Which Fish Oil Supplements Do We Recommend (And Use Ourselves)?

There’s some traps for the consumer who is looking to buy fish oil supplements

We take the excellent fish oil supplements from Xtend Life, and we’d like to show you the process that we used to decide that those were the best fish oil supplements that are available. Perhaps you either take fish oil supplements already or you are just about ready to buy fish oil supplements and get started taking them. Either way you may be interested to find out more about how to select your supplements from all those available, and how we came to the conclusion to use the supplements we do.

Unfortuninately it’s true to say that not all fish oil supplements, or what are sometimes called Omega 3 supplements, are the same. There are wide variations between the different brands, and anyone looking to buy Omega 3 supplements can be presented with some confusing choices. We hope to be able to dispel some of the confusion today.

Lets look at what you need to think about point by point, and see how we have made our decision on the brand of fish oil supplements that we take ourselves, daily, and think are by far the best.

1. How much DHA and EPA are you getting?

Of these 2 DHA is the more important of the Omega3 fats. It is DHA which makes up a large part of your brain. So it’s important that you’re getting as much DHA as possible in your supplements, along with plenty of EPA as well. However there are wide variations in the amount of DHA and EPA in the different brands.

Many Omega3 supplements are what is known as 18/12 supplements, meaning that you get 18 percent EPA and 12 percent DHA in any one capsule. As most capsules are 1000 milligrams you are getting 180 milligrams of EPA and you’re getting 120 milligrams of DHA in one capsule. If you’re not sure then look at the label, it should state the quantities, if not don’t buy.

Remember that you’re only buying the benefits of the DHA and EPA, those are the active ingredients.

Whilst common fish oil supplements are 18/12, there are other, higher quality fish oil supplements that are not. In fact they contain 280 milligrams of DHA, somewhere around 2 1/2 times as much DHA as regular capsules.

2. Don’t choose by price.

For the exact reason we’ve just specified it’s impossible to compare the different fish oil supplements by price. If the best fish oil supplements have 2 1/2 times more DHA than average supplements then they will be 2 1/2 times better value if sold at the same price. For a more detailed discussion and a comparison of the different brands of fish oil supplements by price read our article about comparing fish oil supplements by price.

3. Make cleanliness and purity of the supplements your number-one priority.

There is growing evidence that fish are, in many cases, contaminated with various industrial toxins including Mercury, dioxane and PCBs. The that reason the FDA recommends that we don’t eat too much fish.

Of course fish oil supplements made from contaminated fish may well also be contaminated. Many manufacturers use fish caught in the North Sea off the coast of Europe and North America as that’s the cheapest place to catch fish, being close to land. The North Sea, however, is relatively contaminated. Many fish oil supplements made with oil from fish caught in the North Sea are decontaminated, however there are differences in the quality of the oil depending on the decontamination process used.

The fish oil supplements we take use oil from fish caught way down in the Southern Ocean away from major sources of contamination. These are the supplements that we take personally and give to our children, every day.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that they are not contaminated, however they also undergo a proprietary decontamination process. But the best test for any supplement is that it be analysed for contaminants, and that you, the paying customer who is looking to buy fish oil supplements from that company, can see the results.

This should be evidenced by the publication of the Certificate of Analysis from the test on the website. If a manufacturer of fish oil supplements does not publish evidence on the website of the cleanliness of their supplements be very wary.

The manufacturer of what we think are the best fish oil supplements publishes regular and updated copies of the Certificate of Analysis for their oil for all potential customers to see.

4. The freshness of the oil used.

Fish oil, like any other food, can go off, and it does. When fish oil goes off it is called “rancid”. Rancid fish oil is used in many capsules, and is the main cause of the “fishy burps” that is often experienced by people who take fish oil supplements.

As many manufacturers of supplements buy their oil from wholesalers there is no way of knowing how fresh it is. The best fish oil supplements are manufactured by a company that controls how the fish are caught, and ensures that the oil is made available for manufacture as fast as possible, and is therefore completely fresh.

Rancid oil can actually be bad for you, rancid oil produces free radicals.

There’s some important points for you to think about before you buy fish oil supplements or Omega 3 supplements. Don’t just grab the cheapest supplements on the supermarket, there’s much more that you need to consider than simply price. It’s your health that is at stake, and you need to make sure that if you’ve decided to take fish oil, you buy the best supplements.

In our view the supplements from Xtend Life, a New Zealand manufacturer, are the best in the world. On the above comparison they stand head and shoulders above all others. Those are the supplements that we take, and give our children, every day.

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