on track because 16 of the top 25 sources of dietary selenium are actually ocean fish. This is great news and even more so, studies have shown that there\u2019s a lot of selenium, even more so than mercury in most fish in almost every single study done.<\/p>\n What exactly is a fatty acid? A fatty acid essentially just combines three different kinds of atoms together: oxygen, carbon and hydrogen. Fatty acids can be further classified basically with how many carbon atoms are in the chain that\u2019s formed by those atoms. Fish contain quite a few different kinds of fatty acids. However, you want to aim for the ones that are the long chain omega 3 fats. You want to make sure you\u2019re getting something ripe in EPA and DHA with long chain omega 3 fats for the best health available.<\/p>\n This product contains about 270mg of omega 3 and about 139 mg of EPA. Furthermore, we see that the product contains about 83 mg of DHA and is pretty well packed in Vitamin D and Vitamin A with 1,100 IU of Vitamin D and 2,300 IU of Vitamin A.<\/p>\n This is basically a whole food product right from its natural form and isn\u2019t a supplement. This is great news to save money and not have to constantly buy supplement capsules. However, there are pretty high levels of vitamin D and there\u2019s also high levels of vitamins A & K as well. So while it is rich in vitamins, we see that they\u2019re fat soluble vitamins as well and it greatly increases the absorption of the product. This is beneficial for absorbing EPA & DHA. We also see that there\u2019s grass-fed butter oil which will dramatically increase the level of K2 vitamins.<\/p>\n This product comes with 600 mg of omega 3, 240 mg in EPA and 220 mg of DHA. For the vitamins, we have 340 IU of vitamin D and approximately 2,060 IU of vitamin A. This number is calculated by using 3 x 1,000 mg soft gels and not hard capsule tablets.<\/p>\n One of the great things about the vital choice wild salmon oil is that it\u2019s not processed with heat by using something called micro-filtration. This is great because it means it\u2019s going to naturally retain all of those vitamins, mostly A and D. They\u2019re highly absorbable as it comes in a natural triglyceride state. This product also has ingredients that will protect the oil from becoming rancid and it\u2019s very protective against oxidative damage as well. You\u2019ll find a lack of Blue Ice in this product, instead it contains a bit more DHA and EPA to make up for that.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll find 600 mg of omega 3, 250 mg of DHA and 36mg of EPA per every single capsule. This measurement was done by the use of one serving which is approximately just one capsule.<\/p>\n Now, when we look at Jarrow Max and we put it side by side with the two natural oils that are listed above, we see a very clear difference in the absorption. We first notice that the Jarrow Max is significantly cheaper and you can even get your hands on 1 gram of DHA for only $.32. It\u2019s not a common price but doing a little bit of searching, it\u2019s definitely out there and available for consumers. These are packed rich in anchovies and sardines which are very low in contaminants as well. The good news is, if you ask them for a certificate of analysis, they happily accept and are eager to send you one over. They believe in their product. The COA checks out just fine and is exactly what they say it is which makes this a highly recommended product.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll find approximately 230 mg of omega 3, 70 mg of DHA, 120 mg of EPA and this is per serving. One serving is approximately two capsules.<\/p>\n Neptune krill oil has an interesting structure that makes it an improvement over a lot of other different fish oils. When we look at the basic structure of the Neptune krill oil we see that there\u2019s a phospholipid setup which means it improves the absorption of the DHA and EPA. Now, if you want to improve blood lipids, there have been a few number of studies that suggests krill oil is superior in that regards compared to other fish oil. In regards to vitamins, Neptune comes with vitamin E and vitamin A. It also contains something known as Astaxanthin, which is basically just an antioxidant that\u2019s supposedly 10 times more potent than other carotenoids on the market today.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll notice that the size of the Neptune krill oil capsules are far smaller than a lot of capsules on the market today making them great for older people and children, because they\u2019re a lot easier to swallow. Also, while some people have a problem with constantly burping while using other fish oils, the Neptune studies suggest that burping isn\u2019t a common issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you remember from earlier, we noted that there\u2019s approximately seven different things you need to look for when you\u2019re purchasing fish oil. Price Now obviously this one isn\u2019t crucial<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extensivelyreviewed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extensivelyreviewed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extensivelyreviewed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extensivelyreviewed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extensivelyreviewed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/extensivelyreviewed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":554,"href":"https:\/\/extensivelyreviewed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147\/revisions\/554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extensivelyreviewed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extensivelyreviewed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extensivelyreviewed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Sustainability<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Krill Oil<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Is It Safe to Eat Fish?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Omega 3s: Fish Oil vs. Flax
<\/strong><\/h2>\n1. Blue Ice Royal Butter Oil Review
<\/strong><\/h2>\n2. Vital Choice Wild Salmon Oil Review
<\/strong><\/h2>\n3. Jarrow Formulas Max DHA Review
<\/strong><\/h2>\n4. Now Foods Neptune Krill Oil Review
<\/strong><\/h2>\n