The Great Omega 3 Lie

Do a search on Amazon.co.uk for Omega 3 supplements and you’ll see over 500 results

Trying to work out which of these products to buy and which are best for you is nigh on impossible. Other than relying on the reviews and ranking that Amazon sets for a product, how would we know if it's any good?

We all know how reliable Amazon’s reviews are!

Recently I embarked on the task of finding out which are the best Omega 3 Supplements in the UK. It may sound odd coming from a company that already creates and sells an Omega 3 supplement, but we wanted to know if other brands are doing a better job than us.

Then, I discovered the big Omega 3 lie, and how most consumers are being misled about the contents of their Fish Oils supplements.

Quality vs Quantity For Omega 3 Capsules

The first part of the lie comes from the perception of value when you go to buy a Fish Oil supplement. Let's see an example:

• Omega 3 Fish Oil 1000mg - 365 Softgel Capsules - Up to 12 Month’s Supply - Pure Fish Oil with Balanced EPA & DHA

Sounds like an amazing deal right?

• Omega 3 Fish Oil 360 Soft Gels - 2000mg per serving | High Levels of EPA & DHA | Premium Easy Swallow Omega3 Fish Oils Gel Capsules

Again, 360 capsules suggesting a year's supply and 2000mg per serving - seems like a great deal.

However, there's a problem - it's all lies. These two products are some of the lowest quality Omega 3 supplements you'll find on Amazon.

The 50% Rule For Omega 3 Capsules

When someone asks me about a competing product to Good Fats, our Omega 3 supplement, there is one very simple check I make to see it’s quality… and I want to show you how easy it is for you to check too.

The main components of Omega 3 are:

1. Eicosapentaenoic acid - EPA
2. Docosahexaenoic acid - DHA
3. Alpha-linolenic acid - ALA

EPA and DHA are the important parts, ALA much less so.

In cheap, low quality Omega 3 supplements, brands skimp on the EPA and DHA, and load it up with ALA.

My absolute baseline for a quality Omega 3 is at least 50% must be made up of EPA and DHA. Any lower and it’s not worth buying.

How To Read The Label On An Omega 3 Supplement

Most (but not all) Omega 3 supplements come as 1000mg capsules. This makes the maths easy, and you can do it in your head. A 1000mg capsule should contain at least 500mg of EPA/DHA.

Let's look at some examples:

• Add the EPA and DHA values - 300mg per 1000mg capsule
• So 30% which doesn’t meet our baseline quality we’re looking for.

Problem comes when labels are marked differently, showing a per serving amount rather than a per capsule.

• With this example you see a serving of 2000mg (aka 2 x 1000mg capsules), and the combined total of EPA and DHA working out to be 1100mg.
• This is better at 55%,so above our 50% baseline.

You’ll see other products where the capsule size is bigger than 1000mg which makes the maths more difficult, and you might need to use a calculator to work out the percentages.

Top Omega 3 Supplements on Amazon.co.uk and Their EPA/DHA Percentages

If you’re really bored, work through the top 10 products on Amazon for the search Omega 3 and work out the percentage of EPA/DHA for each one.

Its OK, I've done it for you.

(Data correct as of 7 June 2023)

3 Rules For Choosing A Quality Omega 3 Supplement

1. Each capsule must contain at least 50% EPA/DHA
2. Avoid the 12 months supply tubs, often showing as 365 capsules or bulk buys. The fish oil will likely degrade and go off within 6 months of breaking the seal on the tub.
3. Don’t get suckered in by high review counts on Amazon listings.

So how does Good Fats - Omega 3 supplement stack up?

When we created Good Fats we had one very simple requirement… The quality of the fish oil had to be greater than 70% EPA/DHA. Here’s our label:

• In each 1000mg capsule we have 500mg EPA and 250mg DHA.
• So 75% of every Good Fats capsule is EPA/DHA, making us one of the highest quality Omega 3 supplements in the UK.

We had one simple goal when creating Good Fats from Lean Greens. The highest quality Omega 3 with maximum efficacy.

A Good Fats capsule contains 750mg of EPA/DHA in a 1000mg capsule. Much higher than our baseline 50% requirement, and over twice as much as the top sellers on Amazon!

For more information on the benefits of Omega 3 head to our extensive blog post here.

Want to try our Good Fats Omega 3 Premium Fish Oil Capsules?

Click to buy directly from our store