"I've never been much of a believer in supplements. However, after repeated invitations from my wife I started taking Omega 3 Fish Oil. Consequently, my cholesteral levels have improved and I've never felt so healthy."
- Eric B.
"Since I started supplementing with high-dose fish oil nearly 8 months ago my skin has not been nearly so dry, my allergies have almost entirely gone away and my general health appears to be improving."
- Rebecca
"After one month of taking fish oil, my husband starting noticing positive changes in the texture of his hair, and his blood sugar levels were dramatically stabilizing, as he is a type 1 diabetic (for the past 27 years)."
So is one type of fish oil better than the next? Well... we believe yes and no. Don't let price differences in fish oil supplements mislead you or product marketings who claim their product is only type like it on the market. While there is indeed a large range of potency and purity in fish oil supplements we don't believe their is necessarily one and only one best fish oil supplement.
Are There Different Grades of Fish Oil?
Many so called fish oil "experts" claim there are basically three grades of fish oil which include cod liver fish oil, health-food grade fish oil and pharmaceutical-grade fish oil. And as you might guess, which one is most expensive off course the best, pharmaceutical-grade fish oil. So aside from price what according to the "experts" distinguishes one fish oil from another? According to the experts the two distinguishing characteristics of a good fish oil are (1) purity and (2) concentration of the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids.
Cod Liver Oil
Cod liver oil is considered the lowest quality fish oil largly in part because this form of fish oil has a low concentration of omega-3 fatty acids and is the least pure fish oil available on the market. Additionally, it is purported that using large amounts of cod liver oil is not recommended due to the high levels of Vitamin A found it contains.
Health Food-grade Fish Oils
A large percentage "health-food" grade fish oil are extracted from the body of the fish. According to some "experts" health-food grade fish oil is only sold in soft gelatin capsules because they do not taste good and quite simply need to be covered up to be palitable. Additionally, the average one-gram capsule of health-food grade fish oil contains approximately 300 mg of omega-3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA). Another type of health-food fish oil known as "fish oil concentrate" consists of ethyl esters of the fish oil that has been subjected to fractional cooling. However, this fractional cooling does not remove all the impurities or other types of fatty acids that can cause an upset stomach. A one-gram capsule of fish oil concentrate may contain up to 500 mg certain types of omega-3 fatty acids.
Pharmaceutical-Grade Fish Oil
The following text is a definition of pharmaceutical-grade fish as defined by DrSears.com:
"Pharmaceutical-grade fish oil starts with thermally fractionated health-food fish oil that is then distilled by highly complex refining technology into fractions rich in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids that are exceptionally low in the long-chain monoenes (that cause gastric distress) and pollutants such as PCB's and oxidized and polymerized lipids. The individual fractions are then combined to provide the most appropriate balance of EPA and DHA for the finished oil. The typical one-gram capsule of pharmaceutical-grade fish oil will have at least 600 mg. of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. This may not seem a major concentration improvement compared to the health-food grade fish oils, however, the increase in the purity of the oil is why it costs nearly twice as much. This purity is also reflected in a dramatically improved taste profile."
While we do not doubt that pharmaceutical-grade fish oil is of the highest quality the above definition seems a lot like a sales pitch to get you to pay double the price ($50+ a month) of other quality fish oils ($20 to $40 a month). Whether "pharmaceutical-grade fish oil" is the purest and most effective fish oil on the market is yet to be proven. We feel there a number of high qualified fish oil supplements on the market that can provide you with remarkable results.
The web site NutritionalTree.com collects unbiased customer health supplements reviews and lists a number of popular fish oil supplement reviews here.
"I've never been much of a believer in supplements. However, after repeated invitations from my wife I started taking Omega 3 Fish Oil. Consequently, my cholesteral levels have improved and I've never felt so healthy."
"Since I started supplementing with high-dose fish oil nearly 8 months ago my skin has not been nearly so dry, my allergies have almost entirely gone away and my general health appears to be improving."
"After one month of taking fish oil, my husband starting noticing positive changes in the texture of his hair, and his blood sugar levels were dramatically stabilizing, as he is a type 1 diabetic (for the past 27 years)."
