Antarctic krill oil, though not yet widely known or popular, contains a highly nutritious blend of omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and choline. Within a few years, krill oil will likely become a very popular supplement or food additive. First, krill oil contains omega-3 fatty acids, among the most heavily researched supplemental nutrition substance in the world. The omega-3 fatty acids found in pure krill oil are predominantly EPA and DHA—the same fatty acids found in cold water fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring, and sardines.
Omega-3s have been studied for years for their effect on myriad health conditions, including cardio health (cholesterol reduction, coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, etc.), asthma, inflammation, auto-immune diseases, depression, brain and retina development in infants, anti-aging and much more. There are presently around 1,000 scientific papers published each year on omega-3 fatty acids. Numerous professional organizations, such as the American Heart Association, now recommend consuming omega-3 fatty acids.
The Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3 (GOED) exists to set standards for EPA and DHA use in humans, as well as to help disseminate information and scientific research. GOED is also working to establish standards (called a monograph) for krill oil. People in the fish-oil business are looking forward to an expected decision by the FDA on establishing a 'required daily allowance' for omega-3s in the daily diet. This should open the door for a push to fortify foods and beverages with omega-3s. There is now available a liquid krill oil, tasteless and odorless, that can be added to things like sport drinks, energy shots and dairy products.
It has been noted that typical krill oil dose has less DHA and EPA than fish oil. However, it is important to understand that the omega-3s in krill oil are bonded to phospholipids, as opposed to triglycerides. This is believed to confer unique biological attributes when used for human consumption, increasing likelihood that they are more easily absorbable into the bloodstream.
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I can tell you that my husband had really high cholesterol. He was on Lipitor for it, but after reading some of the krill oil studies, we weaned him off of Lipitor using krill oil. His cholesterol numbers dropped like crazy after a month or so of starting the krill oil. Really impressive. If there are other benefits of krill oil, it's just a big plus. Elizabeth
I have read alot about krill oil lately. There seems to be a bunch of pure krill oil information out there but I don't know what to believe. Where can I find dependable krill oil reviews. Is red krill oil the best? What about arctic krill oil reviews?
What is the difference between organic krill oil and antarctic krill oil? I have 2 young kids and I am wondering if organic krill oil or antarctic oil krill oil is better for kids. Would you suggest krill oil for kids?
Where is organic krill oil for sale? I am not sure which oil is the best krill oil, and that's why I like to buy organic krill oil. I read your posts on Facebook forum about eating organic, but there was nothing about organic krill oil.
I see internet shops advertise Antarctic Pure Krill Oil and others are selling Antarctic krill oil. Can someone help me understand the difference? Is the pure krill oil better, and is there krill oil that is not antarctic? I googled antarctic krill oil and the first result sells kriaxanthin krill oil. It has much less omega3 EPA and DHA than others, but is also cheaper. Can you help this simple consumer make sense of this chaos?
There's no difference between krill oil and antarctic krill oil, or even arctic krill oil. All krill oil on the market today is made from the Antarctic krill species Euphausia superba. Source Naturals for example sells Antarctic krill oil from Azantis under the Pure Arctic brand. No wonder that you are confused.
Pure krill oil can mean a lot of things to different people. For some it means that it is purely 100% made from antarctic krill. For others it means that it is pure, as in purified. For even an other pure Antarctic krill oil means that it is not polluted; from the pure waters around Antarctica.
I have my doubts about krill oil with less phospholipids, because I have seen too many labels with wildly different nutritional facts. I am not sure what is in this krill oil or who makes it, so I can not recommend it.
Now, krill oil is not yet a standardized product. Even the three major manufacturers NKO, Superba and Azantis can not agree on minimum standards for krill oil. This situation is very unfortunate for the consumer.
The US consumer is not well protected by the law, and could be sold the stick water that the krill boats toss overboard after cooking the krill on the ocean. Under US rules that stick water can be called 100% pure Antarctic krill oil... Go figure.
Here's a simple rule to weed out the most suspect products: krill oil is not a cheap product (just go charter a boat and fish once a year in frigid polar waters!!). If today (September 2010) a product is cheaper than $19 dollars for a single bottle with 60 capsules of 500 mg each, then it is unlikely to be the real thing. It's simple not possible to go cheaper.
This simple price rule is no guarantee, because false knock-offs can be sold for high prices too.
You can find better deals than $19 on the internet, but you will need to buy krill oil in bulk to get the discount, or you can look for krill oil coupons.
Best advice for the best krill oil: stick to the trusted brands!!!
thank you for the article, but i can not find any of the ingredients that you mention on the label. i use megared krill oil, and the only thing they say on the label is that it contains omega 3, and epa and dha. how do i find out about the astaxanthin and the choline that you mention? how can i compare krill oil brands if they don't say much on the label? your help is appreciated. annie
Annie, I too would love to see a good and independent comparison of the different krill oils. I don't think it exists yet.
If, as you state, the krill oil supplement facts on the label are limited, then I would not trust such krill oil product. For example, I would become very suspicious if a branded reseller like MegaRed advertises that the krill oil supplement contains valuable phospholipids and astaxanthin, but then does not disclose how much of these valuable ingredients are actually in the krill oil. That smells fishy.
While the three large krill oil manufacturers Neptune, Aker and Azantis sell krill oil with at least 40% phospholipids, one must be careful with krill oil made by smaller players. There's currently a price cutter on the internet retailing "krill oil" for bargain prices, but their label states that the product contains only 0.5% phospholipids. That I would not consider "krill oil", because it's so different from what the others sell, and from what was originally tested in Neptunes clinical studies. Krill Oil Buyer be aware.
Thanks, Joe. You're a well-informed guy, it seems. Since you posted this comment, we have done some krill oil reviews (on some of the brands supplied by the major krill oil suppliers). You can find krill oil reviews here.
Every food source, including organic foods are contaminated, albeit at minuscule levels. DDT is in our environment and it will not go away anytime soon.Everything living on earth has accumulated these toxic compounds, though most of us remain unaware of this fact.
You should know a couple of important things about this:
* Very rigorous safety standards have been set at extremely low levels (like those in California's prop 65). Rest assured that there is widespread compliance to these standards.
* The fact that a toxin is in the source material (krill, in this case) is not relevant. What's relevant is whether A) the toxin is in the consumer end product (krill oil), B) below a safe level, C) the toxicity it self (some banned materials are very nasty), and D) if the human body accumulates these toxins or that they are easily excreted.
* One also has to consider the quantities consumed. Health products are held to a higher standard (and rightfully so). From a health perspective it's more important to ask how many pesticides there are in drinking water, vegetable oils, starches or meats, because we consume such a higher volume of them.
* Another thing to consider: Antarctica is a popular playground for scientists, because nasty stuff shows up there last and in a more pristine environment, and so it's a good place to measure things. (It's more fun to test penguin eggs for pesticides than it is to test Iowa eggs). Because of the scientists' intense study of Antarctica, the image arises in public perception that it is about the most polluted, threatened, and warmest place on the globe. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
MY BROTHER TAKES KRILL OIL AND SWEARS THAT HIS HEARING PROBLEM GOT SO MUCH BETTER. I CAN'T FIND ANYTHING ON THE INTERNET ABOUT HEARING PROBLEMS AND KRILL OIL. IS THERE A SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION FOR THIS?
Well... its not completely correct that there's nothing on the inetrnet about hearing loss and krill oil. On this site there's a link to a large scale omega3 and hearing loss research study.
On the other hand, you are most likely correct about a link between phospholipids and hearing loss. Several other studies also point to that. For example: "Platelet activating factor (PAF), generated from biologically active phospholipids, has been implicated as a potent inflammatory mediator and has been shown to be involved in many pathological processes, especially in inflammation and allergy. It has been suspected that PAF may be one of the inflammatory mediators in middle ear effusion that can induce sensorineural hearing loss, as observed in chronic otitis media." See PubMedID 14994775.
I read this morning an article about common over the counter drugs like Benadryl, Tylenol PM, Excedrin PM, Nytol, Sominex, Unisom, and Dramamin that these are blocking acetyl choline, an important neurotransmitter. The scientific study was done with a large group age 70+, and found that their brain function deteriorated when these sleep-aid drugs were used. The study suggests that that is bcause these drugs block acetyl-choline.
Does the choline in krill help, and is the quantity of choline in 1,000 mg krill oil daily sufficient to compensate?
Choline levels in krill oil are around 50 mg per gram. Choline's minimum daily dietary intake is between 450 and 550 mg for women and men respectively.
Only when you double the krill oil intake to 2,000 mg / day you will have a significant source of choline.
Traditional dietary sources for choline are brain, liver, other organ meats. Eggs are a secondary good choline source. The consumption of eggs and headcheese hasn't been great lately....
The alternative is a choline supplement, but my experience was very negative (embarassing), because it caused severe bloating and flatulence. It was no laughing matter because it was explosive. Krill choline doesn't do that because it's in the form of phophatydilcholine.
I hear rumors that Consumer Reports analyzed krill oil from the 3 main manufacturers, and that the Azantis krill oil products came out with flying colors. Does anyone know what the test results are for Aker (the maker of Mega Red) and for NKO Krill Oil from Neptune?
I've gotten the test results from ConsumerLab.com about various omega-3s, including krill oil. The ConsumerLab review linked here.
However, I can only give general information. I can tell you this: the best-selling and most heavily advertised brand of krill oil, Mega Red, sold by Schiff, was not on the list. We have not gotten a clear answer why. Such an oversight seems glaring.
Actually, we're going to run another featured nutrient soon: astaxanthin. There are Japanese companies that produce this antioxidant from vegetable sources. Check back soon.
Very well written and easily understood article. Overwhelming amount of information. I wish the typeface on this comment space were not so tiny, though.
