Apart from vitamin and mineral supplements, fish oil has become a popular health product being used by adults in the U.S.

Fish oil has omega-3 fatty acids that can benefit the health but most specifically, the circulatory health. It can also deliver some benefit for the brain health as well, but some people are unaware of this one. This is the reason why a lot of people sought out this supplement as part of their daily care.

Fish oil is extracted from the oil fats found in fish and marine oils from other sea lifeforms like the krill. These oils are rich in omega-3 fatty acids which is a type of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) that are important for the overall health.

Is fish supplement good for you?

There are instances where you come across omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids within your diet. These 2 fatty acids are important for your health and you must have an understanding of the ideal fish oil ratio for each one.

The two most studied omega-3 fatty acids are docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). These two can benefit our overall health and well-being because of how they are used for essential life functions. Even though our bodies can create them from smaller omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA functions the same way as vitamins wherein the conversion efficiency is very poor. Every cell in our body needs DHA and EPA and the only way to guarantee that we get the most amounts of these acids is to acquire them through foods or supplements.

Unfortunately, some people aren't getting enough omega-3 fatty acids in their diet. DHA and EPA are needed for optimum brain and body health but there are studies which shows that adults only have 90% suboptimal levels.

This deficiency has led some people to make up for it through fish oil supplements. However, they also don't know that not all fish oils are created equal.

How to choose the best type of fish oil?

Even though that omega-3 fatty acids reside in the fatty tissue of a fish, environmental contaminants also do as well. This means that some of the oils that are harvested from these tissues may have chances of containing high levels of these contaminants. Therefore, it can be quite dangerous to eat fish that are caught from contaminated ocean zones.

Fish are capable of "bioaccumulating" heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury that comes from industrial sources and have leaked into the watery environments in which they live in. This is the reason why some of these contaminants end up being stored in the fish oil derived from these fish.

The adverse effects of these heavy metals in humans can cause brain damage which includes blindness, deafness, memory loss, loss of coordination, irreversible kidney and liver damage, and even death. Apart from the heavy metals, other toxic compounds can also be bioaccumulated by the fish.

Some of the well-known toxic chemicals in science such as PBBs (polybrominated biphenyls), PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), dioxins, and furans can be accumulated by the fish. If consumed, these can lead to problems on the functioning of the liver, brain, immune system, reproductive and endocrine systems, and essentially all the organs.

Apart from causing organ problems, PCBs can have devastating effects on humans even when consumed in very low levels. It can cause problems such as muscle spasms, skin disorders, chronic bronchitis, and nervous system disorders. So if you plan on buying fish oil supplements, make sure to consider products that have been highly purified.

What to look for in a fish oil supplement?

There are 4 important aspects that you need to look for in fish oil. These are:

• Purity - Fish oils that are good are either IFOS- or EuroFins-compliant. These labs are from Europe in which they operate in standards that are much higher compared to the United States Pharmacopeia (USP). They test in a number of additional contaminants thus ensuring that your fish oil has the highest quality. You can verify your fish oil's purity by asking the manufacturer for a Certificate of Analysis (COA) for a particular batch. A legitimate manufacturer can provide you with a batch-specific COA. Through this, you can learn the exact content of DHA and EPA as well as levels of oxidation, heavy metals, and other potential bad bugs.
• Form - There are 4 primary forms of omega-3s found in supplemental delivery. This can cause confusion to some consumers who are interested in the most bioavailable omega-3. Omega-3s naturally occurs in triglyceride form so it makes sense to also supplement in this form and nutritional sciences suggest just that. There is also a much faster and cheaper manufacturing process in which it yields something that is called an ethyl ester (EE). This is a semi-synthetic form of omega-3s in which it contains an ethanol backbone that can create difficulties in both bioavailability and absorption. A huge portion of fish oil is in EE form and products that have triglyceride form will indicate it in the label of the bottle while EE may be listed as something like "marine oil concentrate."
• Freshness - The best way to find out the freshness of your fish oil is to do a simple "bite test." A high-quality fish oil shouldn't contain that much fishy smells or tastes. It should also be relatively translucent or free of any cloudiness.
• Potency - The last thing that you're going to check is its content of DHA and EPA which are known to be the therapeutic components of omega-3 fatty acids. Some companies will do whatever it takes to deceive customers like boosting the amount of omega-3s but once you look into its facts box, the DHA and EPA content is very low. An ideal product contains somewhere near a gram of a balanced mix of DHA and EPA. Therapeutic ranges should somewhere be in-between 1 and 6 grams per day depending on the clinical conditions.