5 Rock Solid Tips for Choosing Fish Oil Supplements

By the time you finish reading this article, you’ll have an excellent idea of what to start looking for with the best fish oil supplements.  

What are the best fish oil supplements to go with?  I get asked this question often, so I decided to dedicate this brief article to answering the market’s demand for relevant information on this topic.

Purity

When looking for fish oil supplements to buy, it is important to consider the purity of the oil.  What do I mean by purity?  Before a fish’s skin is pressed for its oil, it has lived in the ocean for a time.  During its life, certain impurities like mercury can accumulate.  While this is entirely normal, it’s not at all desirable because of the concerns that surround mercury poisoning.  You’ll want to make sure that the fish oil supplements you consider have been put through a process known as “molecular distillation”.  This process reduces impurity levels to near zero and makes the fish oil supplements safe to ingest.

There are four standards of purification levels fish oil supplements must pass through in order to be deemed safe enough to ingest.  These standards are:

•    International Fish Oil Standards (IFOS)
•    Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN)
•    European Pharmacopoeia
•    Norwegian Medicinal Standard

Ideally, the fish oil you consider should have standards greater than, or equal to, all four of these standards depending on where you are buying your fish oil supplements from.

When looking for the best fish oil to buy, you also should check the supplier’s Certificate of Analysis.  This is an official statement of the measured impurities in the particular fish oil supplements you’re looking at.  You’ll want to aim for fish oil supplements that offer verified, non-detectable levels of pollutants.  Certain oceans are known for having low pollution levels due to the absence of commercial activity in nearby areas.  When choosing fish oil supplements, you’ll want to verify where they were made.  Bonus points should be given to companies that manufacture their oil from fish in the South Seas.

Freshness

Freshness is extremely important when considering the best fish oil supplements to buy.  What people don’t often realize is that as fish oil sits unused, or is manufactured poorly, it can become oxidized and can actually negate what you’re aiming to accomplish.

When you purchase fish oil supplements, the first thing you should look for is the company’s Certificate of Analysis and verify the measured oxidation levels.  You should look for the word “TOTOX” on the certificate which is an abbreviation for “total oxidation”.  It is comprised of two numbers and it is important to make sure that both of these numbers are present on the certificate as some companies try to show the better of the two and pass the product off as “safe” while the other number that you don’t see is off the charts.  If these numbers are near zero, the product is completely safe to ingest.  Also, fish oil supplements should never have any rancid odors or smells.  If this is the case, avoid that product completely.  The acceptable standard for TOTOX scores are typically 19-24.  Anywhere in this range is acceptable, although if you can find products lower than 19, the better off you are.

It is also noteworthy to look at whether the purity the fish oil supplements was verified by external sources.  While this is not essential, it certainly doesn’t hurt.

Transparency

Have you ever had that feeling while browsing a website or visiting a store that the owner wasn’t being 100% honest with you?  You may have asked some tough questions that forced the owner to reveal his hand of cards and all of a sudden he’s trying to get rid of you like you have the plague.  Well, the chances are the owner had something to hide.  I’ve seen this kind of behavior quite frequently with different companies.  You’ll always want to purchase fish oil supplements from a company that is transparent.  The ideal company will document everything so consumers can have their concerns addressed.  All of their certificates, customer testimonials, research results and ingredients are publicly posted on their site or inside the store to review.  

Customer Testimonials

Simply put, no one wants to buy a product that can’t offer some excellent, credible customer testimonials.  No one speaks better truth than one customer to another.  When considering fish oil supplements, work with a company that can prove customer satisfaction to you by showing you several examples of testimonials.  The testimonials should be genuine and specific.  

Price

Many times companies that cannot substantiate their claims about purity and freshness will charge up to twice as much for their product.  “Why do they do that?” you ask.  One would think that the worse a product is, the less expensive it would be.  That’s exactly why they do it.  It’s called “perceived value”.  If I tell you the price is low, you’ll think it’s a bad product.  If I tell you it’s expensive, you’ll think it’s a premium product.  This is an old marketing trick that’s been used many times very effectively.  Our minds tend to equate spending more money with achieving higher quality.  Often, higher prices mask hidden downsides.  Don’t fall for this.  Your health is far too precious.

To learn more about the premium fish oil supplements I use daily, please visit my website today.