# Fish oil capsules



## Emmett52 (Apr 14, 2008)

I bought some fish oil capsules and have no idea regarding the dosage or even quality of them as they only cost ??£4 (bout $6 0r $7) for 90 capsules

called lifespan omega 3 concentrated fish oils with vitamin e

Here is the nutritional info:
Per capsule: Pure Fish Oil - 1000mg, of which Omega 3 fatty acids represent 300mg (EPA is 180mg, DHA is 120mg, Vitamin E is10mg)  

Good or bad quality?  what is the other 700mg made up of?

How many would you recommend per day (if any, i would buy better quality if needed to) and how should i calculate their calorie content per capsule in order to factor it into my daily intake

Im going _low_ carb for the next 2 to 3 weeks to lose body fat, so im increasing my essential fat intake and protein intake

Cheers in advance


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## Witchblade (Apr 14, 2008)

Don't worry about the caloric content, unless you're competing or something.

Quality depends on brand, but you should be able to assume it's good. Price-quality relation depends on available alternatives. The other 700mg are probably gelatine or something similar.

The answer depends on your specific diet, but 10 capsules for ~3g of combined DHA/EPA works for most people. Take 5 after a slow digesting meal at day and another 5 after your slow digesting meal before bed.


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## Smoo_lord (Apr 14, 2008)

1 gram fat = 9 cals

the rest of the stuff would probably be omega 6

i take about 6 a day, 3 in morning and then 3 before sleep


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## Emmett52 (Apr 14, 2008)

does that make them poor quality if the rest is omega 6, just like an honest opinion whether i should stick with this brand or seek an alternative,   have read that omega 3 to omega 6 ratio should be 1:1 and that too much omega 6 can be a bad thing

so each capsule contains roughly 9 grams of fat then?


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## tucker01 (Apr 14, 2008)

It is fine.  There will be other Mono, poly and saturated fats in fish oil.

The only thing you can look for is a competent manufacturer, so that the oils aren't wrecked during production.

6-9 a day is fine.


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## Built (Apr 14, 2008)

I take 10 a day, trickled in with meals.

I take 'em first though, and bury them with the meals. No fish burps.


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## tucker01 (Apr 14, 2008)

Entric coated are meant to help with fish burps.  I dunno though, I have never had that problem.


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## Built (Apr 14, 2008)

I'm too cheap to pay extra LOL!


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## Emmett52 (Apr 14, 2008)

would less be required on a day that i eat a salmon fillet then


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## tucker01 (Apr 14, 2008)

I always take the same.  Really you are splitting hair here.


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## Emmett52 (Apr 14, 2008)

ok, cheers for the advice!


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## Built (Apr 14, 2008)

I agree with Iandaniel - I take the same every day. If I get more some days because I ate salmon or omega 3 eggs, that's wonderful.


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## Emmett52 (Apr 14, 2008)

Witchblade said:


> Don't worry about the caloric content, unless you're competing or something.



so if take 3 capsules 3 times a day, (9 total) my essential fat intake from the capsules alone would be approx? i just like to know for curiosity sake and to understand what im taking and learn, rather than blindly go along with advice

im always told "you wont learn if you dont ask"!


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## tucker01 (Apr 14, 2008)

I count the calories if you are cutting.  Assuming you use 10.... That is 90 cals.


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## Witchblade (Apr 14, 2008)

Oh I just noticed the content is 1000mg of fish oil, not a 1000mg capsule. The others in this thread are right that the other 700mg are other fats and the caloric content equals 9 cals per capsule. So you can add 90cals to your diet by default, if you're counting.

My bad.


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## tucker01 (Apr 14, 2008)

Witchblade said:


> Oh I just noticed the content is 1000mg of fish oil, not a 1000mg capsule. The others in this thread are right that the other 700mg are other fats and the caloric content equals 9 cals per capsule. So you can add 90cals to your diet by default, if you're counting.
> 
> My bad.



You are forgiven


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## Witchblade (Apr 14, 2008)

Please don't hurt me.


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## danzik17 (Apr 14, 2008)

Be VERY careful of the brand that you choose.  One brand that I was buying from Stop and Shop spiked by liver enzymes to 3-4 times their normal levels when I got my blood tested - they only went back to normal after I stopped taking that fish oil.

Nothing bad happened, but maybe I just got very lucky.


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## Built (Apr 14, 2008)

What caused that? The spike?


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## danzik17 (Apr 14, 2008)

Don't really know.  I kind of assume the fish oil wasn't pure, maybe mercury or something.  All I know is I kept cutting out things one at a time and the enzymes only starting normalizing when I dropped the fish oil.


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## biggfly (Apr 14, 2008)

Alot of brands will put the purity level on there...if that means jack shit, I don't know. Mine say 99.99% purified fish oil for whatever that is worth...


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## Emmett52 (Apr 15, 2008)

decided to bin the capsules i bought yesterday, they seem like poor quality as they were only ??£4 (about $7.80) for 90 and there is very little info on packaging regarding source or anything other than ingredient which says fish lipid concentrate (containing omega 3 fatty acids) and capsule shell,   the directions are 1 to 2 capsules per day and in bold it says *do not exceed recommended intake *(which would only give me 0.36g of epa and 0.24g of dha per day), they dont seem right so gonna fork out and buy a bottle of fish oil, have read a good reputable review on the one i intend getting


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## tucker01 (Apr 15, 2008)

Carlson's fish oil is good stuff.


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## Emmett52 (Apr 15, 2008)

i got eskimo-3 omega fish oil, google brought this up:

_"A recent survey by the Food Safety  by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland examined a range of popular European fish oil capsules for the presence of dioxins.  Alarmingly, one of the products tested showed the dioxin level to be five times the maximum limit.
Eskimo-3 stable fish oil was found to have the lowest levels of contaminants, which included dioxins and dioxin-like PCBâ??????s.  Concentration of heavy metal contaminants such as cadmium and mercury was below detection levels in Eskimo-3_"     seems good to me

Eskimo-3 liquid: each 5ml typically contains:
      Omega-3 Fatty Acids 1,500mg
      of which
      EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) 750mg
      DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) 500mg
    *
      Natural Vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol) 14mg
      With ascorbic acid, lecithin, and flavouring

Not sure about dosage tho, im thinking about 7ml per day

this board and fit day has made keeping track of things so much easier


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## tucker01 (Apr 15, 2008)

I would probably do 10ml.


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## Built (Apr 15, 2008)

I go by AHA guidelines for safe upper limit: 10g daily.


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## danzik17 (Apr 15, 2008)

Perhaps I should stop taking 16g Fish Oil daily then 

Might have to rethink that one.


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## Built (Apr 15, 2008)

I doubt that very much. My feeling is the AHA guidelines are VERY conservative. If THEY say 3 g combined EPA/DHA is safe (this is what is provided by 10 standard fish oil capsules), I figure I can't be sued! LOL!


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## AKIRA (May 8, 2008)

Not to bring up good times, but..


How bad (if at all) would it be to take fish oil before a workout?  I thought about it today cuz of fish oil helping with muscle inflammation.


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## tucker01 (May 8, 2008)

are you cutting?  That might be the only time I would use fats PWO.

I don't have any data, but I doubt fish oil anti-inflammatory properties are instant.  As long as you are dosing through out the day, that should be fine.


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## AKIRA (May 8, 2008)

I am maintaining.  I take them throughout the day, but if I workout in the morning, well, these would be my first dosages.  Its almost my only fat pre-workout.  I have 1/2 oatmeal, 1.5cups of skim milk, and a scoop of whey.


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## tucker01 (May 8, 2008)

Should be fine.  I don't think you will notice any remarkable anti-inflammtory properties though.


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