Taking fish oil pills is good for you. Or is it?

There has been much discussion lately about whether taking fish oil pills can be dangerous to your health. But why in the world could fish oil supplements be dangerous, aren’t essential fatty acids meant to be good for your health?

There is ample evidence that taking Omega 3 supplements containing fish oil, which is high in the essential fatty acids known as DHA and EPA, is good for your health. The health benefits of essential fatty acid supplementation are well recognized and such organizations as the American Heart Association recommends that we all have minimum levels of intake of essential fatty acids, because doing so attracts a wide range of heart health benefits.

Of course we can do that by eating plenty of oily fish but for most of us this means taking fish oil pills.

And as well as the beneficial effects of essential fatty acid supplementation to the heart there is also a wide range of beneficial health effects more generally. In fact the benefits of Omega 3 fatty acids go on and on.

So why could taking fish oil pills be dangerous to your health? The debate raging over the last few days is about the presence of PCBs in fish oil supplements.

PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl) are industrial chemicals that are man made. They have been linked to various types of environmental contamination as well as to a range of health risks to people who consume foods containing PCBs. They are considered to be carcinogenic and can also lead to reproductive toxicity and are extremely persistent, meaning that they do not break down in the environment and that they can make their way up the food chain.

This has been well-known for quite some time and the manufacture of PCBs has been banned in the US for around 30 years.

The reason that there is a current discussion about PCBs in omega 3 fish oil pills is that a lawsuit has recently been launched against some manufacturers of fish oil supplements alleging that contrary to the provisions of Proposition 65 under California law they have failed to alert the public to the risks of PCBs in their products. The law requires that consumers be warned where the fish oil supplements contain levels of PCBs in excess of a prescribed amount.

Although not all brands of fish oil capsules have been tested a number have and there is a wide discrepancy between different brands of omega-3 fish oil pills in the levels of PCBs discovered. Some brands had significantly higher levels than others.

Under proposition 65 there is a recommended maximum level for PCBs as a cancer risk but the risks of PCBs to reproductive toxicity are less well understood and there is no maximum levels set.

Therefore it would seem to make sense, when consumers are seeking to buy omega 3 fish oil supplements, that they seek to buy the supplements with the lowest level of PCB contamination. This seems to be the object of the lawsuit and in the backgrounder it states that “the only guideline consumers can follow is that less is safer”. This would make sense.

How do you determine the level of PCBs found in your essential fatty acid supplements? If you’re looking to buy high quality omega 3 fatty acids supplements you should be able to find a Certificate of Analysis for the fish oil used in the capsules, which would commonly be available on the website, and it should specify the level of PCBs detected on testing.

A different question is how much PCBs are acceptable. There are different organizations offering different maximum levels of PCBs to be found in fish oil pills. You can find a comparison table of the different maximum recommended levels here.

This table comes from the website of  Xtend Life who make what we consider to be the finest as well as the cleanest fish oil supplements available on the market. If you examine the table you will see that the maximum level for PCBs set by Xtend Life is almost 10 times lower than that of the International Fish Oil Standards and almost 20 times lower than the standard set by the Council for Responsible Nutrition.

In addition if you examine the most recent Certificate of Analysis (from the 23rd of February 2010) of the fish oil used in their Omega3 supplements you will see that PCBs are not detected. That does not mean that they are not present however it does mean that current science is unable to detect any PCBs in the fish oil samples.

The testing that led to the court action has found significant levels of PCBs in a number of different brands of fish oil pills.

This suggests to us that as well as being the best fish oil supplements on the market they also have an extremely low level of PCBs present under current methods of scientific testing, substantially lower than the brands tested, and perhaps none at all.

However to satisfy yourself should visit the website of Xtend Life and read their information about the cleanliness of their fish oil supplements yourself. And you will see their explanation on that page of why their test results are so clean.

So to summarize, there are clear benefits of fish oil supplementation. There is little doubt about that. However there can also be risks of contamination from PCBs (and other toxins too) in some brands, and it pays to do your research to find out the cleanest fish oil pills on the market. For the reasons previously stated it seems clear to us that the Omega-3 fatty acids supplements from Xtend Life fit the bill and, after spending some time on their website you should see why. Read the rest of this entry

Written by - Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oils

(And make sure you read our page explaining why you need Omega 3 Fish Oil supplements, and find out how to choose the Best Fish Oil Supplements).

How do you get your Omega 3 fatty acids if fish is contaminated?

If you’re beginning to find out about the health benefits of Omega3 essential fatty acids you’ll find out that 2 primary Omega3 fats, namely DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), are found primarily in fish oil. And of course fish oil comes from fish. So the obvious conclusion if you wish to increase your intake of Omega3 essential fatty acids is to increase the amount of fish in your diet.

However although Omega3 oils are found in fish there are also some powerful reasons to avoid eating too much fish. One of these risks is Mercury contamination of fish, and for this reason the FDA recommend that many of us should avoid eating too much fish because of contamination with Mercury as well as other toxins.

So today lets look at Mercury contamination of fish, and consider whether fish is your best source of Omega3 fatty acids, or whether taking Omega3 supplements is a better alternative.

A 2009 study was one of the first to seriously examine Mercury levels in our marine environment and in our fish.

The conclusions of the study were concerning. It was found that 40 percent of Mercury exposure in people in the US came from tuna consumption, and that levels of Mercury in the Pacific were rising. The study found that Mercury levels in the North Pacific were 30 percent higher in 2006 than they were in 1996.

The Mercury was present in the form of methylmercury. It was found that the Mercury came primarily from 2 sources, from Asia and also from the atmosphere. It has been known for some time that atmospheric emissions of Mercury can contaminate the oceans, and this is now being combined with other Mercury sources.

Mercury is a serious toxin and can contribute to developmental problems in the fetus and the infant and has other serious health implications as well.

It was found that the methylmercury formed in mid depth water in the ocean and sank to the bottom with the help of algae, and that small organisms then picked it up, and it was then transported up the food chain to the large predators such as sharks and tuna. And of course it is these fish that we eat.

The FDA has issued warnings in the past about Mercury contamination of fish, although it has also suggested that the negative effects of Mercury intake may be outweighed by the positive effects of the Omega3 oil content of the fish.

However it seems clear that the levels of Mercury, as well as other toxic chemicals, in our fish are rising.

The American Heart Association recommends that we all have a minimum intake of fish because most of us are deficient in Omega3 fatty acids, and we should all be getting a minimum level of Omega3 oils.

Therefore there is a bit of a conundrum for those seeking to increase their Omega3 essential fatty acid intake. Do we eat more fish and risk increasing our intake of Mercury but also increasing our intake of Omega3 fish oil, or do we eat less fish to reduce our intake of Mercury thereby reducing our intake of Omega3?

Or is there another way?

This is of course an individual decision and there are no government guidelines telling us the best way to increase our Omega3 intake. However there are some considerations which should be taken into account.

The first is this. Fish is expensive, and getting increasingly more expensive over time, and fish is a declining resource. It seems quite clear that our oceans are over fished, and only recently there has been a reduction in the legal tuna catch for a number of nations involved in the tuna industry for this reason.

For these reasons, and also because of the risks of Mercury intake, people may choose not to increase their intake of fish if there is a better way to increase their Omega3 intake safely and cost-effectively. Why diminish a declining resource when there is a better way, particularly if you don’t like eating expensive fish that much?

Certainly there is a better way. The best Omega3 supplements, or what are also known as fish oil supplements, are a cost-effective way to increase your intake of Omega3 without eating more fish. The best Omega3 supplements are contamination free and tests show no detectable levels of Mercury at all. For this reason it is both cost effective and safe to take the best Omega3 capsules daily.

Note that not all Omega3 supplements are as good as others. The best Omega3 capsules have 2 1/2 times more DHA than regular capsules. Read our article about how to compare Omega3 supplements to find out more.

However if you like eating fish, and are prepared for the expense of eating more, together with the risks of increasing your Mercury intake, then eating fish is a good way to increase your Omega3 intake. Read the rest of this entry

Written by - Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oils

(And make sure you read our page explaining why you need Omega 3 Fish Oil supplements, and find out how to choose the Best Fish Oil Supplements).

Are Norwegian fish oil capsules the cleanest fish oil supplements or are there better alternatives?

For some time there has been some focus on Norwegian fish oil capsules as many people have sought to find fish oil supplements using Norwegian fish oils. Lets examine why and consider whether Norwegian fish oil capsules are any better than any other fish oil capsules, or are even as good as some alternatives.

One of the reasons Norwegian fish oil supplements were so popular in the past was that became increasingly obvious that there were fish oil capsules on the market containing contaminants such as Mercury, PCBs, pesticides and heavy metals and more. It was considered that fish oil from Norway would be cleaner than fish oil sourced from other locations because the waters off Norway should be cleaner than some other waters where fish were sourced.

This for the obvious reason that Norway is a long way north and hopefully the waters off Norway should be relatively free of contamination.

Cleanliness of your fish oil is paramount. The FDA recommends that we do not eat too much fish purely because fish, in almost all cases, are contaminated and we ought not eat too much because many of these contaminants build up in our system. This is particularly true for pregnant women.

There are very many fish oil supplements available on the market. Many, including the major brand of Norwegian fish oil capsules, claim to be free of contaminants as a result of a decontamination process that their fish oils undergo and the fact that their fish are sourced from the waters of Norway.

It is very difficult to establish to your own satisfaction exactly how true these claims are. We are certainly not saying that any brand of fish oil supplements including Norwegian fish oil supplements are contaminated, we are merely saying that in many cases it’s very hard to know how true the claims are that the fishoils used in the manufacture of the capsules are contamination free other than the claims made that this is the case.

We always like to see some independent evidence of any of the claims made about cleanliness. It may be entirely true that Norwegian fishoils are cleaner than others however we would like to see, on the website of any fish oil supplement manufacturer, some evidence of this.

For example where the fishoils used in the manufacture of supplements are independently tested by recognized laboratories we would like to see the Certificate of Analysis that is produced by that laboratory. If the certificate of analysis of the fishoils is published then you can see for yourself what the results of the testing are.

We have spent some time looking around the website of the manufacturer of the major branded Norwegian fish oil, Carlson’s. Whilst probably excellent Omega 3 supplements the website for Carlson’s Norwegian fish oil supplements does not seem to have any certificate of analysis published for the benefit of users despite claims that these tests have been done.

Of course this may be there and hard to find, we have not been able to find one and so if we cannot other visitors probably cannot as well, if it exists.

Our preferred brand of fish oil is that produced by Xtend Life. We have written here on many occasions why we prefer Xtend Life omega 3 supplements, including that they specify quite clearly on their website where the fish comes from that is used to produce the fish oil, how it is processed, what process is used to decontaminate the fish oil and also because they publish each certificate of analysis produced by two independent laboratories as evidence of the fact that their fish oils are entirely clean.

The reason why so many people in the past preferred Norwegian fish oil supplements is because Norwegian waters are considered to be cleaner than those where fish are regularly caught for fish oil supplements, including the north Atlantic which is particularly contaminated.

The fish used by Xted Life for their Omega3 capsules are not from Norway, rather they are from the waters in the Southern Ocean south of New Zealand. Considering the world map we consider it far more likely that fish from the Southern Ocean between New Zealand and Antarctica are sourced from waters that are far more likely to be pristine and clean than the waters off Norway.

There is no doubt that contamination of fish oils used in fish oil supplements is a concern. There are good reasons for people to be worried about the cleanliness of their fish oil supplements and for this reason so many people have sought to buy fish oil supplements using fish sourced from clean water.

However the best omega 3 supplements and the cleanest omega 3 supplements are now manufactured from fish oil from fish caught near Antarctica. This must be as clean and most probably cleaner than fish caught in the waters of Norway. Norwegian fish oil capsules were probably the cleanest Omega 3 supplements in the past, but this may no longer be the case. Read the rest of this entry

Written by - Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oils

(And make sure you read our page explaining why you need Omega 3 Fish Oil supplements, and find out how to choose the Best Fish Oil Supplements).