Tag: Mercury Contamination

Customer Knowledge: Buying Fish Oil Supplements

Fish oil has many benefits to our overall health, whether it is for the heart or brain. Research showed that fish oil can reduce the risk of heart attacks, cancers, mental and psychological disorders and other sicknesses. The market is full of fish oil products, but how do we make sure that what we get are actually the ones that can benefit our health.

Not all fish contains Omega-3 oil or the essential fatty acids. Fishes that have the highest number of fatty acids are salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies.

There are things that you would have to consider when buying fish oil. Actually, health professionals would say that eating too much fish that contains fish oil and Omega-3 can cause mercury contamination. This can happen if you do not exactly know where the fish are caught. If the fish is caught in polluted waters, we can ingest mercury and other heavy metals.

To avoid toxins entering out body, we have to make sure that the fish oil that we are taking is molecularly distilled and pharmaceutical grade supplements. These kinds of fish oil are removed of all toxins. You would have to check at the label to make sure that they come from clean waters and properly refined.

When checking the label of a particular fish oil supplement, you check their websites and look for the Certificate of Analysis. This COA is an analysis performed by an independent laboratory to identify the freshness of the product. Aside from checking the source of the fish and the freshness of the fish oil, you would also need to know what kind of fish the oil is from.

Studies showed that fish oil with docosahexaenoic acid or DHA and eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA have the most health and benefits. Studies showed that the brain uses or needs more DHA to function better. Aside from being free of heavy metals, it should always contain at least 60 % of EPA and DHA. You would also have to consider or be cautious with vitamins like Vitamin A and E which can be very harmful in large doses.

How would you know that you are buying the safe fish oil supplement? Only buy from companies that use fresh and high qualify fish and inform the public where they get their fish. You can check their websites or labels to be informed properly.

Fish oil supplements can be either liquid or tablet. Liquid fish oil costs more than oil capsules. But when compared with capsules based on the cost-per-gram it is actually less expensive. Capsules are tamper-proof and keep the oil from getting bad. Most people find fish oil to be expensive or over priced. Some experts would say that there are two ways to compare prices. You can compare the total amount of DHA in the supplement and the cost for each gram of DHA.

You would feel that you have low quality fish oil if you suffer from any ache or pain. So, we would have to be cautious when buying low-cost fish oil. They may not be the same as the high-quality fish oil. You would have to be cautious when buying cheap fish oil.

So, when buying fish oil, or any kind of product, read the label or the product information first. Getting informed will relieve you of any kind of health risk in the future. Reading the label or getting to know the product would not be more than a couple of minutes, anyway. So, spare the time.

Is Fish Oil Harmful?

If you ask those fans of mackerel and salmon why they loved those fish so much and what is omega-3, they will probably give you a long lecture on how important or beneficial essential fatty acids are to your health. They will site a number of studies proving the positive effects of fatty acids on our bodies and how these can be used to treat a variety of conditions, ailments or diseases.

Some, and these are the really omega-3 fanatics, can go on and on and on. From the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids to the preparations and cooking of salmon. At the end you find yourself mumbling and probably cursing why you asked in the first place. However, despite the long lecture, you might notice your friend leaving behind an issue that is often disregarded but is equally important with the benefits of fish oils. And that can be addressed by answering the question: is fish oil harmful?

I am all for the various benefits of fish oils. I dont discount it, I dont question the studies nor do I criticize the testimonies from long time users. But personally, I dont believe that fish oils are purely good. We have this saying that too much of anything is bad for you. The same should apply to fish oils. After researching the internet, reading a number of articles, and a couple of cups of coffee, I found out that fish oils do have some side effects, some even quite harmful.

Among the more minor side effects are diarrhea and that fishy after taste. You will experience these side effects if you too much dosage of fish oils. Commonly doctors would prescribe or recommend a 2 gram intake of fish oil daily at the minimum.

Probably the major risk of overdosing on fish oil is the contamination, more specifically mercury contamination. It is a sad fact, but a lot of the worlds fishing grounds are contaminated or polluted. The fish you eat might have a good stock of omega-3 but you might not know it, the fish might only contain a considerable amount of heavy metal contaminants. When it comes to pill or capsule supplements, the process of creating those fish oil capsules might not be safe. The safest would be through a distillation process.

Another major risk is when combined with other blood thinners. Fish oil acts as a blood thinner or anti-coagulant, which basically helps stop platelets or heavy cells from forming blood clots reducing the risks of having a heart attack. However, if you combine fish oil with other medicines such as aspirins, the result might be very harmful to your body and even fatal. Too much blood thinners can cause you to bleed out. And bleeding does not mean just bleeding out externally, but there are cases where patients actually bled to their brains.

So going back to our question, is fish oil harmful? Well, the above scenario is quite a frightening one but things like that could possibly happen to people who are extremely careless. That is why before you take any supplements, fish oil in this case, you should consult your doctors and make sure you provide them with a complete, honest and proper medical history.