I keep seeing things online at a couple other forums I visit, and then also in the stores and magazines about Schiff's new MegaRed Krill Oil which is supposedly better than Fish Oil.

I'm curious to know more about this, but when I tried checking it out...It seems like the EPA/DHA levels are much much lower than my Dr. Sears OmegaRx?

Does anyone have any info on this? Why is there such the hype about it?

I visited three sites trying to find out more information, I'm curious about everyone else's thoughts???

If you are buying OmegaRx from Dr. Sears, stick with it. I think part of the hype from the krill oil is the probability of lower levels of contaminants. You do not need to worry about that with the OmegaRx. (and you're right, you'd have to take several of those little pills to get the same benefit. )

Here is an excerpt that I found on Mercola's website about Krill oil:


There is no question that you can benefit from taking a high-quality fish oil.
However, New and Improved Krill Oil offers clear advantages to fish oil in a number of important ways.

You get all the same multi-system health benefits of omega-3-rich fish oil,* including crucial EPA and DHA ...

But New and Improved Krill Oil also offers:


Your brain is a huge "consumer" of DHA. Antarctic Pure Krill
Oil is made from krill with health-promoting DHA and choline,
which are absolutely essential not only for adults, but
also for normal fetal and infant brain development!* MUCH Better Absorption Than Fish Oil
This means you can take 1/5 the dose -- two small capsules rather than 10 large ones. The phospholipid binding increases the bioavailability of the omega-3s, improves the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio and supports healthy cell membrane functioning.*

Superb Antioxidant Protection
Unique antioxidants -- including astaxanthin and a novel marine flavonoid -- may protect you from damaging free radicals.*

Pollution-Free
Krill are at the bottom of the food chain and collected far from pollution in the pristine seas surrounding Antarctica. So you don't have to worry about unsafe accumulations of mercury, PCBs, heavy metals or other toxins.

Ongoing Supply
Krill are a highly renewable source. They are the largest biomass in the ocean and there is simply no risk of causing them to perish from over-harvesting.

Stability
Antarctic Pure Krill Oil is more stable and more resistant to rancidity than conventional fish oils. This means it will last longer and won't oxidize in your body due to rancidity. It will last for TWO years at room temperature. (Please do not refrigerate.)

No Fishy Aftertaste, Reflux Or Other Side Effects
Although fish oil consumption commonly leads to side effects of fishy aftertaste, reflux or belching of fish flavors, this has not occurred with Antarctic Pure Krill Oil. No adverse effects have been noted even at high dosages.

Renewable Food Source
Krill represent a renewable, sustainable and environmentally positive nutrition source.

I too, get the e-mails from (edited, corrected 24 June to DR. Mercola) Dr. Mercola - however, almost all of his products are HIGH priced, he tries to justify with looong explanations. . .
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I had to do a Live Chat; however, because the EPA/DHA info, I could NOT find.
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Here's the scoop on the New Improved Mercola Krill Oil (supposedly one of the better Krill Oil formulations):
60 capsules, $25.00 + shipping.
TWO capsules one serving?) are equal to:
FO = 1G (1000 mg)
Phospholipids (?) = 400 mg
EPA = 90mg
DHA = 50mg
Omega-6 = 20mg
Astaxanthin (?) = 600 mcg
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Two capsules for 140 mg of EPA/DHA, and at over $30 (w/S+H) for only 60 capsules,
that's a lot of capsules and a lot of money to get daily 2000 - 3000 mg of EPA/DHA!!!
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Plus it has Omega-6? Fine for ancestors eating Krill (or Cod Liver Oil) when our diets were notso high in Omega-6. And not familiar with other ingredients.
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Even if it has more bio-availability, there is nothing to suggest how much to take is equivalent to 600 mg of EPA/DHA - the amount in one DR. Sears capsules.

The bio-availability intrigued me, so my initial inclination was to assume that one would require less of it.

I had not gotten far enough to see what you saw, with the omega-6 content.

Thanks for expanding on that.

Top 3 marketing bullet points for Krill oil:

Bio-availability:
This study indicates that Krill is no more bio-available than (menhaden) fish oil: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...dinalpos=2

Safety (lack of contaminants):
This study shows that Antarctic Krill (and other species) do show contamination: http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...12e7e184b6

Greater Sustainability (than fish-oil sources):
This site is dedicated to preventing the over-harvesting of Krill: http://www.krillcount.org/

As an aside, I'm a little disappointed lately with the blatant marketing going on over at the other website mentioned here.. That site started out great, with trustworthy information, but now I strongly question anything new on that site because so much of any new information is used to sell various products. It's good to question everything one reads of course, but it's getting to the point where I'll start ignoring any info. coming out of there..

Sorry, in an earlier post I mentioned Dr. Murray (and editing feature seems to begone, now! - as I wanted to correct my mistake...), wrong Dr. It was Dr. Mercola who is the one that sends looong e-mails and explanations trying to justify the high price of his products. He just came out with another one on his Krill Oil product, saying even more Bio-Availability because of Phiso- or Philo- Lipids or something. Then, today, I see the same thing in a commercial for Mega-Red - also over-hyped and over-priced.
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UPDATE: Editing feature is now back - correcting my earlier post mentioning Dr.Murry when I meant Dr. Mercola.

Posted By John on 06/10/2010 2:33 PM

Sorry, in an earlier post i mentioned Dr. Murray (and editing feature seems to begone, now! - as I wnated to correct my mistake...), wrong Dr. It is Dr.Mercola who is the one that sends looong e-mails and explanations trying to justify the high price of his products. He just came out with another one on his Krill Oil product, saying even more Bio-Availability because of Phiso- or Philo- Lipids or something. Then, today, I see the same thing in a commercial for Mega-Red - also over-hyped and over-priced.

I was talking about Dr. Mercola also.. It's disappointing to me, as over the years my wife and I have read a lot of good information on that site.

New information about Over Harvesting of Krill:
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http://healthblog.swansonvitamins.c...with-lee-2
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The Truth About Krill
Saturday, May 22, 2010 by Lee Swanson
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"Blogging with Lee" 5/22/10: One of the advantages of the Internet is that it give us the ability to share information instantaneously. What I write in our printed catalog takes nearly three months to appear in your home, presenting quite a disadvantage when trying to address a timely issue. Therefore, I’ve decided to publish here a portion of the introductory letter originally penned for our August catalog. It contains important information I believe deserves immediate attention.
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You may have heard that leading natural products retailer Whole Foods recently pulled Krill Oil supplements from their fish oil nutrition shelves, citing concerns about the potential consequences of over fishing. It’s true; Krill is a primary food source for many Antarctic animals including seals, penguins and whales. But concerns about over fishing are simply unfounded given that the Krill biomass is among the largest on the planet (about 400 million tons to humans' 100 million tons) and just a small fraction (150,000 tons) is caught each year (with only about one percent of that being used for human nutrition).
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Furthermore, our (Swanson Vitamins) supplier, Aker BioMarine Antarctic AS, has developed revolutionary Eco-Harvesting™ practices that minimize environmental impact and protect the fragile ecosystem of the Antarctic. They work closely with the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living (CCAMLR), a treaty-based organization responsible for preserving the resources of the Antarctic, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Norway, an international conservation organization better known as World Wildlife Fund in the US and Canada.
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We’ve selected Aker BioMarine Antarctic AS as our source for Krill Oil found in Swanson brand omega3 supplements because we’re confident in their ability to supply high-quality product that offers the excellent essential fatty acids benefits you've come to expect. Aker’s Superba™ brand oil is absolutely the best on the market and their sustainable, ecological harvesting and production methods are unparalleled.

Does anyone know how much krill would equal 9g of EPA/DHA daily?

I would not recommmend it; however, here are the ingredients:
MegaRed from Schiff:
60 capsules, $28.00!
1 capsule = Krill Oil 300.00 mg
Omega 3 Fatty Acids = 90.00 mg
EPA = 45.00 mg
DHA = 27.00 mg
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27mg + 90mg = 72mg
72mg / 300mg = 24% of combined EPA/DHA
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Compare to Dr. Sears, LEF, or Natural Factors at 60% combined EPA/DHA.
At least 60% is necessary to assure purity with Fish oil.
Even if one assumes that Krill Oil from Antartic is different and has purity as touted wherein it is considered relatively free of toxins - which both Schiff MegaRed and Dr. Mercola's product both tout, look at the value by percentage of EPA/DHA.
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At $28.00 of MegaRed even at coupon discount of 2 for 1,
that's 120 capsules of 72mg EPA/DHA for $28.00.
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Now to your question, how many for 9g?
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9,000mg / 72mg per capsule = 125 MegaRed capsules or 2 bottles at $28 for your one day's worth.
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Much better value is LEF (5 * IFOS) or Natural Factors (Dr. Murray recommended) from iHerb at same ingredients as Dr. Sears and at about $16 for 120 capsules or at about $30 for 240 capsules (for Natural Factors RxOmega-3 Factors, Pharmaceutical Grade Softgels) from iHerb.com with free shipping over $40.
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Where 9g EPA/DHA = 15 capsules of 400EPA/200DHA in 1g Fish Oils.
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At your 9g per day, 240/9 = 27 servings at $30 = $1.11 per day.
(using iHerb.com pricing for Natural Factors RxOmega-3 Factors, Pharmaceutical Grade Softgels of 240 capsule size bottle.)

In regards to my previous post, no Natural Factors RxOmega-3 products (Canada) have not submitted every batch to IFOS. However, Both myself and another forum member (CranberryCat) inquired of their quality. Myself back in 2007 and CranberryCat in late 2009. Here's the response I received in early 2007 (The reply CranberryCat received in late 2009, follows in the next post.):
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At Natural Factors we are committed to providing the highest quality products to our customers and enhancing their health. All of our products undergo rigorous testing at all levels of the production process in accordance with United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) guidelines. The Health Protection Branch (HPB) of Health Canada also regulates our testing procedures. Products must meet these high standards, and meet or exceed label claims before being released for sale.
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We forwarded your question regarding processing of the fish oil to our Quality Control Department, who investigated and advise as follows. The oil is tested using the standards and methods outlined in the CRN (Council for Responsible Nutrition October 2002) Voluntary Monograph. PCB's (NMT {not more than} 0.09 ppm) Arsenic (NMT 0.1 ppm) Lead (NMT 0.1 ppm) Cadmium (NMT 0.1 ppm) Mercury (NMT 0.01 ppm)
Our Product Manual contains the following information:
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The ability to produce a highly concentrated form of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids that is free from lipid peroxides, heavy metals, environmental contaminants, and other harmful compounds. These "pharmaceutical grade" marine lipid concentrates are so superior to earlier fish oil products that they are literally revolutionizing nutritional medicine. RxOmega-3 Factors from Natural Factors is an example of this revolutionary new source of long-chain fatty acids. The key features of this product over regular fish oil products include: More than twice the level of EPA and DHA per capsule than any other brand. Each capsule provides 600 mg of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (400 mg EPA/200 mg DHA)* Quality control steps to insure the product is free from lipid peroxides, heavy metals, environmental contaminants, and other harmful compounds. Ratio of omega-3 fatty acids to arachidonic acid > 50:1 Contains the optimal amount of natural vitamin E as a preservative.
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*The 2:1 ratio of EPA and DHA in RxOmega-3 Factors has been the dominant ratio in most of the scientific studies conducted with pharmaceutical-grade fish oil products that reported clinical benefits.

In regards to my previous post, no Natural Factors RxOmega-3 products (Canada) have not submitted every batch to IFOS. However, Both myself and another forum member (CranberryCat) inquired of their quality. Myself back in 2007 and CranberryCat in late 2009. Here's the response that CranberryCat received in late 2009:
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NOTE (extracted from the response, below): "We manufacture all of our products under the mandatory standards of Health Canada's Natural Health Products Directorate (NHPD). NHPD guidelines include IFOS testing which involves everything that we test for in our fish oils (heavy metals, dioxins, and PCB's)."
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PGFO NF 31 Dec 2009:

Thank you for your inquiry regarding Natural Factors marine oils; we appreciate you taking the time to contact us.
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Natural Factors is committed to providing the highest quality products to our customers and enhancing their health. Before being released for sale, all of our products undergo rigorous testing as required by Good Manufacturing Practices regulations. We manufacture all of our products under the mandatory standards of Health Canada's Natural Health Products Directorate (NHPD). NHPD guidelines include IFOS testing which involves everything that we test for in our fish oils (heavy metals, dioxins and PCB's). The regulations found under the NHPD are comparable to the regulations of the United States FDA and Canada's Therapeutic Drugs Directorate (TPD), both who regulate pharmaceutical products. The only difference is that the NHPD governs supplements considered to be natural health products, which include products such as herbals and vitamin supplements.
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Our Quality Assurance Department further explains: GMP's require that " The quality control department shall be a distinct organizational unit that functions and reports to management independently of any other functional units including the manufacturing, processing, packaging or sales unit". This means that the quality systems department is independent from manufacturing and sales. Our department's job is to test Natural Factors' products independently, which we do, and we maintain our records independently. These records are subject to being audited regularly to ensure that we are functioning under GMP compliance. We are GMP compliant. Natural Factors uses outside labs as part of our commitment to independent testing. For example, the fatty acid profile for our fish oils is tested externally to ensure that label claims are met.
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As part of our commitment to ensuring the safety and quality of our products, Natural Factors has implemented a tighter control over the testing of our fish oils. Under the Health Products and Foods Branch of Health Canada, the Natural Health Products (NHP) regulations came into effect January 1, 2004. In order to comply with the Natural Health Products Directorates (NHPD) acceptance limits for chemical contaminants, we have been revising our test specifications to the following limits:
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Contaminant NHPD Limit
Arsenic <0.14 mcg/kg b.w./day
Cadmium <0.09 mcg/kg b.w./day
Lead <0.29 mcg/kg b.w./day
Mercury <0.29 mcg/kg b.w./day
PCBs <0.09 mcg/kg b.w./day
Dioxins <2 pg/kg b.w./day
kg = kilograms
g = grams
mcg = microgram
pg = picogram
b.w. = body weight
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Note that the limits are dependant on body weight. This means that for children’s products, we apply a lower tolerance level for heavy metals, PCBs and dioxins.
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Molecular distillation is used to remove toxins from the liver oils of bottom feeding fish where there is more risk to the fish exposed to such things as mercury poisoning and other toxins that accumulate in the liver. Natural Factors Cod liver oil and Halibut liver oil are molecularly distilled as are the fish oils in the RxOmega-3 Factors products which are concentrated and refined using this process. After many steps of distillation, filtrations and deodorization, Natural Factors customers can be assured that this high-quality product is free of contaminants. In general, the crude fish oil is physically refined (degumming and neutralizing) then filtered and deodorized. After this process the oil is tested.
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Molecular distillation is a process for purifying heat-sensitive liquids (e.g. fish oils) using a vacuum or low pressure still. Distillation is a method of separating chemical substances based on differences in their tendency to vaporize (volatility) in a boiling liquid mixture - the chemical impurities have a different volatility than the fish oil and can therefore be separated out. Under a vacuum or low pressure approaching a vacuum, the temperature at which a liquid boils is significantly lower than at regular atmospheric temperature. Therefore, at low pressure, fragile fish oil can be purified without destroying the active ingredients.

I think that Krill oil is more suited to the casual FO suppliment user, not someone such as myself whose taking 9g of FO on Dr. Spears advise to overcome obesity.

I agree John, and thank you for the links, that for what many zoner's use FO for, which is the blood & cell chemistry balancing effects of EPA w/ the benefits of DHA occuring naturally, that Krill Oil doesn't stack up.

Even with greater bio-availability, it's not as if FO has a 75% loss rate of absorption. What it actually is, I'd like to know. Personally, since I started taking it at the same time as my SeaHealth Plus, I've noticed my stool is more regular and my diet is really taking off, now that the full benefits of 9g / day are being felt.

I have decided to opt of a different brand than the one you mentioned above, from Omapure. 4 caps = 1700mg of EPA & 690mg of DHA, which is a stronger concentration than the OmegaRX. I'll continue to mix caps with EicoRx, which I'm taking 2 caps per day now and noticing finally no spill over effect at all, so I think i've got my chemistry down. I've taken the last few days the following:

15 Min before Breakfast: 1 x EicoRx Cap + 2 x OmaPure w/ 0.5oz of seahealth
15 Min before Lunch: 3 x OmaPure w/ one cap of Polyphenol Plus
15 Min before Dinner: 1 x EicoRx Cap + 2 x OmaPure w/ 0.5oz of seahealth

OmaPure is competitive to the costs you've listed above and they have as many IFOS tests available as the ZoneLabs FO. I plan to continue this regime, cutting back eventually to 2 caps per meal as I progress past the weight goals I've set up down the road.

One amazing side effect of this dosage regime is the 100% erradication of any and all munchies which used to be the death of me... I'd literally eat healthy all day then the 11pm hunger would do me in which is a large part of how I ended up at 245lbs with 40% BF...

QUOTE: I have decided to opt of a different brand than the one you mentioned above, from Omapure. 4 caps = 1700mg of EPA & 690mg of DHA, which is a stronger concentration than the OmegaRX. END Quote
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Just be aware, that while Omapure is a higher concentration, at 68.9%,
that the EPA/DHA ratio is not quite at 2:1. (neither is LEF, though).
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Product -> No caps (Total) EPA to DHA = 2:1 ideal according to Dr.Sears
Omapure -> 4 caps (3468) 1700:690 = 2.46:1 (more EPA than "ideal)
DR. Sears & Nat Factors -> 4 caps (4000) 1600:800 = 2:1
LEF * -> 4 caps (4000) 1400:1000 = 1.4:1 (more DHA than ideal)
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* NOTE: LEF though, contains PolyPhenols - 600mg (4 caps)
(120 softgels ea bottle, 4 bottles = $21.00 each)

I've not come across the 2:1 ration principle. Is there some side effect, or is it the difference between Very-Ideal and Still-Ideal?

Our fish oils are a 2:1 ratio because the majority of studies have been done at that ratio.

What is the ration that EPA & DHA occur in natural sources, such as Salmon?

Steven, here's an excellent resource for food facts: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/


Here are the numerical references:

DGLA – C20:3 (n-6)
LA - C18: 2 (n-6)
AA C 20:4 (n-6)
EPA - C20:5 (n-3)
GLA – C18:3 (n-6)
DHA – C 22:6 (n-3)