Fish Oil Comparison - Which Is Better?

Are you looking to conduct a fish oil comparison of different products on the market? If so, these pointers could help.

In this article, we do not analyze or decide which company produces the best fish oil capsules or purest fish oil. Instead, we discuss some areas which you may want to look into to aid your attempt to compare fish oil supplements.

Purity of Fish Oil Supplement

Most fish nowadays, because of widespread environmental pollution, are contaminated with dangerous toxins like mercury, dioxins and PCBs. If these substances find their way into our bodies, they can do great harm to our health.

Fish oil is, of course, made from fish, and a good fish oil product must be certified to not contain these contaminants. Usually, pharmaceutical grade is necessary to fulfill this requirement; fish oil supplements not certified so may be contaminated with toxins.

Good companies not only use processes like molecular distillation to purify their fish oil, they also source their fish from waters which are relatively pure and pristine, away from areas of pollution.

In terms of testing for contaminants, it would be ideal for each batch of fish oil to be independently tested. Thereafter, again ideally, the finished fish oil supplement product should be tested once again and certified to be contaminant-free.

This is possibly the most important aspect of any fish oil comparison - a product with toxins in it could do more harm than good to your health.

Quality of Raw Materials Used to Make Fish Oil Supplement

Any fish oil supplements, capsules, pills or tablets are only as good as the ingredients which went into its production. This is the next area to consider in any fish oil comparison.

Ideally, you should know exactly what type of fish is used to make the fish oil supplement. This lowers the probability of you consuming poor quality fish, useless fillers, or even seafood which is not even usually ingested by humans. Of course, cheap fillers, for example cheap plant oils, should not be contained in the product.

The fish used must be a species which is actually rich in omega 3 fatty acids, for example herring, mackerel, salmon or hoki. Some parties suggest that a fish oil product should only contain oil from one type of fish, stating that using several types of fish oil could affect omega 3 consistency.

The fish oil supplement should have decent amounts of DHA and EPA. Typically, fish oil supplements have about 18% EPA and 12% DHA.

Antioxidant nutrients, such as vitamin E, is said to be a good addition to fish oil supplements, as they protect the fish oil from oxidative damage, something which it is quite prone to. In addition, antioxidants also protect you, the consumer, against free radicals.

Overall, the quality of raw ingredients is of paramount importance in putting together a good fish oil supplement, and must be a critical factor in any fish oil comparison. Here, you probably have to assume the product label is telling the truth, in terms of revealing what ingredients are actually in the supplement. Also, good ingredients are usually relatively expensive, so you may want to be careful of overly cheap fish oil products.

Production Process

The next area to consider in a fish oil comparison exercise is the way in which the supplement is produced. A bad manufacturing process can turn even the best and most healthful foods into dangerous poisons.

Preservation of the integrity of nutrients is of paramount importance. Heat, in particular, could alter fish oil's physical state, and could even make it harmful to health. Some companies use cheap production methods which involve excessive heat; this could damage the oil. High-tech processes like cold pressing and molecular distillation, on the other hand, play a part in detecting and filtering toxins out, as well as in preserving the quality of the fish oil.

The production process must also be carried out promptly enough to prevent the fish oil from turning rancid. As mentioned earlier, fish oil is quite prone to such damage, after which it could harm your health.

Overall, the production processes must definitely be taken into account in any fish oil comparison.

Supplement Company

For many of the abovementioned aspects of fish oil comparison, it is difficult or there is just no way for consumers to properly ascertain the state of affairs. The reputation of the company in question is then a good point to consider. It is a bit like, if you can trust a person, you can generally trust what he tells you. Conversely, you may doubt someone who is known to be untrustworthy, even if he has a lot of supposed evidence to back up what he claims.

Generally speaking, good companies with solid reputations and excellent track records produce good products. Those which are committed to high quality and consumer satisfaction will be less likely to compromise on safety and efficacy; the same cannot be said of companies which simply want to make a quick and big buck. This point cannot be underestimated when carrying out a fish oil comparison.

How established is the company? How long has it been around? How is its reputation in the field? What do its past customers have to say about it? Does it have concrete certification and backing of good practices, for example certification for good manufacturing?

These are some questions you can ask, which will reveal clues on other aspects of the company, such as its commitment to quality, its selection of good raw ingredients, whether it has a customer-first mentality, etc, which will then greatly aid you in your fish oil comparison exercise.

Conclusion

The abovementioned are some of the more important basic aspects to consider as you compare fish oil supplements. In conducting such a fish oil comparison, do bear in mind that no supplement or product has the exact same effect on every single person. The most important thing, therefore, is to find the best fish oil supplement for you.

And, quite frankly, once some basic criteria are fulfilled, the only way to find out if something actually works for you, is to actually try it out for yourself and then to gauge the effects on your health.

All the best!