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Trying to Choose a Good Fish Oil? Some Guidlines You Can Follow

How can you tell that you are getting good fish oil, before you buy it? There are a number of different factors that you can use to judge the quality of the supplements on the market. Let's start with the company's standards for purity.

The industry is more or less self-regulated. If the company wants, they can adhere to the International Fish Oil Standards, but they are not required to. The better companies have their own standards for purity, which exceed those of any regulating agency.

You must be concerned about purity, because of common pollutants like the toxic mercury and cancer-causing PCBs. There should be no detectable level of those contaminants.

Companies should also have high standards for freshness, which is measured by looking at oxidation. Oxidized oils are basically spoiled. They cause fishy-tasting burps and increase the body's free radical burden. The better companies have each batch tested for oxidation and guarantee their products to be "burp-free". If the level of oxidation is too high, the batch should be discarded.

In good fish oil the maximum oxidation level is 19.5 MEQ/KG, which is the standard set by the International Fish Oil Standards. In the best brands, the max is 17. Companies have various standards. In the Zone brand, for example, the max is set at 20.

Once the oils are encapsulated, manufacturers can insure that there will be no further oxidation by adding natural vitamin E, an effective preservative. No artificial preservatives, flavorings or colors should be added.

Assuming that the purity and freshness of the oils are proven, the next factor to look at is the omega-3 content. The typical gel-cap contains 1000mg of triglycerides, esters or a combination of both. Only a portion of that is omega-3 fat, the nutrient that we want.

Good fish oil provides a minimum of 500mg of omega-3 fat per capsule. The best brands provide a minimum of 280mg of Docosahexaenoic acid or DHA, as specific omega-3 that has proven benefits for reducing total blood triglyceride levels, relieving depression and reducing inflammation.

Other omega-3s to look for include Eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA and Docosapentaenoic acid or DPA. All three are believed to contribute to good cardiovascular (heart and circulatory system) health.

One of the reasons that researchers began looking at the health benefits of fatty fish and their oils was due to a reduced incidence of heart disease among native Inuit populations, despite a diet that was very high in fat. We hope that good fish oil will provide some of the heart healthy benefits seen in that population, but it is best to consume fewer total fats.

In particular, you should stay away from trans-fatty acids, entirely. You should avoid the saturated fat found in red meat and dairy. Instead of using corn oil to cook with, which contains loads of inflammatory omega-6 fats, you should switch to olive oil.

Those are the latest suggestions from dietary experts. Combined with a daily dose of good fish oil, they should help you live a longer, healthier life.

About the Author

Valerie Rosenbaum knows that the health
benefits of fish oil
are vast and incredible. But not all
fish oil pills
are safe. Low quality fish oils may actually be harmful to your health, because they may contain toxic contaminants. Visit her site
TakingFishOil.com
to discover the pure, fish oil product she uses and recommends.

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