Issue #1 - Fish Oil Capsules... Is it the fish oil, the other ingredients or the delivery method?

 

Fish oil supplements are widely known to be anti-inflammatory, good for your heart and your brain. So, I wanted to include them in my supplement regimen.

I have tried off and on for years to take them. I would start with one, and after a second dose, I would get nauseous and have stomach pain. It's a frustrating experience when you are trying to do something to reduce inflammation.

 

What was causing the side effects? When confronted with side effects, you need to consider all the variables. In this case, was it the fish oil, the other ingredients, the dose or the delivery method?

I was taking Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega capsules.

Nordic Naturals makes a high quality product, so what was the problem? Was it the dose? Sometimes it's a simple matter of the dose being too high for you.

Was it frequency? Sometimes taking a supplement every other day or twice a week is tolerated whereas a daily dose is not. But, it didn't matter if I took one or two. It didn't matter if it was daily or every other day or even once a week.

 

So, was it the fish oil or the other ingredients or the capsules? Time to experiment!

First thing I did was look for liquid options to take the capsule out of the equation.

I wasn't sure if taste was going to be an issue but I had to try. I tried the Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega liquid bottle product and another brand called Bernard Jensen Unflavored Liquid Fish Oil that contained only fish oil (no additional ingredients).

I discovered I could tolerate both liquid options without pain or nausea. The taste was mild.

 

Two problems came up...

First, even after taking a daily dose that I was comfortable with of either product, I wasn't using up the contents of the bottles in the recommended time frame of three months before you should discard.

Second, the Bernard Jensen option became unavailable.

I concluded that it wasn't the fish oil or the additional ingredients included in the Nordic Naturals product that helped with stability and taste of the fish oil. It was the capsule!

If you have taken fish capsules before, you know that those capsules are no joke. They are made of gelatin and they feel solid. No wonder I was having problems! The capsules were sitting in my stomach and I was having a heck of a time breaking them down.

Since I wasn't using the liquid fast enough, the bottle wasn't the best option. The only other way was to bust that capsule open. The ingredients in the Nordic Naturals liquid product are the same as the capsule contents so it was a workable solution. Sometimes that isn't the case when comparing a capsule and liquid option.

If you take a knife and poke a hole along the seam of the capsule and turn the capsule over so the hole is facing your spoon, you can easily and GENTLY squeeze the liquid onto your spoon. If you try to poke a hole anywhere else in the capsule, it's a lot harder to do. If you squeeze the capsule too hard, the fish oil goes everywhere. I am still trying to get the smell of fish oil out of a jacket sleeve that I accidentally splattered.

For reference, a teaspoon of the liquid Nordic Naturals product gets you 2840 mg of Omega 3's whereas two capsules gets you 1280 mg. Squeezing one capsule fills about a quarter to a third of a teaspoon.

So, if you find that fish oil capsules aren't sitting well with you, you might want to try a liquid option if you like to take a decent sized dose or try poking open that capsule to see if the capsule is actually the problem or if it's the fish oil and/or other ingredients.

Nordic Naturals Omega 3's can be found online at the Professional Supplement Center.

 

Stay tuned for the next issue of Good Health.,.. Under Construction where we’ll talk about protein powders I've tried, my experiences with them and the type of protein that actually has an opioid effect on your digestive system (for real).

 

 

 

 

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