[beebab]

Does anybody know what the average mercury content is in generic omega 3 fish oil capsules?

I ask because for the past week I've been mega dosing on fish oil capsules (30 grams per day), made by Custom Nutrition Warehouse, and it only just dawned on me that I'm not sure about the mercury content of these pills. From a couple studies I read about, after testing roughly 42 different brands of fish oils researchers concluded that fish oil content of certain brands was negligible... yet this probably mostly pertains to smaller doses of fish oils.

Here is the link to the studies I found:
Fish oils and mercury

[Xodus]

Originally Posted by beebab

Does anybody know what the average mercury content is in generic omega 3 fish oil capsules?

I ask because for the past week I've been mega dosing on fish oil capsules (30 grams per day), made by Custom Nutrition Warehouse, and it only just dawned on me that I'm not sure about the mercury content of these pills. From a couple studies I read about, after testing roughly 42 different brands of fish oils researchers concluded that fish oil content of certain brands was negligible... yet this probably mostly pertains to smaller doses of fish oils.

Here is the link to the studies I found:
Fish oils and mercury

Don't buy cheap supplements or ones that don't state they are molecular distilled.

They should be tested for PCBs, dioxins, mercury, and other heavy-metal contaminates.


Personally, I like Biotest's Flameout.


X

[bioman]

As far as I can tell it's hardly ever an issue and most all fish oil supps are molecularly distilled. I used to freak out about this until I read up.

Also, it appears that keeping your vitamin E and selenium levels optimized will help to prevent mercury from remaining in your system.

I use NOW's Super EPA or CNW's bulk caps.

[beebab]

thanks a lot to the both of you guys for your input here. yea i thought that most fish oil manufacturers would molecularly distill their products anyway for those exact health reasons, but I just wanted to make sure.

[milwood]

This question came up yesterday, and supposedly fish oil caps are fairly safe. Knowing that they use any number of fish varieties could mean some have elevated mercury content, however. Mercury is so toxic and so hard to get rid of, even trace amounts can build up in the body. I've never been particularly paranoid of it, but now I find that using a few grams of fish oil (caps) a day plus a larger dose of plant based Omega 3 and 6 (flax, evening primrose, and borage) does the trick. As discussed as well, though, is the potential for unhealthy doses of Vitamin A, which is abundant in fish oil and not water soluble in the body.

All that said, though, as far as I know, fish oil benefits far outweigh the negatives.

[bound]

Maybe it's the Vitamin A that's responsible for the sudden weight gain in some of the people who have mega-dosed?

Vitamin A

[bioman]

Might be. Come to think of it, I've been hanging on to LBM really well over the last year and have also been using 30,000 iu per day of A to control acne. Not really adding mass but then it's been a rough year as far as training and eating properly. The fact I still have most of my gains puzzles me.