The best fish oil supplement in my opinion is one that meets a certain set of rules. One of the popularly asked questions about omega-3 fatty acids is where to get them from. Plant food, fish or fish oil supplements? The answer to this question is pretty quick and easy. It would have been nice to get all our fatty acids needs from plant food such as flaxseed. However there are two certain challenges. Firstly, we won’t be able to get omega-3 in sufficient levels from plants. Secondly, flaxseed has a certain type of fatty acid called ALA which basically relies on the body to convert it into omega-3. This is a hard and challenging thing to do for diabetes patients, for example.
The other question is to do with fresh fish. Whilst there is tremendous benefit in eating fish which is recommended at 2 or 3 times per week for meaningful results; the first challenge is that most people are busy and hardly can afford to sit down for a great meal three times a week and enjoy home cooked fish, for example. As we all know many people today often eat fast food each week. Secondly and more importantly is the growing concern about the levels of pollution in water bodies such as oceans, seas and lakes. Most of these waters have mercury and other metals harmful to human health. As a result most people are backing off from eating fish altogether.
This leaves us with a great search for the best fish oil supplement on the market. I personally have what I consider best fish oil supplement but before I mention which one it is I wish to set out what I think are important guidelines that will help you identify your supplement to go with. This will also help you when doing your own fish oil reviews before a purchase. A great fish oil supplement has to do with the following indicators;
- Through Processing
- DHA and EPA ratios
- Less smelly
- Capsules or liquid
- Price
Processing
You obviously would want to purchase a pharmaceutical grade fish oil supplement. It all begins with processing. You may recall from what I mentioned above that the problem today are the tainted water sources of fish. This also affects the quality of fish oil supplements. As a result it is possible and is in reality happening that many fish oil products contain harmful substances such as mercury and other metals.
The best type of fish oil supplement is one that has gone through thorough processing to rid the supplement of harmful substances or contaminants. This can ceratainly be done by bigger companies with the equipment and technology to do so and which have high quality control standards. In my view the tragedy of the supplements industry on the whole is that there is little or no regulation making it possible for fraudulent manufacturers to rush to market even with low quality products.
DHA and EPA Ratios
As you might have already discovered in my discussion on the benefits of fish oil supplements under what does fish oil do, fish oil is made up of two type of fatty acids namely EPA (eicosapentanoic acid) and DHA (docosahexanoic acid). It does not follow that each bottle or capsule of fish oil supplement has these ratios in correct measure. The best fish oil supplement has these ratios correctly configured. You will need therefore to check the label on the bottle to ensure that the DHA and EPA ratios are correct. Some credible experts recommend a ratio of 3:2 i.e. DHA to EPA. You might need to work with a medical professional to settle for the recommended ratio in your own situation.
Less Smelly
Now this is really a matter of personal preference. However, many people complain about this clear side effect of fish oil. Expect a fishy after taste and bad breath particularly with liquid fish oil supplements. Remember fish oil in liquid form is largely a direct extract of oil from the flesh of fish and will therefore smell as fish. This makes capsules less smelly. This is really a personal decision you will have to make when finding fish oil supplements.
Capsules Or Liquid Omega 3 Fish Oil
As you settle to choose the best fish oil supplements, its worth while noting here that if you go for capsules expect to burp a fishy smell. For some supplements you will need to take at least 2 or 3 capsules per day. In general each capsule has as much as 1000mg of fish oil per capsules.
Price
This is really the last of my factors that I consider. The most important thing is to identify the best fish oil supplement and worry about the price later. A great fish oil supplement protects your health and not attempt to repair your health whilst at the same time causing more harm than good. The price of fish oil ranges from $11.00 to as high as $70.00 depending on whether it is a capsule or liquid oil.
My Best Fish Oil Supplement
Using the above guidelines you can go out to look for what you might consider your fish oil supplement of choice. I personally vouch for Nordic Naturals particularly because this product is less smelly and also well manufactured. It has traceable references. It also has great taste and purified to the highest degree to remove toxins.