Should You Buy “Premium” Omega 3 Capsules, Or “Super” Omega 3 Supplements?

You may have heard of "super" omega 3 capsules. It's not entirely clear exactly what "super" Omega 3 capsules are, however it would seem reasonable to assume that if any omega 3 supplements are described as "super" then they have to be better than the "regular" supplements. As there are wide variations in the quality of "regular" omega3 supplements it's is still not entirely clear what you should be getting when you buy the "super" ones.

What is clear is that there are huge variations in the quality and the amount of active ingredients that are found in so many of the fish oil supplements found for sale, and you need to be a well informed consumer before you buy.

One of the biggest variations between the fish oil supplements available is the amount of active ingredient found in them. Most fish oil capsules are what is known as 18/12 capsules. This means that you should be getting 18 percent EPA and 12 percent DHA in each capsule, or 180 milligrams of EPA and 120 milligrams of DHA in a 1000 milligram capsule.

The most important of the essential fatty acids known as omega 3 fats is DHA, (docosahexaenoic acid). There is a wide variation in the amount of DHA present in some capsules compared to others, and this makes it extremely difficult to compare capsules by price. For example the Omega 3 supplements that I consider to be the best offer around 2 1/2 times as much DHA as "regular" capsules.

You could assume that any omega 3 supplements described as "super" would contain a much higher percentage of DHA (and EPA) than regular capsules and this is the case for these capsules even though they are not described as "super".

When you're buying capsules it's important to understand exactly what you're getting in the various fish oil supplements available on the market. And not only should you understand exactly how much of the active ingredients are found in each capsule, but it's important to know that there are now new generation capsules on the market which incorporate other ingredients in them for extra health benefits.

An example is a new "premium" Omega 3 capsule released just this week. As would be expected these contain a very high percentage of DHA, at 28 percent, but as well as a high percentage of DHA there are now other active ingredients included in the capsules offering new benefits for your health, and in this case to your skin.

One example is lycopene. If you're interested in the health literature you've probably heard of lycopene already. It's found in tomatoes and the evidence is getting stronger that increasing the amount of lycopene that you take in your diet decreases the risk of breast cancer for women and also decreases the risk of prostate cancer for men.

And new research is also showing that increasing our lycopene intake helps protect our skin from the UV rays of the sun, the primary cause of skin aging. Not only that but the research has also shown that increasing your intake of lycopene can actually start to reverse some of the damaging effects of the sun's UV radiation. Skin aging through the effects of the sun is called photo-aging and it is becoming established that lycopene can help reverse photo-aging.

In these times science is starting to recognize more of the health benefits of a wider range of naturally occurring substances such as lycopene, and the best health companies are now able to produce products incorporating these ingredients. The new "premium" Omega 3 capsules containing lycopene as well as other new ingredients are a good example.

If you're in the market for some omega 3 supplements you need to understand a little about what you are getting when you buy. Price is not the only determinant, because it's important to understand how much active ingredient (DHA) you're getting in each capsule, and you also need to consider whether buying the new generation of omega 3 supplements now coming onto the market would be of benefit to you because of the extra ingredients now incorporated in these products, and their health benefits.

If you're interested in finding out a whole lot more about these new "premium" fish oil supplements then you're welcome to visit my website to do so.