What is the Best Omega-3 Supplement

The Gene Smart Team9548 Views455 Comments

January 20, 2015

The best Omega-3 supplement is the one that most effectively, efficiently & safely increases your Omega-3 Index. In this week’s blog, you’ll learn exactly what that means.

Do I need to take an Omega-3 Supplement?

You may be asking, “Do I need an Omega-3 supplement?” Unless you are the rare individual in this country that eats high Omega-3 fish at least several times a week, the answer is most likely yes.

How Much Omega-3 Do I Need?

Best Omega 3 Fish Supplement

When looking for the best Omega-3 supplement, turn the bottle around and look at the Supplement Facts Panel. There you will find out how much EPA and DHA is in the product. Add those numbers together. The total of EPA + DHA is the most important number.

Based on extensive research on the connection between Omega-3 and inflammation, the Gene Smart team recommends consuming 1,250 – 1,500 mg of EPA + DHA per day. You’ll get some Omega-3 through your diet, so a supplement that delivers 1,200 mg EPA + DHA per serving is ideal.

Effectively Increase Your Omega-3 Index

Of course, want matters most is the amount of the EPA and DHA that makes it into your blood and tissues, where it does its work. The measure of EPA + DHA in your blood is called the Omega-3 Index.

What is the Best Omega 3 Supplement

At Gene Smart, we’re big fans of knowing your Omega-3 Index. In fact, a few years ago we introduced the first Omega-3 Blood Test that lets individuals check their Omega-3 Index and Omega-6 to Omega-3 Ratio using a convenient home blood test kit. Dr. Oz even used our test for a segment of his show. Click here to watch a video of the Dr. Oz Omega-3 Test segment.

Large population studies have shown the Omega-3 Index to be a powerful predictor of heart disease risk. In these studies, those with a low Omega-3 Index were up to 10 times more likely to die from a sudden heart attack than those with a high score (that’s right, 10 times). This predictive value is stronger than cholesterol or other traditional heart disease risk factors.

The desired Omega-3 Index score is 8% or greater. The typical American has a score in the range of only 4% – 5%. You can check your Omega-3 Index using the Omega-3 Home Blood Testing Kit available on our website.

Efficiently Increase Your Omega-3 Index

We think of efficiency in two ways. First, since nobody likes to take lots of pills, the best omega-3 supplements are the ones where the amount of EPA + DHA has been concentrated into fewer soft gels. For example, our Omega-3 is double strength, which means it delivers 1,200 mg of EPA + DHA in just two soft gels.

A regular fish oil would require at least twice that many soft gels to deliver the same dose. Fewer soft gels make it easier & more convenient to stick with your daily Omega-3 routine. Concentrating the EPA + DHA also means there are less “other” oils in the product.

The other way we think about efficiency is cost. Lately, there has been a great deal of hype about krill oil. Because it contains EPA and DHA, krill oil will positively impact the Omega-3 Index. And, the Omega-3 in krill oil is in phospholipid form, which should make it more bioavailable to our bodies (although studies on this topic have had mixed results).

The problem with krill oil is that it is a very expensive way to get your Omega-3, and the amount of EPA + DHA per soft gel is very low. We recently completed an cost-benefit analysis showing that even if the Omega-3 in krill oil were 3 times more bioavailable than fish oil, it would cost more than twice as much to have the same impact on your Omega-3 Index.

Safely Increase Your Omega-3 Index

The best omega-3 supplements are molecularly distilled to remove impurities like PCBs and heavy metals. They are also processed in a way that prevents exposure to oxygen so there is no oxidation (which causes a fishy smell).

For all these reasons, the answer to what is the best Omega-3 supplement is one that effectively, efficiently & safely increases your Omega-3 Index.