Are Your Omega-3 Supplements Doing You More Harm than Good?
Choosing the wrong omega-3 supplement can be hazardous to your health. Follow these tips and stay safe.
As more and more studies prove the health benefits of omega-3, more and more companies, including major pharmaceutical companies, are jumping on the health bandwagon. In attempts to cash in on the profits from health products, some companies are producing health supplements that can do you more harm than good.
Learn how to tell good omega-3 supplements from harmful supplements.
Can Omega-3 Supplements Hurt You?
Not all omega-3 supplements are created equal. Supplements produced by ethical manufactures are good for you. Supplements made by manufactures looking to cash in on the latest supplement craze aren't.
Ethical supplement manufactures make supplements with only the highest quality ingredients. These manufacturers go to great lengths to include only pure ingredients that benefit your health.
Some fish oil supplements from major manufacturers contain 70 times more PCBs in them than other supplements. This is a problem because the FDA sets no limit for contaminants in supplements. Without regulation, you can't tell if your supplement is clean or not. In the case of omega-3 supplements, you don't know if you're getting fish oil that is PCB-free or PCB-contaminated.
Does it Really Make Any Difference?
Yes. PCBs alter your immune, hormone, nervous, and enzyme systems. Also linked to PCBS are cancer, impaired fetal brain development and breast cancer. Children and pregnant women are especially susceptible. Women who tested positive for PCBs in their blood were twice as likely to get breast cancer.
Women who ate PCB-contaminated fish more than twice per week were more likely to have miscarriages or babies with impaired brain development.
It makes a difference.
So How Do Fish Become Contaminated with PCBs?
Many manufactures use farmed fish to make their supplements. Salmon is the most popular. Farmed salmon contain levels of PCBs 16 times higher than wild-caught salmon. This is why this website repeatedly recommends you eat only wild-caught salmon.
Farmed salmon, or any fish for that matter, are fed food made with ground-up fish that have absorbed PCBs in the environment. This is what makes their PCB levels higher than wild-caught fish. If the supplement manufacturer uses farmed fish for their supplements, those high levels of PCB are in them and ultimately, in you.
How to Buy Safe Omega-3 Supplements
The only way to be sure you are getting supplements free from PCBs and other contaminants is to buy those produced with molecular distillation. This process cleans out the mercury
One brand that puts their products through molecular distillation is Carlson brand of fish oil and cod liver oil. This company also routinely uses independent testing to be sure their product are free from mercury, cadmium, lead, PCBs, and 28 other contaminants.
If you use supplements other than Carlson brand, you should call the manufacturer and ask if they use molecular distillation on their products. If they do, they will be more than happy to let you know. If they don't, they probably won't know what you're talking about and you'll know to stay away from their line of supplements.
What's the Risk?
Taking supplements high in PCBs and contaminants is putting your health at risk. From breast cancer to fetal brain damage (1), the list of diseases caused by PCBs and other contaminants continues to grow.
Omega-3 is essential to your health but only if you take good, high-quality supplements. Take the time to find supplements that are contaminant-free to enjoy the benefits of omega-3.
(1)American Journal of Epidemiology April 1, 2002;155:626-635
