omega3 question - Vitamins & Supplements Message Board

Mark-Vn · 09-06-2005, 03:13 AM

I told my doc I was given a chemistry lecture about how omega 3 breaks down under heat and light, and the omega 3 fish oil tablets I bought are useless... She went on to tell me, the only decent souce of O3 is direct from the fish, or from oils such as flax seed which have been refrigerated/kept from light since pressing.

Is this correct?

DaVinci · 09-06-2005, 06:37 AM

Yes, all the omegas break down under heat and light, which is why they are in dark bottles. Not sure why they don't say to refrigerate them?but as soon as I buy them they go in the frig. As for the fish, waters around the world are contaminated with many toxins such as mercury and therefore the fish get contaminated also. It's best to get your omegas from a reputable company that actually goes through the process of removing the contaminates.
Flaxseed oil is great too and if you get the liquid and not the capsules you'll be able to tell when it's gone rancid.

Lenin · 09-06-2005, 08:05 AM

Tablets? Do you mean capsules?

Capsules in a dark bottle have a fairly good shelf life because the delicate oil is isolated from air. Liquids should be refrigerated as DaVinci said, and if you choose the capsules could also be. I've found that a NEVER opened bottle of cod liver oil is fresh for as long as a year in a dark pantry but once opened it really needs to get in the fridge or it will "go off" in a couple weeks. Rancid oil is really easy to detect with nose or tastebuds.

Rancidty is enhanced by heat and oxidation.

Omega-3's directly from fish is a wonderful idea but not so easy in practice to get our daily supply. I eat as much fish as I can and take a gram and a quarter of supplemental DHA and EPA...AND I use Canola oil for almost everything so I get several grams of ALA daily. I feel covering all bases is wise with Omega-3's.

But NOTHING beats smoked salmon every morning...alas, I haven't won the lottery yet!