The Single Most Important Thing To Look For In Fish Oil Supplements

Countless studies in recent years have emphasized the importance of omega 3 fatty acids for health. Our bodies cannot produce omega-3s, so we must acquire them in our food. The most common way that people obtain omega-3 is by eating fish. However, this guide shall break down the trouble with acquiring omega 3 fatty acids from fish, and then will go into detail what to look for in fish oil supplements.

Fish No Longer a Safe Source of Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Before fish oil supplements, ingesting fish was the sole way to get omega-3s in our diet. This was an ideal method, but the actualities of a post-industrial world means more water contamination. The unfortunate outcome is that fish have become tainted with all types of toxins like PCBs, mercury, arsenic, dioxins and heavy metals. These pollutants play a part in a wide array of illnesses such as blindness, cancer, birth defects and even death.

Fish Oil Supplements Are Also Adulterated

Due to these dilemmas, many more people are looking to fish oil supplements as a an answer. However, fish oil capsulesare affected by the same risks, in spite of the fact that most fish oil makers claim that their goods are clean. A fairly new study by the UK’s Food Standards Agency resulted in the recall of numerous fish oil products because of excessive levels of pollutants!

Also, think about this alarming report from Greenpeace about OmegaProtein, the largest manufacturer of fish oil products in the world. Their investigation shows that OmegaProtein’s fish oil wares were discovered to be contaminated by poisonous quantities of flame retardants! However, perhaps we should take this news with a grain of salt taking into account Greenpeace’s ideological leanings, but if true, it is particularly scary!

Now that you know some of the uncertainties possible in fish oil supplements, what can you do about it? Fortunately, there are a few guidelines that make it easy to evaluate an omega-3 supplement for effectiveness and cleanliness.

The Cream of The Crop: The International Fish Oil Standards (IFOS) Program

The ideal way to find out if an omega-3 product is a pure, quality supplement is by choosing one that’s been frequently tested by the International Fish Oil Standards program, or IFOS. The IFOS program is a voluntary third-party testing organization that measures fish oil supplements along 5 criteria:

* Passes All Testing Categories by the CRN and WHO

* Higher than 60% Concentration of Fish Oil Omega 3 Benefits

* Amount of Oxidation Less Than 75% of Council for Responsible Nutrition Requirement

* PCB Levels Less Than 50% of Council for Responsible Nutrition Requirement

* Dioxin Amount Lower Than 50% of WHO Requirement

These standards were chosen because the standards applied by the CRN (Council for Responsible Nutrition) and WHO (World Health Organization) were not rigorous enough to permit higher portions of fish oil omega-3. To get the rewards of omega-3, one must frequently take much more than simply the 1,000 mg everyday that has been usually recommended. The reason only 1 gram has been prescribed, however, is due to pollution risks. This is clearly not a dilemma if you’re taking an IFOS-tested brand.

If you’re not consuming an IFOS-tested supplement, you are certainly more at risk of ingesting toxins. Chances are, in spite of the fact that your omega-3 brand may assert to be purified by “advanced molecular distillation” (a marketing trick), it may not be safe to take. Since the International Fish Oil Standards program publishes the results of their certifications on their website, you can research the best brands of fish oil supplements on the market.

Learn in detail about fish oil supplements by visiting Brittany A.M. Wallace’s website. Brittany is a health and nutrition expert that studied fish oils for almost a decade.