Tests find many popular omega 3 supplements are rancid
medicalxpress.com
medicalxpress.com
They added percentages of two separate groups to get the total rate of rancidity. Seems like the overall rate of rancidness is roughly 1/4, not 45%. Makes me think either 1) this was not written by a human or 2) the human who wrote this made a pretty egregious error.
Overall takeaway is: don't buy flavored omega-3 supplements.
>Overall, our results revealed that 68% (23/34) of flavored and 13% (5/38) unflavored consumer Ω3 supplements exceeded the TOTOX upper limit set by the Global Organization for EPA and DHA (GOED) voluntary monograph standard of ≤ 26, with 65% (22/34) flavored supplements and 32% (12/38) unflavored supplements failing the PV upper limit of ≤ 5 and 62% (21/34) flavored supplements exceeding the p-AV upper limit of ≤ 20.
One challenge is not knowing how something should taste.
I once got harvest fresh olive oil (as a gift). Wow! Total game changer.
~TLDR~ FYI: The good stuff should make you cough a little bit after you swallow it.
See also: coffee.
We could have better food with fewer preservatives and less processing if the supply chain would pay attention to this problem.
It works just as well except when you want the taste of olive oil. I find it superior when I stir fry things since the smoke point is higher.
The above math looks wonky to me but fits with the TLDR at the end of the piece:
Both Frame and Hands suggest exercising caution with flavored fish oil supplements at this point due to the uncertainty of how the flavoring may affect their freshness and, thus, any potential health benefits.
I've used Aqua Omega (unaffiliated) with great success for years.
A quick search agrees that greens, like spinach, broccoli and cabbage, do contain small quantities of omega 3. I'm having trouble getting a clear idea here of how helpful they are in comparison to the standard recommendation of fish oil.
Anyone have any good sources of info on how to get enough omega three from vegetarian sources?
IIRC there is some evidence that ALA is only bioavailable for women and not for men, but I don't remember if that's reliable.
Would love to get a clearer idea of how much I really need and how much produce I consume may be defraying that number.
Camelina oil is another good source of ALA if you can find human-grade versions of it. I thought it was nice as a sort of alternative to olive oil raw (like served with bread, or maybe tossed in cold salads), although it had its own flavor (sort of a grassy flax-like flavor), and is impossible to find now it seems. It wasn't something I would probably use a lot of but had a solid niche.
At one point there was some interest in transgenic camelina oil because it was easily converted into varieties expressing EPA and DHA. For example:
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep08104
I've never seen that sold anywhere though.
https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/other-nutrients/essential-fa...
I probably eat salmon once every other week.
There's a mail order fish company that would love for you to eat more salmon.
Salmon's not a local fish here being the main reason - and catching Barra makes for time well spent outdoors.
I’m skeptical that it can remove heavy metals but can’t find any info.
But I’ve also significantly cut down on the calories I’ve been eating.
(Also, Dr Patrick is the best.)
It also said that so long as a manufacturer is using a vitamin, mineral, or dietary substance that was available before 1994 then are ok to manufacturer and it would be considered safe (GRAS.)
There are additional requirements about manufacturing processes available before and after that date but that is the gist.
The problem with this law is that supplements are not required to undergo any kind of testing or validation. If a dietary supplement causes a problem, the FDA does not really have the authority to order a recall. Instead it has to depend on the Federal Trade Commission, which can order a recall and levy sanctions due to mislabeling.
Anyone can manufacture and sell a dietary supplements and sell them to anyone, there are no age restrictions. It's something that IMO needs greater oversight.
DSHEA: https://ods.od.nih.gov/About/DSHEA_Wording.aspx
General Recognized as Safe: https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/What-are-Generally-Recognized...
FTC and FDA: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/speeches/ftc-dietary-su...
Congressional Research Service, 2021: "Regulation of Dietary Supplements" https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R43062.pdf
Well, there's your problem. CVS and Walgreens are the two best places to go if you don't care about your money. Otherwise, at a grocer, Walmart, or Amazon, a bottle of a decent brand of VitC can be had for $7.5.
IMO before taking any supplements one should get a panel done to see if you even need it.