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Comment by com2kid | Hacker News Reader

Fish Oil does however help with anxiety and depression!

A large mega-dose of DHA/EPA (~1600mg of DHA, 1200mg of EPA) is the difference between my being stuck at home, and my going out to a party and socializing.

Fish Oil is not a panacea, but, there is lots of evidence [1] in its favor.

[1]http://examine.com/supplements/Fish+Oil/

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That's a lot, where do you buy it?

Also all I brands I've seen are higher on EPA over DHA. (The one in front of my is 780mg EPA and only 260 DHA)

Does that still help you or do you need a certain ratio?

I buy off from Amazon, the reviews are helpful. "Nordic Naturals" is a good brand to check out.

Do you think the amounts of EPA vs DHA are important? Do you worry about too many heavy metals?

You want a good 3:2 ratio or so.

Good brands independently list how much EPA and DHA are in each pill. Bad ones say "1000mg". That is useless, you can end up with minimal EPA and DHA and a bunch of filler oils. Meh.

Best I've found is ~600mg EPA and 400mg of DHA per capsule.

Edit: Good brands are purified, heavy metals should not be a concern.

which one do you buy and how much are they?

I honestly cannot remember the brand right now, I'll try to remember to look it up when I get home, but that is many hours away!

!! I remembered

THe highest ratio I have found is

"Life Extension Super Omega-3 EPA/DHA"

It is 700mg of EPA and 500mg of DHA. 3 a day!

Thanks. What do you think of this one? Is Swanson a good brand? You can't beat the price.

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson-efas-super-epa-fish-o...

Well be aware, 300mg of EPA means the value isn't quite as good as it may first appear. Multiply by 2.3 to get the dosage the same per $!

I have never used Swanson stuff before, typical worry about low cost fish oil is that it isn't filtered for heavy metals as well, and it may have a smell to it. Of course YMMV. :) I typically go to a local shop (more expensive of course!) and try out a brand there first, since I typically can return even the opened bottle if I feel something is wrong.

What do you mean about multiplying by 2.3?

The bottle I mentioned is 700mg per capsule, the one you linked to is 300mg per capsule. Price per capsule is therefor not a good measure, you need price per mg instead. :)

(Also remember to take into consideration number of capsules in the bottle!)

But the serving size on yours is two pills. Maybe you need to double up?

Bleck, you are right, I shouldn't do math at the wrong time of day. :) The ones I am using right now is something from a company called SOLGAR (never used them before), 1 capsule is 504mg EPA, 378mg of DHA.

Still a fair bit pricer than the ones you picked out though, even ordering from Amazon ($20/bottle of 100)

Is that per serving? Some brands may have fudged their numbers to appear better, but the amount of EPA/DHA per softgel could be much lower.

I'm curious — do you take it all at once? How long does its effects last?

Yup, all at once. Effects are 6-8 hours. Typically just 4 capsules.

Fish Oil is interesting in that at different dosages it acts differently. You have to basically mega-dose it to get the anti-anxiety and depression effects. (As always, YMMV)

So you take it in the morning?

Taking 2800mg of fish oil and then parting while smelling like an aquarium. Tell me more about your success with women...

Good brands are purified and do not have any smell. Buying stuff from reputable brands I've never had a whiff of anything.

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