Toss up whether to put this in general questions or opinions, but this is my best guess for appropriate forum.
My husband’s doctor yesterday recommended that he take fish oil capsules. (So yes, he is under a doctor’s care in this matter). We will, of course, follow the doctor’s lead in regards to how much and so forth, but it’s not a product either of us is familiar with, and being a supplement rather than a formal medication he’s given us the go ahead to choose our bottle. Thus, this thread.
Any recommended forms of fish oil? (It’s usually capsules or softgels, right?)
Any recommended brands?
Any brands NOT recommended?
Anything to watch out for?
Any concerns about funny tastes?
My inclination is to go to Meijer’s and probably go for their house brand or whatever the pharmacist there might recommend, but with the Dope being such a vast storehouse of knowledge I thought I’d ask here, too.
As for any questions regarding getting fish oil in the diet - we do eat fish several times a week but the doctor is recommending this over and above that as otherwise he seems satisfied with my husband’s diet.
If you don’t need the specific formulation I’ve mentioned, you can get a cheaper Nordic Naturals formulation at Vitamin Shoppe and some other places, I believe.
I will second FalconFinder. I take the Nordic Naturals ProEPA formulation on the advice of my doctor (he takes the same brand).
One thing to be aware of is mercury contamination. I suspect that all major brands are fine – a bit of Google-fu will lead to studies like this one.
My husband has multiple medical problems that already require him to swallow a handful of pills a day. The doctor didn’t really want to give him another, in no small part because the more pharmaceuticals you add into a mix the more chances of bad interactions. Fish oil has been shown to help with high triglycerides, high cholesterol, and may improve mood in depressed people (if, like my husband, you were in constant pain and didn’t feel very useful you’d probably have depression issues, too). For all of the above the husband is in sort of a borderline area where adding medications may not really be required, so the doc thinks it’s worth a try to see if this will prevent these markers from getting worse, thereby avoiding yet another expensive pill with potential side effects. Fish oil isn’t going to have as strong an effect as some other things, but it is also less likely to cause complications, especially in light of the fact he’s already taking several medications already.
I started with the enteric coated to avoid the fish burps. I don’t know if my body grew accustomed or what, but now I just take the cheapest and I don’t get the stinky burps. But I would start with the coated.
Does it have to be fish oil, or can you get the Omega-3 from another source? My husband and I have been taking a gummy Omega-3 supplement from plant sources (salvia and algae). They’re pretty good.
The research on which the doctor is basing his recommendation was done with fish oil, not omega-3. Omega-3 is but one component of fish oil (I’ve been doing a bit of research on this myself). Since there is not (apparently) as much research available on omega-3 alone limiting him to just omega-3 means he might wind up missing out on some therapeutic component other than omega-3 that is in fish oil.
I’m not sure why it would matter if it was a fish oil or from plant sources - we’re hardly vegetarians, we already consume fish as well a chicken, turkey, beef, pork, and venison. Clearly, we would want to avoid anything that might be of poor quality or contaminated, but that’s a rule in general for anything you put in your body.
There are only a few manufacturers who make any given product. I love that you say that it is a nutty idea, because it is–kind of. Trader Joe’s does not manufacture or have exclusive rights to any product–but they do scream quality. I think it is the packaging and the marketing. You would be suprised at the products that come out of the same plant.
