Algal Omega-3 Capsules

Details

Omega-3 grown from Schizochytrium algae in closed tanks, which is where fish get theirs, in a plant cellulose capsule. The classic cheat in this category is a unit swap. A pack shouts 1,000 mg fish oil, and a shopper reads that as 1,000 mg of omega-3. It is not. Standard 18/12 fish oil is 18 percent EPA and 12 percent DHA, so a 1,000 mg capsule carries about 300 mg of the two things you are buying and 700 mg of other fatty acids. The number on the front is the weight of the oil, which is true and useless. The number that matters is EPA and DHA, separately, per capsule, and that is the number most packs bury or state only as a combined total. We print both, split, because they are not interchangeable and a combined figure lets a formulator load the cheaper one.

• Per capsule: 300 mg DHA and 150 mg EPA, 450 mg of the two together, in 625 mg of algal oil. That is 72 percent EPA plus DHA, against about 30 percent for standard fish oil
• Total omega-3 including DPA and ALA: 480 mg per capsule. Stated separately so it cannot be passed off as the EPA and DHA figure
• Assayed per lot by gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection, which is the method that separates the fatty acids rather than weighing the oil
• Triglyceride form, not ethyl ester. Ethyl ester is the cheaper re-esterified form and it is a different molecule
• Oxidation controlled and measured: peroxide value not above 5 milliequivalents per kilogram, anisidine value not above 20, TOTOX not above 26. A rancid fish oil capsule tastes of nothing until it repeats on you
• Grown in closed tanks on a defined feed, so mercury, dioxins and PCBs are designed out, and each lot is tested anyway rather than argued about
• No fish, no shellfish, no gelatin, no added flavour, no added colour. Vegetarian and vegan
• Omega-3 is a nutrient, not a treatment. This is for a diet short of it. Nothing here treats a condition, and if you are on a blood thinner ask your prescriber before starting
• Algal oil is naturally dark. The capsule looks almost black against the light, which is the oil and not a colourant