Fish oil brands

Yes of course I have evidence about different processing techniques. But now I am running into specific name brands, and as I mentioned I am now biased.

Rancidity in fish oil is also pretty easy to check. Try cutting open a typical 180/120 pill and taste the oil, as compared to one of the ultra-refined brands.

Here:

http://www.mina mi-nutrition.co … dfaq=21&idcat=4

And here:

Hobby, you really do make me work hard! lol

"It is thought that competition between the omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids occurs in prostaglandin formation. EPA, an omega-3 fatty acid for example, competes with AA, an omega-6 fatty acid, for prostaglandin and leukotriene synthesis. When we eat fish or fish oil, the EPA and DHA from fish or fish oil lead to decreased production of the prostaglandin E2 and a decrease in leukotriene B4 formation. This has the effect of decreasing overall inflammation, and making leukocytes less sticky and less able to migrate into the lymph nodes and bone marrow."

CLL Topics: Omega-3 Fatty Acids

"The adverse effects of too much arachidonic acid and its eicosanoids can be avoided by two interdependent dietary changes. First, the amount of plant oils rich in LA, the parent compound of the omega-6 class, which is converted to AA, needs to be reduced. Second, simultaneously the omega-3 PUFAs need to be increased in the diet. LA can be converted to arachidonic acid and the enzyme, D-6 desaturase, necessary to desaturate it, is the same one necessary to desaturate LNA, the parent compound of the omega-3 class; each competes with the other for this desaturase. The presence of LNA in the diet can inhibit the conversion of the large amounts of LA in the diets of Western industrialized countries which contain too much dietary plant oils rich in omega-6 PUFAs (e.g. corn, safflower, and soybean oils). The increase of LNA, together with EPA and DHA, and reduction of vegetable oils with high LA content, are necessary to achieve a healthier diet in these countries."

http://www.issf … uateintakes.htm

"The issue of a correct choice of placebo for essential fatty acid research is difficult. Most studies use omega-6 rich oil, such as corn oil, soy oil, or safflower seed oil. However, this practice is not completely unbiased as the omega-6 oil competes with omega-3 fatty acids for metabolism. Given in high enough doses, the omega-6 oils will overwhelm delta-6 desaturase and inhibit the metabolism of the omega-3 fatty acids."

http://66.102.9 .104/search?q=c … +competes&hl=en

You should read all of the last link, even though it’s long. You will enjoy it. I watched a programme presented by leading neurologist Professor. Robert Winston, showing the huge change in the behavior of a six year old boy after being given three teaspoons of fish oil a day. The threshold for such huge neurological changes is around six years old. The kid very quickly changed from being someone with attention deficit disorder, severe learning difficulties and an agressive, violent behavior, to a very friendly, quick learning and obedient pupil.

For god’s sake!!!! In the space of time that it took me to write my last post, 11 more posts have been added. Slow down please! I am replying to a post 11 posts back. It might all be out of context after all your most recent posts. I need to catch up.

Men are always telling me to slow down. :babe5:

You’re voracious!! lol

I doubt a taste test is a good indicator of the freshness of fish oil. It’s more likely that the fishy taste is dependent on the amount of extraneous stuff present, not the freshness of the oil itself.

More concentrated = less filler garbage and nicer tasting, but not necessarily less oxidized or rancid.

Gottagrow, I’ll read those links later, but the parts you quoted didn’t address the issue of taking w-6 (or any other fats) along with w-3’s interfering with the absorption of w-3.

I haven’t really looked into the matter beyond stumbling across that old study about taking fish oil with a high fat meal increasing the absorption of EPA.

But my links showed the big difference in processing too.

And a link against ultra-refined fish oil (and also against most regular-grade fish oils):

Where? Maybe point out the relevant parts, because I’m not seeing them.

From the Minami link:

Deep-sea fish oil is the basic ingredient for all Minami Nutrition Omega-3 supplements. First and foremost the oil needs to be purified. Which can be done with chemical solvents. But not at Minami! We only use ‘super critical CO2 liquid extraction’, without solvents. The numerous advantages of this leading technology include:
• Only liquid CO2 is used, i.e. 100% natural - you are in fact exhaling CO2 at this very moment…
• Environmentally friendly, because there are no contaminating chemical solvents.
• Heating to 60°C suffices (not to 200°C as with traditional distillations), which preserves the natural structure of the polyunsaturated fatty acids.

From the Sears link:

“Most health-food grade fish oils are fish body oils extracted from the fish. If the label says it comes from a particular species of fish (i.e. salmon oil) then you know it is a health-food grade fish oil. These oils are only sold in soft gelatin capsules because they still have an extremely poor taste profile (to see why, simply bite into a capsule to release the oil). A slightly more purified type of health food grade fish oil includes those that have been subjected to a very limited amount of molecular distillation to remove some of the cholesterol in order to be labeled ‘cholesterol-free’. A typical one-gram capsule of health-food grade fish oil contains approximately 300 mg. of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Another type of higher-grade health-food fish oil is known as “fish oil concentrate”. This type of fish oil consists of ethyl esters of the fish oil that has been subjected to fractional cooling. The more saturated fats will solidify, leaving behind a more concentrated solution of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. However, this fractional cooling does not remove the PCB’s or the long-chain monoene fatty acids that give rise to significant gastric distress. A one-gram capsule of this thermally fractionated health-food grade fish oil will contain up to 500 mg. of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids.

Health-food grade fish oils are acceptable in small amounts (no more than 3-4 capsules per day) without inducing significant gastric problems. However, higher doses require a much more purified type of oil; ultra-refined fish oil.

Ultra-Refined Fish Oil
Ultra-refined fish oil starts with thermally fractionated health-food fish oil that is then distilled by highly complex refining technology into fractions rich in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids that are exceptionally low in the long-chain monoenes (that cause gastric distress) and pollutants such as PCB’s and oxidized and polymerized lipids. The individual fractions are then combined to provide the most appropriate balance of EPA and DHA for the finished oil. The typical one-gram capsule of ultra-refined fish oil will have at least 600 mg. of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. This may not seem a major concentration improvement compared to the health-food grade fish oils, however, the increase in the purity of the oil is why it costs nearly twice as much. This purity is also reflected in a dramatically improved taste profile.”

With regards to fish oil processing, most companies use the highly affective method of purification called molecular distillation. Molecular distillation is a process that heats the oil within a vacuum chamber and passes steam through it, which evaporates off the most volatile contaminents and free fatty acids. The vacuum is used to stop oxidation of the oil during heating and also to lower the boiling point of the oil considerably, so that less heat is needed for evaporation of contaminents and impurities.

Some companies will then flush the oil with nitrogen, to rid the oil of any oxygen that would turn the oil rancid with peroxides. They will also add antioxidants ofcourse.

The most important factor is using high quality crude fish oil in the first place. For a high quality end product, the crude oil bought must be of excellent quality, which is more expensive. De-acidification, winterization, deodorization are common proceedures. Low peroxide values are very important. No amount of care during refining can make up for using a crude oil that is already heavily oxidized. This means that the crude oil bought must be very fresh, must be produced from fresh fish, must have been produced in low light and low air environments and must be stored at the right temperature. Only then can a good end product be made. All these things cost money.

The key question is, what kind of quality crude fish oil are the cheap fish oil manufacturers buying in the first place. Can they afford to buy crude oil that has been produced under ideal conditions? This, I do not know. Yet.

So, you have nothing about heat or oxidation affecting the efficacy of the DHA/EPA, or how a particular purification method is better than another? Your quote from a nebulous source refers to “health food grade” and “highly purified.” Looks like marketing mumbo jumbo to me.

In an offshoot from Para’s initial link is mention of purity standards higher than California’s:

Googling about that leads to this . I only skimmed a couple of those pdf’s, but I don’t recall seeing anything about processing methods.

Evidently you aren’t familiar with this either. If you know something the rest of us don’t about fish oil processing, please tell.

How many producers are there? I’ll bet there aren’t many, and that you see lots of labels sold at varying prices on the same stuff.

“How many producers are there?”

In the world? Probably atleast one hundred. Producers may make various crude fish oils of varying qualities ofcourse. That’s the norm in most manufacturing businesses.

“I’ll bet there aren’t many, and that you see lots of labels sold at varying prices on the same stuff.”

Ofcourse, different supplement companies have different overheads. Salaries, sponsorships, share holder payouts, marketing costs, packaging costs, production costs etc, etc. Every company is different.

By the way, I can’t belief you didn’t find any of the information I posted about taking omega-6 in combination with omega-3 helpful. I thought the information was clearly leading somewhere. I went to all that trouble at your request. Oh well. Better luck next time. Right, I’m off to bed.

What? Here is my response to your post. I said nothing about not finding your links helpful. The quotes from them you provided didn’t address the question at hand.

I suppose I’ll be labeled evil again for not accepting a topic change in place of an answer.