Countless studies in recent decades have called attention to the significance of omega 3 fatty acids for health. Our bodies cannot synthesize omega-3s, so we must get them in our food. The most familiar way that people obtain omega-3 is by ingesting fish. However, this guide shall explain the trouble with obtaining omega 3 fatty acids from fish, and then will go into detail what to search for in fish oil supplements.
Fish Isn’t a Secure Source of Omega-3 Anymore
Before the creation of fish oil supplements, the consumption of fish was the exclusive way to obtain omega-3s in our diet. This was an effective method, but the realities of an industrialized world means added water pollution. The end result is that fish have become tainted with all varieties of poisonous contaminants like PCBs, mercury, arsenic, dioxins and heavy metals. These toxins have been found to cause a broad range of sicknesses such as cancer, blindness, birth defects and even death.
Omega-3 Supplements Also Polluted
Because of these complications, more and more people are relying on fish oil supplements as a an answer. But, fish oil capsules suffer from the same problems, in spite of the fact that most fish oil manufacturers claim that their products are clean. A fairly new investigation by the Food Standards Agency in the UK instigated the withdrawal of several fish oil products due to excessive levels of toxins!
Furthermore, turn your attention to this surprising report from Greenpeace about OmegaProtein, the largest producer of fish oil supplements on the planet. Their investigation shows that OmegaProtein’s fish oil products were found to be contaminated by poisonous amounts of flame retardants! However, maybe we should take this information with skepticism considering Greenpeace’s ideological stance, but if factual, it is very frightening!
Now that you know many of the risks possible in fish oil supplements, what can you do about it? Luckily, there are a few guiding principles that make it straightforward to evaluate a fish oil supplement for potency and cleanliness.
The Cream of The Crop: The International Fish Oil Standards (IFOS) Testing Program
The best method to know if an omega-3 product is a pure, quality supplement is by choosing one that has been consistently certified by the International Fish Oil Standards program, or IFOS. The IFOS program is a voluntary third-party testing institution that measures fish oil supplements along 5 guidelines:
- Meet and Exceeds All Testing Categories by the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) and World Health Organization (WHO)
- Greater than 60% Concentration of Omega-3
- Oxidation Levels Lower Than 75% of Council for Responsible Nutrition Requirement
- PCB Quantity Lower Than 50% of Council for Responsible Nutrition Standard
- Dioxin Amount Lower Than 50% of World Health Organization Requirement
These standards were picked because the standards used by the CRN (Council for Responsible Nutrition) and WHO (World Health Organization) were not strict enough to permit larger portions of omega-3 fish oil. To get the advantages of fish oil, one must regularly take more than simply the 1,000 mg everyday that has been normally suggested. The rationale for why only 1 gram has been recommended, however, is due to adulteration risks. This is plainly not a problem if you’re ingesting an IFOS-tested brand.
If you aren’t taking an IFOS-tested product, you are definitely more in jeopardy of ingesting toxins. Chances are, in spite of the fact that your omega-3 product may profess to be decontaminated by “advanced molecular distillation” (a marketing phrase), it may not be safe to take. Since the International Fish Oil Standards organization posts the outcomes of their studies on their website, you can research the best brands of fish oil supplements on the market.
Brittany M. Wallace is a health and nutrition expert.
