How to Compare Omega-3 Supplements (And Why Fish Oil Quality Matters)

Omega-3s are essential for your health. One of their top health benefits is helping to support healthy inflammation levels, brain health, and eye health, along with supporting a strong cell membrane.

The main source of omega-3s comes from fatty fish and seafood. However, because of western dietary patterns and the lowering nutritional value of harvesting seafood, many Americans do not consume enough omega 3s, and therefore turn to taking fish oil supplements. As people turn to supplements to fulfill their necessary omega-3 intake, it is vital to understand: the quality of supplements matters. 

Steve Jobs once said, “Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.” 

So, how one can choose best fish oil supplements among the wide range of products from different brands? What should you pay attention to when looking for best supplements on the market?

Well, even though all omega-3 oils come from the sea, whether fish or algae, there are many differences in the quality of your omega-3 fatty acids that you should be paying attention to.

Some of the most important aspects of a quality omega-3 supplement include sourcing, the purification process, and concentration.

Let’s take a deeper dive (promise this is the only sea pun in the blog) into why Lightbody™’s Omega-3 supplements stand out from the crowd.

But first, let's learn more about:

• Benefits of Fish Oil - Understanding Effect of Fish Oil on Your Health
• Types of Fish Oil Supplements
• Picking Best Fish Oil Supplements for Maximum Health Benefits
  • Purity and Quality
  • Omega-3 Content
  • Form of Fish Oil
  • Source of Fish Oil
  • Additional Ingredients
• Sourcing of Omega-3 Fatty Acid
  • Our Product
• Omega-3 Supplement Ingredient Concentration
• Why Lightbody™ Omega Fish Oil Supplements? The Takeaways

Benefits of Fish Oil - Understanding Effect of Fish Oil on Your Health

The oil found in fish is a nutritional powerhouse that offers a myriad of advantages for overall well-being. Fish oil and omega-3 have been extensively studied for their positive effects on various aspects of health, such as heart health, brain function, joint health, eye health, and even mental health.

That's why fish consumption and the accompanying fish oil supplementation are so crucial.

(We could go on about the value of omega supplements for a long time, which is why we wrote a whole article about it! Check our text about the benefits of Omega-3 out to learn more).

Types of Fish Oil Supplements

When it comes to incorporating fish oil into your daily routine, softgels emerge as the ideal choice. These encapsulated wonders not only offer the convenience of a measured dosage but also boast easy digestion, making them a top picks for fish oil supplements among health enthusiasts.

Unlike traditional capsules, softgels often contain a liquid form of the oil, ensuring a smoother and more efficient absorption by the body. Their user-friendly nature makes them a practical choice for those seeking a hassle-free way to harness the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids.

Whether you're focused on supporting cardiovascular health, cognitive function, or overall well-being, the softgel form of fish oil stands out as a versatile and effective option.

The other forms you may consider are capsules, fish oil liquid, krill oil, and algal oil.

Picking Best Fish Oil Supplements for Maximum Health Benefits

Selecting the best fish oil supplement requires careful consideration to ensure you reap the maximum health benefits. Here are key factors to keep in mind:

Purity and Quality

Opt for supplements from reputable brands that prioritize purity and quality. Look for products that undergo third-party testing to guarantee that they are free from contaminants such as mercury, PCBs, and heavy metals. More about this in the further part of the article!

Omega-3 Content

Check the concentration of essential omega-3 fatty acids, specifically EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). Higher concentrations often mean you get more potent health benefits per serving.

Form of Fish Oil

Consider the form of the supplement. Softgels, with their liquid content, offer efficient absorption. Additionally, supplement may take a form of krill oil or algal oil, depending on dietary preferences and specific health goals.

Source of Fish Oil

The source matters. Opt for supplements derived from cold-water, fatty fish like anchovies, salmon, or mackerel. Wild-caught fish tend to provide higher-quality oil compared to farm-raised counterparts. More about this below.

Additional Ingredients

Examine the ingredient list for any additives, preservatives, or unnecessary fillers. A high-quality dietary supplement should have minimal additional ingredients.

Sourcing of Omega-3 Fatty Acid

Fish oil is the main source for omega-3s in supplements, but there are other sources such as krill, cod liver, and vegetarian/vegan alternatives such as algae. Because supplements mainly use fish oil for their omega-3 content, it is important for a brand to achieve International Fish Oil Standards (IFOS) recognition.

The IFOS is the gold standard for independent testing and certification of fish oil quality in supplements. It’s a reflection on the sourcing of a supplement’s fish oil. IFOS certification is not a legal requirement, and therefore some brands may not necessarily be up to the standards.

As part of the IFOS certification, independent researchers look at contaminant levels within the fish oil. The sourcing methods can impact the contaminant levels in fish oil. Seafood and fish oil are vulnerable to being contaminated, through the water they live in and are harvested from, whether that is from the ocean or fisheries.

As the world has become more industrialized and commercialized, there is more chemical runoff and pollution. Unfortunately, this pollution makes its way into the water system and the ocean ecosystems. Common contaminants are metals including mercury and lead, industrial chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and pesticides.

The Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s (GOED) set a limit for contamination at 100 parts per million. In an analysis of 1,894 samples, GOED found that all the samples tested fell within the range of acceptable contaminant levels. Despite brands falling into the acceptable and legal range for contaminants, there may still be relatively high levels of contaminants.

Our Product

In comparison, Lightbody™ Omega-3 supplements adhere to standards that are 25 times more stringent than pharmaceutical requirements for contaminants, which leads to exceptional purity. And they’re 50 times more stringent than the supplement industry requirements.

Lightbody™ is one of the cleanest products available on the market due in part to the specific sourcing of fish oil: single-sourced young anchovies (not a mix of multiple fish) that have short lifespans and hence are some of the purest fishes in the ocean.

These anchovies are harvested right on the coast, straight from the pure waters of the south Pacific Ocean. This practice helps Lightbody™ minimize the overall contaminant levels in their supplements.

Many brands will use a variety of fish and seafood to source their oil, increasing the chances for contaminants. They also use fish farms, the commercial breeding of fish in tanks or artificial enclosures.

The chemicals and pesticides used in fish farming to control parasites and disease can and do pollute the water, leading to even more contaminants in the fish and surrounding ecosystems.

Even worse, because of how condensed the fish are in these farms—a lot of fish in a little space—the water is contaminated further from waste. Not to mention the lower nutritional value of fish from fish farms.

It makes you think: do you want to consume supplements whose fish oil is sourced from such a place? 

The Omega-3 Fish Oil Purification Process

To get from fish in the ocean to an omega 3 supplement is a long, scientific process. The purification process is a key factor in maintaining the product’s freshness.

When eating seafood, fresh is best. It’s always a bad sign once seafood starts to smell fishy. This same principle carries over to fish oil in supplements.

Just as seafood can go bad, so can fish oil. This occurs when it is exposed to oxygen and oxidizes. Omega 3s are highly prone to oxidation degradation because of the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). PUFAs become more susceptible to oxidation because of simple chemistry. They contain two or more double bonds in their molecular makeup—more bonds increase the likelihood of oxidation.

When fish oil oxidizes, it can lead to hydroperoxides that decompose into free radicals, which can turn into volatile ketones and alcohols. PUFAs may also encourage lipid peroxidation.

The bad news is that many brands neglect stability (a.k.a. freshness) in their product. 50% of the leading brands were found to exceed voluntary limits for at least one measure of oxidation.

Because of the laborious process that occurs to get the fish oil in the final supplement product, there are many factors that can trigger oxidation, including fatty acid composure, exposure to oxygen and light, temperature, antioxidant content, and the presence of water or toxins, as well as the extraction and purification processes.

We said the bad news first, so we could save the good news for second.

Our Product

The fish oil in Lightbody supplements is purified through a patented cold-pressed molecular distillation. While heat can kill contaminants, it can also kill nutrients. Cold molecular distillation is a process of converting the anchovies into an oil using vacuum distillation to remove all metals, dioxins, and PCBs to undetectable amounts.

Unlike other brands, Lightbody’s distillation process is done in a way to decrease oxidation and thus decrease chances of fish oil going bad. Lightbody’s suppliers process the oil in a way that sees the least amount of oxidation our researchers could find of any omega-3 ingredient in the world. Their patented process creates a 100% triglyceride fish oil, which is the most bioavailable and digestible form.

Other omega 3 supplements use processes that increase oxidation, decrease absorption, and are tough on digestion. 

What does it mean to have the most bioavailable triglyceride formula? Bioavailability is the amount of the supplement that reaches circulation. A supplement is basically worthless if it cannot be absorbed, and your body can’t circulate the nutrients.

Omega-3 Supplement Ingredient Concentration

When looking at supplements, to make sure you are absorbing the correct amount of omega-3, you need to consider the bioavailability (which determines how much actually enters your bloodstream), the concentration per serving, and if their label is IFOS certified to guarantee that the stated concentration per serving is actually accurate.

A study from The Ohio State University found that 2,500mg of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, the highest dose tested, worked the best at slowing cellular aging and reducing stress. Most experts recommend 1.5 – 2.5mg of fish oil a day. However, newer research supports omega-3 servings up to 5mg being beneficial to the body.

Part of an IFOS certification questions whether or not a product contains an accurate description of ingredients and their concentrations.

Independent researchers found that in a sample of over-the-counter supplements, over 70% did not contain the amount stated on the label of EPA or DHA. 

As the label says, each Lightbody Omega-3 supplement has a concentration of 891 mg of DHA or EPA per soft gel and 3450 – 3560mg of DHA or EPA per serving. This is notably higher than other brands, offering the most concentrated formula available. We recommend taking the full serving (4 softgels) for pharmaceutical-grade support, or just 2 daily for regular Omega-3 maintenance.

Lightbody’s softgels are made with the cleanest and most bioavailable triglyceride formula available, with no added ingredients that are harmful to your health (and no omega-6s hiding in the formula like other brands).

Why Lightbody™ Omega Fish Oil Supplements? The Takeaways

Let’s take a brief look at the fish oil industry now.

Fish farming is the fastest growing animal sector. Since 2012, the world has begun consuming more seafood farmed through aquaculture than wild caught. While fish farming may be the only way to keep up with growing demand for seafood and is becoming more commonplace, it is at a detriment for consumers wishing to eat fish rich in nutrients.

Seafood that is artificially grown and farmed may lack the nutrients the species used to have when they were wild caught. The same goes for fish oil sourced from fish farms.

The manufactured, plant-based fish feed used in aquaculture is changing the fatty acid content in farmed fish and thus affects human nutrition. A study from Johns Hopkins University shows that although shifts in feed may be beneficial for the environmental impact, it is changing the nutrients found in the fish.

Not only is the nutritional makeup of seafood changing due to fish farming, but seafood tends to be relatively high in contaminants.

Lightbody omega supplements address both of these issues. The fish oil in the supplements comes from wild caught anchovies straight from the ocean, which is a sustainable practice and ensures that the nutritional content is not altered from artificial fish feed. Through the extraction and purification process, it removes the toxins that contaminate other seafood.

When taking supplements, the quality of your omega-3 fatty acid matters because consuming low-quality supplements can lead to adverse health effects.

When looking to buy an omega supplement, it is important to pay attention to active ingredient content, contaminants and the purification process, and stability to ensure you are fueling your body to become better, stronger, and healthier. Lightbody is here to support you and your quest for digital wellness with our Omega-3 DHA and EPA supplements. Start proper omega-3 fatty acid supplementation today!

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