In my last video I explored the essential fatty acids, including a discussion on omega-3s,
and the implications for diet and supplementation.
I arrived at the conclusion that it is not necessary, but prudent to obtain a certain
amount of the pre-formed long-chain polunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.
Today we're going to be looking at which supplements I actually recommend and why.
With this in mind and considering the huge range of fatty acid supplements out there,
it's probably easiest if I start off with what I recommend avoiding.
Then we'll move on to considerations in choosing a supplement in descending order of importance,
and finally arrive at some supplements I've tried and tested myself and that are easy
to get Worldwide.
Unfortunately there are many great and emerging brands out there that would easily make the
list, but are as of yet not widely-available.
I outlined in my last video why both fish and fish oil are not good places to get EPA
and DHA.
They are some of the best sources of these nutrients, but they are also terrific sources
of many toxic pollutants, including fish oil even when purified with the gold standard
molecular distillation method.
On that note, one point I didn't make in that video was that we always have to remember
why we even want to take these supplements in the first place.
The cardiovascular benefits are quite disproven at this stage, thus the main question that
remains up for debate is their role in brain health.
Some of the pollutants found in fish are neurotoxic, such that fish consumption during child bearing
age may actually lower the IQ of offspring overall, with the effects of pollutants on
the brain seemingly overpowering the beneficial effects of the DHA.
Additionally, fish oil supplements are consistently plagued with rancidity problems due to the
intensive processing required to make these products, bringing their safety into question.
Fish liver oil can also contain large and potentially dangerous amounts of active vitamin
A both naturally and artificially added.
And we haven't even discussed all the usual problems inherent with animal products such
as animal protein, IGF-1, choline, TMAO, acid formation and so on.
So overall, fish and fish oil are not good sources of EPA and DHA because of all this
baggage.
I also want to be clear that I am not recommending ALA omega-3 supplements.
There are plenty of non-fish omega-3 supplements on the market such as flax seed oil that provide
the omega-3 fatty acid ALA, but it is only EPA/DHA supplements I am recommending.
You should strive to get plenty of ALA from whole food sources like flax SEEDS and get
your omega ratio down to 3:1, and indeed this is the most important message I want you to
take from these videos.
An EPA/DHA supplement is intended to complement this vital facet of diet, NOT replace it,
and supplementing EPA/DHA is certainly not an excuse to forget about your ratio.
I also do not recommend omega 3-6-9 supplements for this reason - we do not need to take in
omega-9 and we should be actively trying to reduce our omega-6 intake, as I explained
in the last video.
I also touched on GLA supplements in that video and gave my rationale for not recommending
them - in essence because their efficacy is small and more variable between individuals
compared with omega-3 supplements.
So we are looking for an omega-3 supplement, specifically containing EPA and DHA and free
from toxic pollution.
The most widely-available supplements that fit all these criteria at present are golden
algae EPA/DHA supplements.
Indeed, algae is where the fish get these nutrients from in the first place!
Another advantage of golden algae supplements over fish oil is that they tend to be much more
highly concentrated - a higher percentage of the oil they contain consists of the actual
EPA and DHA we are interested in as opposed to other molecules, so we can consume less
oil overall to obtain the same amount of the actual nutrients we care about.
This also makes their ratio much more in favour of omega-3 to omega-6 compared to various
fish oils.
Additionally, the algal oil I'll be recommending is much more standardised than fish oil and
is produced purely for the omega-3, allowing adjustment of the whole process to freshness
and avoidance of rancidity.
This lack of standardisation in fish oil supplements not only results in variability in quality
and purity, but also variability in actual omega-3 content compared with what is claimed
on the label.
Before we move on to specific supplements, one last thing I'd like to mention is that
you should definitely look to buy your supplement online - from what I've seen, these supplements
are still a little too pricey to buy in the pharmacy.
So what supplements do I recommend?
I'm now going to go through some considerations in descending order of importance to help
with choosing a supplement.
First off, I recommend buying a supplement that contains life'sOMEGA.
life'sOMEGA was the first golden algal oil to be produced as an EPA/DHA supplement, it
is the most widely-used and is well-studied and proven to work.
It is produced in an FDA-inspected facility under current Good Manufacturing Practices
and never comes in contact with the sea, so I think it's the best option.
You know it must be good when this is the DHA that is added to infant formula, and tellingly
not fish oil!
With that in place, I recommend that you get a supplement that contains both DHA AND EPA.
From what we understand DHA is the most important for brain health, but the combination of the
two is the best-studied and is what is recommended by most authorities.
Next we'll look at dose.
Following on from the last point, it is important that we look at EPA and DHA content to determine
dose, NOT total omega-3 content.
Because EPA and DHA are not essential fatty acids, no concrete RDAs can be pointed to
to guide dosage, so I recommend going by the European Food Safety Authorities adequate
intake level of 250 mg of combined EPA and DHA.
Pregnant and lactating women may benefit from 100-200 mg more DHA on top of that, so factor
that into your decision if you fall into that group.
A prudent approach might be to take a double dose of these supplements if pregnant or lactating.
On to excipients next.
Life's omega is formulated with small amounts of safe ingredients, but unfortunately the
capsules of all these supplements appear to be formulated with carrageenan since it is
the only viable vegan way they can be made at present.
This is not ideal, but I wouldn't avoid these great supplements for relatively minor carrageenan
concerns, unless perhaps you have gatrointestinal issues.
Other than that, the usual rule of the less ingredients the better applies, with one caveat
which I will get to later on.
Once all of these factors are in place, you can then look at determining which supplement
is the best value by looking at price per gram of EPA and DHA.
Unfortunately I can't give any specific recommendations here since prices are always changing, and
there may be special offers at the time of purchase and so on.
However if you are looking for some specific recommendations for supplements that fit all
of these criteria besides and that I've researched and bought myself, I'll go through some of
them now.
I'm going to base these recommendations mostly off what's available from iHerb.com, since
in my experience this has proved to be the easiest and cheapest way to get these supplements
in Europe.
A good all-rounder is the Deva Vegan Omega-3 DHA-EPA supplement, boasting 300 mg of combined
EPA/DHA well in excess of the EFSA's recommendation, and a nice short list of safe excipients.
As a rule it tends to be one of the better value supplements as well, since it compromises
on dose slightly compared to other supplements in favour of a higher count - you get 90 capsules
per bottle compared to the usual 60.
Another great one is Ovega-3.
The dose is a little higher with this one at 405 mg, but you only get 60 capsules per
bottle.
It contains the same excipients as the Deva one minus sunflower lecithin.
Consider this one if you want to increase the dose a little bit, for example if you
haven't supplemented EPA and DHA for a while, or indeed ever, and want to give yourself
a little boost.
The next one is a very welcome recent addition.
The company MyProtein never fail to surprise and impress me with their products, and their
new vegan omega-3 supplement definitely fits this bill.
It is well-dosed at 375 mg combined EPA/DHA, but it's real merit lies in the price - it
is by far the best-value supplement I have come across that fits all the criteria.
Like the others it is made with life'sOMEGA, but drops the sorbitol, beta carotene and
caramel in Ovega-3 in favour of the safe sodium carbonate, so it actually has the shortest
excipient list as well.
However, this comes with a drawback - these antioxidants and pigments were added for a
reason and were obviously doing a good job, since there is absolutely no fishy smell from
Ovega-3 or Deva, however there is a definite distinctive fishy odour from the MyProtein
supplement, indicating the presence of some oxidation and perhaps the capsule does not
protect the delicate omega-3s adequately.
You can actually see the difference - the MyProtein capsules are clear, whereas the
other two are dark brown, offering more protection to the fatty acids within.
This may however be an acceptable compromise if you want the cheapest supplement, or have
concerns about some of the excipients I mentioned.
I am sure though that one of these three supplements will offer an acceptable balance of compromises
to suit almost everyone's needs.
Regardless though, I recommend considering all the factors I outlined in this video when
choosing a supplement and you won't go wrong.
In summary, when choosing an omega-3 supplement we want it to contain EPA and DHA, not omega-6,
-9 or ALA, we want to get it as close to the source as possible to avoid pollutants and
other issues, in other words golden algae-based and preferentially life'sOMEGA, and at a mimimum
dose of 250 mg.
So that's it guys, hope you found the video informative!
If there's anything you'd like clarification on or you have any questions or comments,
post them in the comment section below and I'll get back to you.
That's it for now though, talk to ye soon.
Sláinte!