Is Krill Oil Better Than Fish Oil?

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Is Krill Oil Better Than Fish Oil?

Krill oil is now being promoted as a better alternative to fish oil supplements. Krill are tiny shrimp-like crustaceans.
Promoters say that krill oil provides similar cardiac benefits as fish oil, but with fewer capsules and no fishy taste.
However, krill oil supplements contain less of the omega-3s EPA and DHA than fish oil supplements. Nevertheless, manufacturers claim krill oil is better absorbed because the omega-3s are in a phospholipid form.
According to the experts at the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, “Preliminary evidence shows that a specific krill oil product (Neptune Krill Oil NKO, Neptune Technologies & Bioresources, Inc) can lower cholesterol and triglycerides.”
“But,” they add, “overall there’s much better evidence that fish oil can lower triglycerides and cardiovascular risk.”
Furthermore, krill oil usually costs more than fish oil.
So, the NMCD recommends to prescribers, “For now, advise patients to stick with fish oil. Recommend taking it with food or trying an enteric-coated product if fishy taste is a problem. Suggest krill oil only for healthy people who want to add these omega-3s to their diet but can’t tolerate fish oil.”

0 Comments

  1. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward says:

    And krill oil is not a good option for those of us with a religious prohibition against eating crustaceans!

  2. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward says:

    Just in case people want more details, in Hebrew Scripture (Old Testament to some), we’re taught that certain foods are permitted and others are not. Among creatures living in the sea, we’re permitted to eat those that have both fins and scales. So, true fish are OK, but all shellfish (oysters, clams, etc.), crustaceans (shrimp, krill, lobster…), and miscellaneous water-dwellers such as eel are not permitted. Some people hypothesize that these prohibitions (along with others related to which four-legged and avian creatures we can/can’t eat) were put into place due to the health hazards posed by these creatures in Biblical times, and therefore aren’t as relevant today. I choose to believe that these restrictions are put in place by the Holy One, and it’s not my place to wonder why, but simply to observe the commandment.

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