Fish oil capsules

Dtp1979

Can anyone reccomend a really good brand. At the moment I'm getting them from the U.S. But they're slow to deliver. Good quality all the same. They're 800 EPA 600 DHA. So id be looking for something of equal quality or better

deco72

What fish oils are you using that seems like loads compared to most I have seen.

Dtp1979

deco72 wrote: »

What fish oils are you using that seems like loads compared to most I have seen.

The better ones have high dosages like that.

deco72

That's the reason why I am asking. I was told that Eskimo-3 Capsules were one of the better ones:
Ingredients per 4 caps:
Omega-3 fatty acids 720 mg Providing: EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) 320 mg DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) 200 mg Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) 6 mg Other ingredients: Lecithin (soy), Extract of Rosemary, ascorbyl palmitate, lime oil

But these seem to be a lot lower than what you have mentioned above.

Are your figures based per capsule? If so there are 10 times the amount of EPA and 12 times the amount of DHA.

Alf Veedersane

Best I've seen is Life Extension Europe with a EPA/DHA content of 720/480

Dtp1979

Here's my ones.
The brand is brain power+

Dtp1979

The cover

seefin

Can only see the brain power plus ones for sale on Amazon.com. Don't ship to Ireland. Where do you buy them?

Dtp1979

seefin wrote: »

Can only see the brain power plus ones for sale on Amazon.com. Don't ship to Ireland. Where do you buy them?

Got it on eBay.

Precious flower

Are the boots ones okay, because I take them now used to take SevenSeas.:o

gavinM41

i use a company called acthealthy they have a omega 3 High, now the levels are not as high as you have just stated but my doc said the levels are more than adequate with my diet.

Im looking at the back here and it says 290 epa 183 dha. Its great i got it recommended by a pharma rep think its a tenner for 90 capsules so i was sold and its good for me

DaveD

I use these, best i could find in Boots.

http://www.shieldhealth.ie/omega-3/morepa-smart-fats.html

■590mg EPA
■130mg DHA

gavinM41

the think i posted here and then couldnt find the site lol.. here is the one i bought from

i cant post links but the website is acthealthy with the w's and ireland ie

gavinM41

@DaveD what site you get those on

DaveD

gavinM41 wrote: »

@DaveD what site you get those on

I buy them in Boots.

Tenzor07

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Can anyone reccomend a really good brand

This is what you need, one of the top brands, very high quality..

http://bodyfirst.ie/product/carlson-super-omega-3-fish-oil-1000mg

Dtp1979

Tenzor07 wrote: »

This is what you need, one of the top brands, very high quality..

http://bodyfirst.ie/product/carlson-super-omega-3-fish-oil-1000mg

160epa 100dha is hardly high quality?

zweton

can someone recommend a good brand?

Dtp1979

zweton wrote: »

can someone recommend a good brand?

Brain power+

byhookorbycrook

My gp reckons we all need to be on omega oils, but not those made from the fish liver. She recommended Udo's Oil, you can get the oil or the capsules.

Dtp1979

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

My gp reckons we all need to be on omega oils, but not those made from the fish liver. She recommended Udo's Oil, you can get the oil or the capsules.

GPs would've the last people I'd ask about nutrition. My own gp nearly passed out with shock when I told him I ate more than 2 eggs a day

Tenzor07

Dtp1979 wrote: »

160epa 100dha is hardly high quality?

Oh sorry, you're a pharmacist/scientist then?

Premium Pharmaceutical Grade Essential Fatty Acids in these capsules are better than most of the large brands...

NinetyForNone

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Oh sorry, you're a pharmacist/scientist then?

Premium Pharmaceutical Grade Essential Fatty Acids in these capsules are better than most of the large brands...

Hey I think he was referring to quantity not quality...

gavinM41

Cheers Dave D ill stick with the act healthy ones for now good for my knees so far anyway

Tenzor07

NinetyForNone wrote: »

Hey I think he was referring to quantity not quality...

It refers to ratio of EPA to DHA, I didn't know until I Googled it, so looks like the OP is a bit of an expert..

gavinM41

If you eat a lot of oily fish like mackerel or tuna then the levels you need are quite low. i was basically told if i eat a good diet then the levels of dha and epa can be low, so i take the basic omega 3 in summer as i eat a lot of fish and in winter i get the high epa dha as i eat a lot less fish .

Dtp1979

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Oh sorry, you're a pharmacist/scientist then?

Premium Pharmaceutical Grade Essential Fatty Acids in these capsules are better than most of the large brands...

I don't see anything special about the capsules you reccomended. Sorry if that offended you. Lots of capsules go through stringent testing and have much higher epa/dha levels, and I would regard those as being better quality

gavinM41

the higher epa dha levels only necessary if your diet is devoid of them, mine isnt so i dont need to supplement that much. The quality is brilliant i have to say but saying more dha epa is better for you is wrong as you can overdose just my 2 cents from my research on the stuff. But you are right its not that special but it has the right level and is cheaper than anything else out there including the eskimo ones.

Dtp1979

gavinM41 wrote: »

the higher epa dha levels only necessary if your diet is devoid of them, mine isnt so i dont need to supplement that much. The quality is brilliant i have to say but saying more dha epa is better for you is wrong as you can overdose just my 2 cents from my research on the stuff. But you are right its not that special but it has the right level and is cheaper than anything else out there including the eskimo ones.

Would you have any link to research showing that you can overdose on it?

Alf Veedersane

gavinM41 wrote: »

the higher epa dha levels only necessary if your diet is devoid of them, mine isnt so i dont need to supplement that much. The quality is brilliant i have to say but saying more dha epa is better for you is wrong as you can overdose just my 2 cents from my research on the stuff. But you are right its not that special but it has the right level and is cheaper than anything else out there including the eskimo ones.

Certain types of fish are very high in DHA and EPA where 100g of the fish will give you north of 1g of DHA + EPA. It's not all that difficult to 'overdose' on actual fish either.

ford2600

Kinda on topic..


http://sigmanutrition.com/episode98/

Precious flower

The boots one is 1,000mg (Pure cod liver oil 501mg) with an EPA and DHA of 187mg. It also has vitamin A (400ug RE and D 5ug. Is this good or bad? I think I might change it because I'd be concerned about consuming too much vitamin A. I've having anxiety issues at the moment and read that Omega 3 and vitamin B is good a supplement to take for anxiety issues. But I think my diet is pretty decent too so it's hard to know whether I'm overdoing it or not.

Dtp1979

Precious flower wrote: »

The boots one is 1,000mg (Pure cod liver oil 501mg) with an EPA and DHA of 187mg. It also has vitamin A (400ug RE and D 5ug. Is this good or bad? I think I might change it because I'd be concerned about consuming too much vitamin A. I've having anxiety issues at the moment and read that Omega 3 and vitamin B is good a supplement to take for anxiety issues. But I think my diet is pretty decent too so it's hard to know whether I'm overdoing it or not.

If the combined epa/dha are 187 then it's not good quality

joeprivate

I was thinking of taking fish oils some time back but change my mind about it when I read some info on them,

The American Heart Association, for example, recommends that some people with heart disease “may want to talk to their doctor about [omega-3] supplements.” But when the association was asked for an expert to explain the recommendation, that expert, former AHA president Robert Eckel, said that the recommendation needs to be revised.

“It would be a good time for that to be updated,” Eckel said. “Almost all studies of fish oil supplements show no benefit. I really feel this remains unproven.”

And
Dr McDougall has sever references to fish oil for example

Fish Oil May Increase Heart Trouble

Fish oil supplementation and risk of ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation in patients with implantable defibrillators: a randomized controlled trial by Merritt Raitt published in the June 15, 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found, “Among patients with a recent episode of sustained ventricular arrhythmia and an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator), fish oil supplementation does not reduce the risk of VT/VF (ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation) and may be proarrhythmic in some patients.” Hoffman-LaRoche Inc. provided the fish oil capsules and part of the funding.

The authors concluded with this recommendation, “…routine use of fish oil in patients with ICDs and recurrent arrhythmias should be avoided.”

Comment:

The investigators and the drug company sponsor (Hoffman-LaRoche Inc.) were surprised by these outcomes since previous research has led many to believe that fish oil supplements and eating fish are good for the heart. Unfortunately, people trying to prevent early death and disability from heart disease have been led down the wrong stream. Fish is not health food and because of high levels of methylmercury contamination, fish actually increases the risk of heart disease. (See my March 2005 newsletter article: Fish Can Cause You Heart Disease.) In addition to the proarrhythmic effects (encouraging irregular heart beats), fish oil will raise LDL “bad” cholesterol, increase risk of bleeding, and suppress the immune system with a real possibility of more infection and cancer. (Read my February 2003 newsletter article: Fish Is Not Health Food.)

Raitt MH, Connor WE, Morris C, Kron J, Halperin B, Chugh SS, McClelland J, Cook J, MacMurdy K, Swenson R, Connor SL, Gerhard G, Kraemer DF, Oseran D, Marchant C, Calhoun D, Shnider R, McAnulty J. Fish oil supplementation and risk of ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation in patients with implantable defibrillators: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2005 Jun 15;293(23):2884-91.

byhookorbycrook

Dtp1979 wrote: »

GPs would've the last people I'd ask about nutrition. My own gp nearly passed out with shock when I told him I ate more than 2 eggs a day

She's exceptionally well informed, came through aggressive cancer and has done a lot of courses on complimentary medicine.

Dtp1979

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

She's exceptionally well informed, came through aggressive cancer and has done a lot of courses on complimentary medicine.

What?

Dtp1979

Dtp1979 wrote: »

What?

Had to read back there. Gotcha

Dtp1979

joeprivate wrote: »

I was thinking of taking fish oils some time back but change my mind about it when I read some info on them,

The American Heart Association, for example, recommends that some people with heart disease “may want to talk to their doctor about [omega-3] supplements.” But when the association was asked for an expert to explain the recommendation, that expert, former AHA president Robert Eckel, said that the recommendation needs to be revised.

“It would be a good time for that to be updated,” Eckel said. “Almost all studies of fish oil supplements show no benefit. I really feel this remains unproven.”

And
Dr McDougall has sever references to fish oil for example

Fish Oil May Increase Heart Trouble

Fish oil supplementation and risk of ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation in patients with implantable defibrillators: a randomized controlled trial by Merritt Raitt published in the June 15, 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found, “Among patients with a recent episode of sustained ventricular arrhythmia and an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator), fish oil supplementation does not reduce the risk of VT/VF (ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation) and may be proarrhythmic in some patients.” Hoffman-LaRoche Inc. provided the fish oil capsules and part of the funding.

The authors concluded with this recommendation, “…routine use of fish oil in patients with ICDs and recurrent arrhythmias should be avoided.”

Comment:

The investigators and the drug company sponsor (Hoffman-LaRoche Inc.) were surprised by these outcomes since previous research has led many to believe that fish oil supplements and eating fish are good for the heart. Unfortunately, people trying to prevent early death and disability from heart disease have been led down the wrong stream. Fish is not health food and because of high levels of methylmercury contamination, fish actually increases the risk of heart disease. (See my March 2005 newsletter article: Fish Can Cause You Heart Disease.) In addition to the proarrhythmic effects (encouraging irregular heart beats), fish oil will raise LDL “bad” cholesterol, increase risk of bleeding, and suppress the immune system with a real possibility of more infection and cancer. (Read my February 2003 newsletter article: Fish Is Not Health Food.)

Raitt MH, Connor WE, Morris C, Kron J, Halperin B, Chugh SS, McClelland J, Cook J, MacMurdy K, Swenson R, Connor SL, Gerhard G, Kraemer DF, Oseran D, Marchant C, Calhoun D, Shnider R, McAnulty J. Fish oil supplementation and risk of ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation in patients with implantable defibrillators: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2005 Jun 15;293(23):2884-91.

If these studies were carried out over 10 years ago, why isn't this more well known now days?

Mellor

Dtp1979 wrote: »

If the combined epa/dha are 187 then it's not good quality

Amounts of EPA/DHA alone is not an indicator of quality. I'd say 95% of the time, a higher amount of EPA/DHA is simply a bigger capsules.

To assess quality you need to know mg of total fish oil as well as mg of EPA/DHA.

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Here's my ones.
The brand is brain power+

FYI, those are 400EPA/300DHA not 800/600. The numbers are quoted for 2 capsules.

Dtp1979

Mellor wrote: »

Amounts of EPA/DHA alone is not an indicator of quality. I'd say 95% of the time, a higher amount of EPA/DHA is simply a bigger capsules.

To assess quality you need to know mg of total fish oil as well as mg of EPA/DHA.



FYI, those are 400EPA/300DHA not 800/600. The numbers are quoted for 2 capsules.

I know Ye, I was quoting the serving size.

Mellor

Dtp1979 wrote: »

I know Ye, I was quoting the serving size.

But more EPA/DHA by way of a larger serving size is pretty meaningless in terms of quality/value/etc.


For the sake of comparison;

deco72 wrote: »

I was told that Eskimo-3 Capsules were one of the better ones:
Ingredients per 4 caps:
Omega-3 fatty acids 720 mg Providing: EPA 320 mg DHA 200 mg

A selling point of that brand is that they are purposely small and easy to swallow. Hence 4 per dose. But they don't give the size or the fish oil amount.

They also do high strength caps. 1,000 mg Fish oil, 600e/300d. 90%

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Best I've seen is Life Extension Europe with a EPA/DHA content of 720/480

That's per two caps and 2000ml of fish oil. 60%

Dtp1979 wrote: »

The cover
1,600mg Omega
-800mg EPA
-600mg DHA

That's per two caps and 2000ml of oil also. 80%

Precious flower wrote: »

Are the boots ones okay, because I take them now used to take SevenSeas.:o

The boots ones are pretty low tbh.
The standard is 25%. The high strength is 45%. Both are 1000mg of fish oil.

That doesn't mean the quality is low though, just that they are less concentrated/refined. so you need to take twice the caps.

gavinM41 wrote: »

i use a company called acthealthy

Im looking at the back here and it says 290 epa 183 dha.

1000mg fish oil. 473mg EPA/DHA (47%)

DaveD wrote: »

I use these, best i could find in Boots.

http://www.shieldhealth.ie/omega-3/morepa-smart-fats.html

■590mg EPA
■130mg DHA

1000mg fish oil. 720mg EPA/DHA (72%)

Tenzor07 wrote: »

This is what you need, one of the top brands, very high quality..

http://bodyfirst.ie/product/carlson-super-omega-3-fish-oil-1000mg

1000mg fish oil. 260mg EPA/DHA (26%) ... 60mg other omegas

________________________________________________________________


The %'s above are more an indicator of strength rather than quality. The high strength caps are probably just refined to remove other oils, and the lower strength caps have more other other omegas.
There's little benefit to a double strength capsule if its also double the price and double the size imo.

I tend to get my fish oil from salmon. Delicious delicious salmon.

Precious flower

I tend to get my fish oil from salmon. Delicious delicious salmon.

Thanks for the feedback! I hate to be one of those people but you should avoid eating salmon considering how endangered they are now. Even farmed salmon are not 100% sustainable due to the fact that they require wild fish feed to actually prosper meaning wild fish levels are still affected. I can't help but wonder though how many toxic chemicals fish are exposed to and how healthy it actually is to eat them. Not that that would make fish oils any better.....cod is endangered too. Sorry.

joeprivate

Why I looked it up was two different doctors gave me different advice and the guy in the chemist also agreed with one of the doctors and said it was actually harmful to take these fish oil tablets

Here some more info on them
Is Fish Oil Just Snake Oil?
Are purported benefits of fish oil supplementation for the prevention and treatment of heart disease just a fish tale? Thanks to recommendations like this from the American Heart Association, that individuals at high risk for heart disease ask their physicians about fish oil supplementation, it’s grown into a multibillion dollar industry. We now consume over 100,000 tons of fish oil every year.

But what does the latest science say? A systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at all the best randomized clinical trials evaluating the effects of omega-3’s on lifespan, cardiac death, sudden death, heart attack, and stroke. Either advice to eat more oily fish or to take fish oil capsules. What did they find? Overall, they found no protective benefit for overall mortality, heart disease mortality, sudden cardiac death, heart attack, or stroke.

What about for those who already had a heart attack and are trying to prevent another? Still no benefit. Where did we even get this idea that omega-3’s were good for the heart? Well if you look at some of the older studies, the results looked promising, for example the famous DART trial back in the 80’s involving 2,000 men. Those advised to eat fatty fish had a 29% reduction in mortality. Pretty impressive; no wonder it got a lot of attention, but people seemed to have forgotten about the sequel, the DART-2 trial. Same group of researchers, an even bigger study--3,000 men, and those advised to eat oily fish and particularly those supplied with fish oil capsules, had a higher risk of cardiac death.

Put all the studies together, and there’s no justification for the use of omega-3’s as a structured intervention in everyday clinical practice or for guidelines supporting more dietary omega-3s. So what should doctors say when their patients follow the American Heart Association advice to ask them about fish oil supplements? Given the new meta-analysis and other negative meta-analyses, our job as doctors should be to stop highly marketed fish oil supplementation in all of our patients.

Mellor

Precious flower wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback! I hate to be one of those people but you should avoid eating salmon considering how endangered they are now. Even farmed salmon are not 100% sustainable due to the fact that they require wild fish feed to actually prosper meaning wild fish levels are still affected. I can't help but wonder though how many toxic chemicals fish are exposed to and how healthy it actually is to eat them. Not that that would make fish oils any better.....cod is endangered too. Sorry.

My all means be one of those people, I'm all for sustainable eating. But I think the world is too big a place to say universally that Salmon should be avoided. Salmon is a catch all that covers a number of different species. Fish stocks vary a lot globally. Overall they aren't endangered, only locally (I believe at least)

Afaik, wild stock in Irish/UK waters are low. So they recommend certified farmed salmon over wild caught.Marine Conservation Society - Greenpeace endorsed
But In Australia (where I live btw) the equivalent guide, also greenpeace endorsed. Rates wild caught atlantic salmon as a better (green) choice than farmed. No salmon appears on the avoid list - only the likes of shark, tuna. cod, etc

Dtp1979

Mellor wrote: »

But more EPA/DHA by way of a larger serving size is pretty meaningless in terms of quality/value/etc.


For the sake of comparison;


A selling point of that brand is that they are purposely small and easy to swallow. Hence 4 per dose. But they don't give the size or the fish oil amount.

They also do high strength caps. 1,000 mg Fish oil, 600e/300d. 90%


That's per two caps and 2000ml of fish oil. 60%


That's per two caps and 2000ml of oil also. 80%



The boots ones are pretty low tbh.
The standard is 25%. The high strength is 45%. Both are 1000mg of fish oil.

That doesn't mean the quality is low though, just that they are less concentrated/refined. so you need to take twice the caps.



1000mg fish oil. 473mg EPA/DHA (47%)


1000mg fish oil. 720mg EPA/DHA (72%)


1000mg fish oil. 260mg EPA/DHA (26%) ... 60mg other omegas

________________________________________________________________


The %'s above are more an indicator of strength rather than quality. The high strength caps are probably just refined to remove other oils, and the lower strength caps have more other other omegas.
There's little benefit to a double strength capsule if its also double the price and double the size imo.

I tend to get my fish oil from salmon. Delicious delicious salmon.

You say the above is more about strength than quality. Fair enough. How do you gauge quality then? Mine have a GMP stamp on them. Not sure if how much of that is marketing as opposed to a genuine mark of quality

Mellor

Dtp1979 wrote: »

You say the above is more about strength than quality. Fair enough. How do you gauge quality then? Mine have a GMP stamp on them. Not sure if how much of that is marketing as opposed to a genuine mark of quality

As long as the brand is somewhat reputable/verified in some way and I'm happy the quoted figures are legit then I'm happy. I'd almost always go for the high strength ones as I don't like the idea downing 4 caps, or something the size of a goldfish everyday.

Malcolm600f

Eat fresh fish way better than that crap