Do you know how to tell the best fish oil from the rest?

The best fish oil

It is an undeniable fact; all experts agree that our diet is deficient in omega 3 essential fatty acids.

Now, should we rely on our everyday diet to get these highly valuable nutrients, or it is better to take supplements?

Although in the past the answer would definitely be in favour of relying on what we eat, today it's a whole different story. The extent of pollution is so much, that all kinds of chemicals exist on all our natural sources of food.

Therefore, supplementation is today a viable option.

Coming to the issue of omega 3 acids, these are several. The most important, however, are two: DHA and EPA. According to experts, the best source for these is fish oil.

Besides the two acids I mentioned, there is also a third one known as ALA. Unlike the other two, this is sourced from plants, such as flaxseed.

There is an important distinction, however, which makes this fatty acid different from the other two. Our body does not readily absorb it, as it is and has to be converted fist into DHA or APA.

The fact is, however, that this conversion process does not take place very smoothly. This is especially true for people who have weak immune systems, like older people or people with a serious disease such as AIDS, cancer etc.

Therefore, we come to our conclusion: In order to ensure that your body gets its daily intake of omega 3 fatty acids, it's best to obtain them from a highly purified, best fish oil supplement.

Of course, not all of fish oil supplements from the rich variety of products available today, are created equal. Some of them are bad, some are good.

So, the obvious question that comes to the consumer's mind is this: How can I tell which one is the best fish oil?

As you know, arming ourselves with the right knowledge will better guide our judgement to make the wisest choices.

The selection criteria to use

In order to estimate best fish oil quality, there are three key variables to consider:

1. First on your list should be purity. As I mentioned above, more often than not, the fish that the oil is extracted from are loaded with harmful contaminants. Examples of these pollutants are heavy metals like mercury, cadmium and lead.

2. The second thing you should look out for is the content of the fish oil capsule in terms of fatty acids. The more it contains DHA and EPA, the better.

Let me tell you that between these two acids, the best is DHA. The reason why this is so is linked with their chemical structure and their efficiency to convert to a form which can be readily absorbed by our body. While DHA can be more efficient in converting to EPA when it is needed, the converse is not true. That is, conversion from EPA to DHA is not so efficient.

3. The last but not least quality variable is freshness. This is something that you can readily notice yourself. You all know how a fish smells when it goes rancid.

Well, something similar happens with the supplement as well. If the fish that was extracted from was not fresh (mostly due to the fact that the time that passed between the time it was caught and the time it was processed was too long), then the contents of the capsule are rancid as well.

A simple and quick test to see whether your fish oil capsule is fresh is to cut it in two. If its smell is light and does not intensely remind you of a fishy smell, then it's probably OK to use it.

What it is important to remember is that lack of freshness might most probably be responsible from that nasty "fishy" aftertaste that you might have experienced after swallowing the capsule.

Having said all the above, let me recommend to you one of the best fish oil products that comes from a fish called hoki. This swims in the cold, deep waters in southwest Pacific Ocean near New Zealand, a part of the world which is widely considered to be one of the least polluted on the planet.

Its oil is very rich in omega 3 acids, especially DHA, and it is purified through an advanced process called molecular distillation. This is by far the most proven technology to be efficient at removing all harmful toxins from the fish oil.

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