Fish oil is a well-known source of omega 3 fatty acids, but have you ever heard of krill oil?
Krill oil doesn’t make most Top Ten lists of omega 3 sources, but that’s not because it’s low in omega 3; quite the opposite. Basically, it’s just because people don’t know much about it yet.
But as it happens, krill oil shows great promise as a simple source of some types of omega 3 fatty acids. In fact, you might find it suits your needs better than fish oil, flax seed, or even seal oil.
The Basics
In case you were wondering, krill are tiny shrimp-like critters that float around in cold ocean waters in astronomical numbers, and whose primary purpose seems to be feeding whales. Krill that reach two inches long are giants among their kind. But as small as krill are, they represent a vital link in the oceanic food chain.
The class of baleen whales–which includes the largest free-living animals, the blue whales–appears to have evolved specifically to feed on krill, which they strain out of the water using their tongues and fibrous dental structures called, surprisingly enough, baleen.
Krill are so abundant that their “schools” can cover hundreds of square miles, and our satellites can detect them from outer space. The eat diatoms, glassy-skinned microbes that are even more common than they are.
The Oil
Some humans also eat krill, which apparently tastes like shrimp, if a bit saltier and stronger. But it’s a pain to prepare, because krill exoskeletons contain fluoride compounds that can be toxic in high doses, so they must be thoroughly cleaned.
It’s much easier to squish out their oil and use it for dietary supplements, and that has become a significant use of the modern krill harvest (which comes to about 200,000 metric tons per year). There are indications that krill oil can help control arthritis pain and lower lipids in the blood stream.
It’s a fact that it’s a decent source of omega 3, which we all need for good heart and brain function.
How Does It Stack Up?
Good question. Krill oil doesn’t contain nearly as much of the omega 3 fatty acids that appear in fish products, such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) , and fish oil is clearly much better for cardiovascular health.
But krill oil does contain less common omega 3 acids that work differently than DHA and EPA, and have a different physical structure (so they won’t freeze as easily in frigid waters).
Scientists need to do more research to be sure, but it seems these shorter fatty acids benefit the joints and cartilage more than the O-3 acids in fish oil. So if you’re looking for something to treat your arthritis, krill oil beats fish oil by a longshot.