In the Jan. 8, 2008, Wall Street Journal there was a major article on the growing market for fish oil supplementation. In the article, more questions were posed than answered. The reality of the clinical benefits of fish oil is that you have to take very large amounts to get any physiological effects. To date, most researchers have simply guessed. That’s why I pointed out in my 2002 book, “The OmegaRx Zone,” that you need the AA/EPA ratio to tell you what the amount is you really need to get all the clinical benefits the general public is constantly hearing about fish oil. After thousands of blood tests, I can tell you that amounts required to obtain therapeutic benefits are considerable. That’s one of the reasons that I developed liquid EPA/DHA concentrates that can deliver adequate amounts effectively. Even though the fish oil market is growing at 20 percent per year, most Americans are still only getting placebo levels.
Adding to this confusion are the marketers of food products who are adding trace levels of fish oil to a variety of products and trying to convince the public this is an easier way to get adequate levels of EPA/DHA. In reality, it is an easier way to get truly placebo levels of these critical omega-3 fatty acids.
As pointed out in the article, one can potentially use other agents in combination with fish oil to reduce the total dose EPA and DHA required. One of those is very low-dose aspirin (about 40 mg/day). The other way, not mentioned in the article, is to follow the Zone Diet to reduce the levels of AA.
Finally. the article mentions health-store grade fish oils as an alternative to the one much higher priced prescription-approved product. Unfortunately, when I tested that mentioned health-store grade product for oxidation levels, it was well beyond the levels suitable for human consumption. Bottom line, if you want to take the levels of EPA and DHA that will truly improve your wellness in the easiest possible format, with the highest purity product available and the lowest cost per gram of EPA and DHA, OmegaRx should be your only choice.