Like it or not, fish oil is probably the best source of omega-3 fatty acids. But it’s best to make yours molecularly distilled.
While seal oil is quite possibly the best omega-3 delivery system available, the truth is that fish oil is a lot easier to acquire. Plus, fish just don’t have that cuddle-factor that seals do. Except, maybe…nope, can’t think of a single one.
So unless you prefer to eat flaxseed and various nuts (a possibility I covered in a recent article), fish oil’s the way to go. But if you do take the fishy route, be sure to stick to molecularly distilled fish oil. It’s safer.
Um, Distilled Fish Oil?
It’s exactly what it sounds like. Molecular distillation is a process in which a liquid is heated in a vacuum, a space entirely devoid of air. The molecules boil off and collect in a condenser without bumping into each other along the way. For technical reasons, this gives you the purest liquid possible.
This works for fish oil, too, if you can imagine boiling the stuff. If you were wondering, health products manufacturers also use molecular distillation to make vitamins, not just fine fishy oils packed with good-for-you polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Why Purity Matters in Fish Oil
Most of the species we obtain fish oil from are very sensitive to environmental contaminants. Sadly, we humans have been using our oceans as garbage dumps for, well, as long as there have been humans. That wasn’t so bad when populations were low, along with technology.
However, these days we’ve become very good at producing industrial toxins and introducing them to the environment. Mercury, pesticides, and other long-term poisons often become concentrated in fish that swim in contaminated waters, including the cold-water fish that produce the best omega-3 oils.
This is one reason you should avoid overdoing your intake of actual fish flesh, which is another way of taking in omega-3. Too much fish can equal too much poison.
About the Costs…
You should be aware that molecularly distilled fish oil supplements will set you back more than ordinary fish oil supplements, or even straight fish oil. That’s because molecular distillation is an expensive process requiring precision machinery and equipment.
Furthermore, to cut prices, some distillers use the chemical hexane as a distillation solvent, because it’s less expensive than the alternative, food-grade ethanol. However, some hexane products are also less efficient at removing toxins. So top quality, highly pure fish oil supplements will cost you top dollar.
What To Look For
Needless to say, for your health’s sake it’s best to stick to fish oils distilled using ethane. Look for that on the labels. And if you find a fish oil that claims to be molecularly distilled but is surprisingly cheap, take that with a grain (or possibly a box) of salt.