There are probably a greater number of fish oil products on the shelves than there are of any other type of supplement. Many brands actually have several different varieties of fish oil in their range.

So what factors should you consider when making the choice of which fish oil to buy?

Price is an obvious factor and can range from around $9 to around $80. Next time you go shopping for a fish oil, ask how clean the fish oil is in the product you are being offered. There is a range of industrial chemicals and toxins from our polluted oceans and seas that become concentrated in the body of the fish and then make their way into the fish oil products your buy. There are different regulatory standards around the world that ensure that most of the toxins in fish oil products are kept to levels deemed safe for human consumption. Mercury is one of the better known contaminants in fish oil and its detrimental effects on human health are generally well known. In Australia, mercury must be below the concentration of 0.5mg/kg in fish oil for that fish oil product to appear on a shop shelf. However there are some chemicals that do not have such limits set on their potential concentration in fish oil products. Some of these chemicals include:

1. Totox
2. PCB
3. Dioxins
4. Benzopyrene

So potentially fish oil with any amount of a, b or c toxin can be sold and is being sold around the country. This would be concerning to most people who consume fish oil products.

What is the best kind of fish oil to buy?

The good new is that there are companies who go the extra mile to ensure  that their  fish oil products are put through extensive purification and toxin removal processes, that remove the majority of the toxic load that occurs in the fish oil. The end result of such cleaning processes can reduce mercury to 0.005 mg/kg of fish oil (100 times less than an oil that has not been cleaned) and can greatly limit the concentrations of the chemicals mentioned above, which do not have legal restrictions applied to their concentrations in a fish oil.

So which fish oil products are these?

Without listing brands, a good guideline is price. The cheap products ($7 to $25 depending on size of container) generally have not been put through this complex cleaning procedure whilst the more expensive products ($35 to $80) probably have. To find out for sure, ask the person who is recommending a fish oil product to you. Then you will have no doubt that you are getting a safe, good quality fish oil product. Want to know more? Talk to Naturopath Peter Radi …

Peter Radi – Naturopath and Nutritionist

Peter Radi is a naturopath, nutritionist and herbalist and has been in clinical practice since 2000. He is available for private consultations at the Mr Vitamins Clinic where he can provide you with more information to help you with your Supplements as well as personalised health improvement programs. Learn more about Peter here