How to Read a Fish Oil Label
The Power of Omega-3 Fatty Acids
In my Integrative and Functional Medicine practice, I routinely measure essential fatty acid levels with nutritional testing and recommend omega-3 fatty acid supplementation to my patients for various reasons.
Omega-3 fatty acids have numerous potential benefits for your body, including:
reducing inflammation
providing strength and support to your cell membranes
maintaining heart, brain, and nervous system health
reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke
reduction of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis
lower risk of certain forms of cancer
Not All Fish Oil Supplements Are Created Equally
Fish Oil is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids and is one of the most commonly recommended nutritional supplements in my practice.
In particular, when recommending Fish Oil, I am recommending specific amounts of the two active and essential omega-3 fatty acids, known-as:
EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).
Fish Oil Supplements may contain other types of omega-3 fatty acids - but they are much less active.
The amount of EPA and DHA in your Fish Oil supplement is what really matters.
EPA and DHA are the active omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil
When taking fish oil, the amount of EPA and DHA is what is most important, not total omega-3 fatty acids or total fish oil content.
The amount of EPA and DHA varies widely in different products.
Fish oil labels can be very deceiving.
The FDA does not regulate dietary supplements, so you need to know how to read labels!
How to Read a Fish Oil Label
1️⃣ Look at the Serving Size.
How much of your product is considered a serving?
2️⃣ Look for how much EPA and DHA are in each serving.
3️⃣ Calculate how many servings you need to take to get your doctor’s recommended dose of EPA and DHA.
Take a look at this example:
These two fish oil labels both contain 1000mg of fish oil, yet their EPA and DHA content is very different.
Product #1 contains 330mg of EPA and 250mg of DHA per serving (1 soft gel). Total EPA+DHA 580mg per serving.
Product #2 contains 250mg EPA+DHA per serving (1 soft gel). It does not specify the amounts of each.
If your doctor was recommending 1000mg daily EPA+DHA, you would have to take:
2 tabs of Product #1
4 tabs of Product #2
Even though they both contain 1000mg of fish oil!
Take a look at this label. This product does not even specify EPA and DHA content:
IF A PRODUCT DOESN'T SPECIFY EPA AND DHA CONTENT - DON'T BUY IT!
Check out my ➡️ Ultra-Pure Fish Oil
Are you curious about which nutritional supplements are right for you? My supplement recommendations vary for each patient - taking into account their unique situation, lab tests, genetics, and personal goals. This is a highly individualized process. As a board-certified Integrative & Functional Medicine physician, I can help you “think outside of the box and dig deeper with a variety of laboratory testing to help uncover the underlying root causes of your symptoms and create a plan personalized for you that goes beyond the prescription pad to incorporate diet/lifestyle change, nutritional supplements, holistic therapies, health coaching and more! Contact us to get started!