Tag: Cod Liver Oil

Fish Oil Grades

Fish oil production does not just provide one type of end product. In fact, there are also other grades of fish oil being produced. The three types of fish oil produced today depend on their level of quality.

Cod Liver Oil
Cod liver oil, despite its popularity as a nutritional supplement, is considered as a low quality grade of fish oil. It may only be used in small amounts as an ideal supplement since this form of fish oil may contain certain contaminants. Cod liver oil is also known to contain high levels of vitamin A which can be toxic to humans in large doses.

One teaspoon of cod liver oil contains 500 mg of long chain omega 3 fatty acids. Cod liver oil contains the highest levels of contaminants which may include DDT, PCBs as well as organic mercury. Taking this type of fish oil may not be safe in large quantities.

Health Food Fish Oil
Better quality grade fish oil is one that is sourced from a particular species of fish such as salmon. Most of these health food grade fish oil are usually available in soft gel capsules because they still carry with them a very poor taste profile. There is also a cholesterol free version of this type of fish oil grade.

This type of health food grade fish oil undergoes a slightly more purification process by means of limited molecular distillation in order to remove some of its cholesterol content in order to label it as cholesterol free. An even purified version of this health food grade version of fish oil is known as fish oil concentrate. This is the type of fish oil consisting of ethyl esters of the fish oil that undergoes fractional cooling. This allows a more purified form of fish oil with lesser amounts of contaminants that cod liver oil.

Generally, this type of fish oil contains a better concentration of omega 3 fatty acids. A single one gram capsule contains about 300 mg of omega 3 fatty acids. One capsule of a thermally fractionated health food grade can contain as much as 500 mg of long chain omega 3 fatty acids.

Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil
Pharmaceutical grade fish oils have been ultra refined in order to provide the highest quality of fish oil. This grade of fish oil undergoes through certain specialized processes in order to come up with the most refined fish oil. Certain specialized equipment is usually used in order to detect the minutest amount of contaminants in the fish oil. Because it is ultra refined, it is thousand times purer than the molecular distilled health food grade fish oils.

An ultra refined pharmaceutical grade fish oil contains more omega 3 fatty acids than the previous two fish oil grades. A one gram of this type of fish oil contains around 600 mg of long chain omega 3 fatty acids. And for being the most refined of the three grades of fish oil, it contains the smallest amount of contaminants.

The History of Fish Oil

A breakthrough in medicine practice happened 550 million years ago was brought about by single-cell algae. There was an explosion in biological diversity as multi-cell organisms started to evolve from single-cell algae. These new organisms had to develop a communication system to enable specialized cells to transmit messages to one another. The purpose of communication was two way; one was to build nerve connections between specialized cells and the other involved the use of hormones.

Eicosanoids were the first hormones product of these communications and they utilize fats in cell membranes as their building blocks. These eicosanoids dont just use any type of fat for their synthesis but they also require the long-chain highly-saturated fat (polyunsaturated) which is only found in algae-derived fats. And this is what many scientists of today believed to be the cause of breakthrough that separated smart man from average man.

Some 150,000 years ago our ancestors had discovered that fats or fish oil makes them smart. The healthy eicosanoids that are derived from those fats that control our health today the omega-3 rich fish oil.

The first recorded production of fish oil happened in 1775 in England. However, when the cod was brought back from America, the livers appeared to be disgusting as it were slapped onto the filthy streets of London, for the oil would ooze out. This was collected together with other stuffs on the streets and sold as cod liver oil.

Despite of its filthy beginnings for many people at that time the crude liver oil was considered a miracle oil for diseases like arthritis. The cod liver oil isn’t actually contaminated by street sewage but it’s still full of industrial contaminants like mercury and PCBs. These contaminants pollute the waters where cod live. Because of this the end products has some foul taste that turned the stomach of every child in America who took it two generations ago.

So while it’s true that 1 tablespoon of cod liver oil supplies 2.5 grams of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, it is also true that it supplies contaminants and a high dose of vitamin A, which is stored in the body’s fat tissues and can cause toxic effects like hair loss if taken in high enough doses.

The final breakthrough in fish oils happened when Ultra Refined EPA and DHA concentrate Omega-3 product was developed. EPA and DHA are almost found exclusively in sea foods. The process required advanced chemical engineering that starts with the removal of most of the saturated fat by fractional distillation and the removal of virtually all the PCBs (measured in parts per billion) by more sophisticated molecular distillation. In the process called polishing, impurities are removed through hot water. The fish oil are also added with anti-oxidants for longer life and added nutrients.

With these innovations, a new type of fish oil was developed. The end-product ensures you to have a concentrated amount of long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids without unwanted substances like chemical contaminants or harmful fatty acids that can harm your well-being.

It is only with the use of pharmaceutical-grade fish oil that you can get high enough levels of long-chain Omega-3 fats for your brain and body. The effect of the high-grade fish oil usually occurs after taking it everyday in 30 days.