Welcome to part two of our series on omega-3. If you have not read part one, you should definitely start there.
All aboard for part two of our journey.
How to Choose the Right Omega Three Supplement
Many people need to take a supplement to get enough omega-3. As always, remember to check with your doctor before starting any supplement.
With so many omega-3 supplement choices, how do you know which one to take?
What are the different kinds of omega-3 three supplements?
The most well-known type of omega-three supplement is fish oil. You can get them from various fish, including salmon, anchovies, sardines, cod liver, and sometimes squid. All fish have similar fatty acids, just in different ratios and amounts. Some oils, like cod liver, may have additional vitamins or beneficial compounds, such as alkylglycerols in ratfish.
Other less common types of omega-3 supplements are krill oils, algae oils, ratfish oil, and fish roe. For the reasons we outlined in part one, we do not count flax, chia, or hemp oils as omega-3 supplements.
Omega three supplements - sustainability and ethical considerations
The first things to consider when choosing an omega-3 supplement are sustainability and ethics. Companies may often tell you the country of origin of their oil, but that is not enough and tells you very little. Here are some questions that you need to ask to find out more about where your omega three supplement comes from and how sustainable it is:
Are huge bottom trawlers used, or are they line-caught by small fishermen, and how is this verified?
Huge bottom trawlers are terrible for the environment. This causes a massive loss of sea life and often damages the local environment, such as harming coral reefs.
What is the state of the fishery they come from, and how is this verified?
You should be able to look up the fishery and see reports on how well it is managed from a source other than the company.
Can the fish be traced back to the boat they came from?
Traceability back to the boat is critical to verifying all other sustainability and ethical claims.
Are the fisherman well compensated for their work?
Everyone deserves a living wage. In addition, there is a lot of slavery involved in the seafood trade, so knowing that the fish is caught without slavery is incredibly important.
What percent of bycatch is there, and how is it verified?
Bycatch is fish or marine life that the fisherman does not intend to catch. It is a huge problem in the fishing industry and results in the needless killing of thousands of marine creatures. Bycatch ideally should be less than one percent.
How long it takes for the fish to get to the processing facility?
Just like with fish you buy, the fresher, the better. Most fish oils are made from the rendered by-product of fish meal processing facilities, and needless to say, this will not be the freshest. They need a lot of processing and added flavorings to turn them into palatable oils.
Who makes the fish oil, and how is it made?
Most companies do not make their own oil. They buy bulk oil and bottle it or have it bottled for them. Ideally, you want companies who control the process from boat to bottle.
Ethically sourced fish oil should be produced with very little bycatch.
How are most omega three supplements made?
Nearly all omega-3 and fish oil supplements are heavily refined and processed to remove contaminants and improve flavor. While these processes may “clean” the oil, they come at a heavy cost to the nutritional value of the oil.
As with any food, heavy processing removes beneficial nutrients and compounds. Think of whole wheat bread versus white bread.
Here are the steps most omega-3 and fish oil supplements go through:
Degumming
Separation and removal of phospholipids
Bleaching
Removes color
Deodorization via hot steam
Removes odor
Removes some free fatty acids
Winterization
Increases the concentration of some fatty acids and removes others.
Molecular Distillation
Remove contaminants such as heavy metals and PCBs.
Changes the structure of the fatty acids.
The fatty acids are no longer in their natural form.
Some companies produce an ethyl ester form (a form of fat not found in food), others produce monoglycerides, and many companies try to reattach the triglyceride backbone. This reesterified triglyceride form is not identical to the natural triglyceride form found in fish.
There are ongoing lawsuits that are challenging whether these altered fatty acid supplements should be allowed to be called fish oil as they do not occur in fish.
Removes most of the vitamin content.
Many companies will add synthetic vitamins A and D back to their oils, while others will sell the oil without the vitamins or with very low levels.
Each of these processes removes something from the oil. While it is good to remove the contaminants from the oil, removing all of those other beneficial compounds is not good.
A better way to produce omega three supplements
What if there was a better way? A way that removed the contaminants but left the oil in its original state with the naturally occurring nutrients and beneficial compounds still there.
We always recommend genuine whole-food supplements whenever possible. They are better in every way. Finding a fish oil that was truly whole food was difficult. There were a lot of companies claiming to sell them, saying their process was raw or unheated. However, those claims usually turned out to be false. For example, there were quite a few companies that claimed that their Alaskan salmon oil was raw when, in fact, it was treated with hot steam and other refining processes. Very often, companies who sold the oil were not aware of how their oil was being produced.
Other times, they came from fisheries that were not sustainable and becoming overfished or the fish were caught in ways that produced a lot of bycatch and damaged the local environments, such as bottom trawling.
We wanted an oil that was:
Environmentally sustainable
Strict government monitoring and regulation of the fishery.
Ethically produced
The fishermen are paid a fair wage for their work, and no slavery is used.
Traceable from boat to bottle
Vertically integrated
The company should produce its own oil from fresh fish.
Incredibly fresh and pure
The fish get to the processing facility very quickly.
Every batch is third-party tested to ensure low levels of rancidity.
Peroxide
Acid Value
Anisidine
The liquid bottles are nitrogen-flushed to protect the oil from oxygen.
Every batch third-party tested for contaminants like lead, cadmium, mercury, PCBs, and dioxins.
Every batch third-party tested for radioactivity.
Every batch third-party tested for microplastics.
This one was very important. With more microplastics ending up in the environment every day, it was important to us that the fish oil be free of microplastics. Unfortunately, most fish oil companies do not test for this.
Truly whole food
We wanted an oil that was not refined.
One that kept the fatty acids in their natural state.
One that retains all the beneficial nutrients and compounds in their naturally occurring state.
This gentle, cold processing removes the contaminants, keeps the fatty acids in their natural state, preserves all the naturally occurring nutrients, and keeps the oil fresh.
Rosita Cod Liver Oil
While it was not easy, we were very excited to find a company that produced fish oil that checked all of our boxes. That brand is Rosita Real Foods.
Rosita's oils are line-caught near the Island of Donna by small, fisherman-owned Norwegian fishing boats, virtually eliminating bycatch. There is no trawling whatsoever. The fishery is strictly monitored and protected by the Norwegian government, which has some of the most stringent regulations in the world. These rules have allowed the fishery to thrive, while codfish populations are in decline in many other places.
The cod livers go right from the boats to the processing facility, which is just a few minutes away from the docks. As fresh as can be!
Check out this great video with one of the fishermen:
Look how beautiful the fishery is (hopefully, one day, we can all visit):
While most fish oils are the same color all year round because of the heavy processing, this
This incredible oil changes color throughout the year because the diet of the cod changes. This also causes the oil to change in taste throughout the year. Rosita Cod Liver Oil and Ratfish Oil are truly the gold of the ocean.
While many people like the taste of whole-food cod liver oil, some are not fans of the flavor. Here are some great ways to disguise the taste:
Give it flavor! Add a hint of licorice, ginger, or lemon
Mix it into a smoothie.
Add it to a tangy juice.
Add it to yogurt, raw cream, honey, maple syrup, apple sauce, or even peanut butter.
Use a chaser. Try a slice of lemon or a crisp cucumber.
Use an ice cube tray and freeze it into small pieces you can swallow.
Beat the oil into a bit of fresh-squeezed orange juice to emulsify it.
The I don't want to taste it method:
Pour your oil into the glass measuring cup.
In a drinking glass, put a couple of ounces of cold water or juice.
Hold your breath and swallow the oil
Then drink the water and don’t breathe until after you swallow the water.
Chase with a lemon or lime slice like you would after a shot of tequila.
How much omega three do you need?
We get this question a lot. It is a complicated question. As with most supplements, a focus was put on a few isolated fatty acids or compounds instead of the whole food. It started with EPA and DHA, then companies started finding out the benefits of DPA, and that became a hot compound to advertise. Then, it moved to SPMs (specialized pro-resolving mediators). Soon, another fatty acid or compound will be promoted. It becomes a moving target; get more of this fatty acid. No, this one is better than that one, and you need this amount. This is a major problem in the supplement industry. They are constantly chasing the next big thing they can isolate and make a lot of money on. There are so many wonderful fatty acids and beneficial compounds in omega-three rich foods that focusing on one or two will always leave you missing out. Instead of focusing on how much of a particular fatty acid or compound to get, focus on getting more omega-three rich whole foods in your diet to ensure you get a good amount of a wide variety of these beneficial compounds and fatty acids. If you are not eating enough of them, have health issues, or eat too much omega-6, then you should consider adding a whole-food fish oil, like Rosita Cod Liver Oil. When choosing an omega-three supplement, remember that every major medical and scientific organization agrees that whole foods are the best way to get your omega-three, so we want our fish oil supplement to contain a full spectrum of beneficial fatty acids and compounds, just like you get when eating fish, not just a few isolated fatty acids.
Remember to talk to your healthcare practitioner before starting fish oil, especially if you take blood-thinning medications like Warfarin or drugs that affect clotting, such as Plavix.
Several factors determine how much omega-3 you need.
Your intake of omega-6. The more omega-6 rich foods you eat, the more omega-3 you need.
Your health status. If you are struggling with your health, you will most likely need a higher dosage than if you want to stay healthy.
If you are on certain medications. For example, cholesterol medications can negatively affect the omega-six to omega-three ratio, so you may need more if you take them.
Testing is a great way to accurately measure how much omega-3 you need. We recommend getting tested when you start reducing your omega-6 intake and increasing your omega-3 intake. Then, in twelve weeks, get tested again. Here is a link to our favorite omega-3 test. We have no affiliation with the company; we have found their testing very helpful. Remember, the more omega-6 you eat, the more omega-3 you need.
For adults, we recommend taking 5 ml of the Rosita Cod Liver Oil daily. When first starting, we recommend using 2.5 ml to allow your body to become accustomed to a whole food omega-three. Whole-food fish oil supplements have a much more potent effect than heavily refined ones, so starting a little lower and gradually increasing is the best way. For kids, we recommend starting with 3-5 drops of unrefined Rosita Ratfish Oil. It has all the same benefits as cod liver oil, but it has a milder taste and helps to support a healthy immune system, which is so vital for growing children.
Some people may need a higher dosage if they are facing health challenges. Talk to your healthcare practitioner to see if a higher amount might be best for you.
To ensure you get the correct dosage, use a proper measuring device—do not use a soup spoon. Shake it well and store it in the fridge. Because it is unrefined, it will get cloudy and may thicken a bit in the refrigerator. Always take it with food for the best absorption.
Remember, it can take up to twelve weeks to start feeling the full effects because they need to build up in your body. Remember, omega-3 fatty acids are nutrients you need daily, like B12, vitamin D, or calcium.
TLDR:
Reduce your omega-six intake from food.
Increase your omega-three intake from food.
Take a whole-food omega-3 supplement.
Stop settling for heavily refined oils. They can never replicate the balance found in whole foods. Raw, unrefined fish oils are an easy and potent way to nourish your body and improve your health.
Do you have questions about omega-three supplements?
We know this is a lot of information, so if you have questions about omega-3 supplements, email us at info@rooted-nutrition.com or schedule a free call. We will be happy to answer any questions you have!