Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I originally was using NutriGold Triple Strength Omega-3 Gold just fine, but some doctors that I respect in the field that actively do research on Omega-3 spoke highly of Omega-3 products that were sold in triglyceride form as opposed to ethyl ester form (NutriGold Triple Strength, Lovaza, and most Omega 3 supplements on the market are in ethyl ester form). I use Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega now, and find that I do experience less GI symptoms than I used to when I used omega-3 products sold in ethyl ester form. Below is a summary of my findings that I also wrote in my review of NutriGold Triple Strength Omega-3 Gold regarding how I determined this was the Best Omega 3 supplement for me to take. First and foremost: Please talk to your physician before using this strong product, especially if considering using this to replace Lovaza/Omacor or Epanova or any other prescription fish oil products. Secondly, a lot of this information I use and trust is from consumerlab.com, though if you read the wikipedia page for the website there is some controversy over how unbiased and accurate they are. However, with the supplement industry being so unregulated and causing issues in the USA, I use any resource I can get to make sure supplements I use meet some kind of high standard. A consumerlab.com "approved" product meant that in their independent testing they found that the product met the claims on the label for levels of omega-3s, quality standards regarding mercury, lead and PCBs, and were not spoiled. A doctor can prescribe prescription fish oil for many reasons such as high triglycerides. Prescription fish oils like Lovaza has 840mg of EPA and DHA per 1 gram, of which approximately 465 is EPA and 375 is DHA. Nutrigold Triple Strength Omega-3 Gold was the only supplement on the entire aforementioned website that met my criteria of providing extremely high concentrations with ratio of EPA to DHA similar to Lovaza that was consumerlab.com approved and was also the cheapest in cost per 100 mg of EPA + DHA. Details below: - Nutrigold has 750mg EPA with 250mg DHA in 1060mg Total Omega-3s with cost for 100mg of EPA + DHA being $0.02 - OmegaBrite made by Pure World has 350mg EPA and 50mg DHA in 450mg Total Omega-3s with cost for 100mg of EPA + DHA being $0.11 - Vital Oils 1000 made by VitalRemedyMD has 250mg EPA and 750mg DHA in 1020mg Total Omega-3s with cost for 100mg of EPA + DHA being $0.10 Thus, not only does the NutriGold Triple Strength most resemble Lovaza in terms of the ratio of EPA and DHA provided, it was also the cheapest. Easy decision for me until I started asking the following question... IS FISH OIL BETTER IN ETHYL ESTER OR RE-ESTERIFIED TRIGYLCERIDE FORM? However, recent discussions I have had with a published doctor and advocate for Omega 3's that I respect at the Brain Health Education and Research Institute have led me to believe that omega-3 supplements should be in triglyceride form and not ethyl ester. Ethyl ester is cheaper and easier to manufacture, but fish oil occur naturally in triglyceride form. To make ethyl ester form, they expose the fish oil to alcohol so that they can distill the fish oil and concentrate it while removing contaminants. It was found that people absorb 37% more omega-3 fatty acids from natural fish oil (triglyceride form) than from ethyl ester form (if you want to search for the article on pubmed, look up PMID 20638827). That said, ethyl ester form is more widely available so most clinical studies with fish oil have been done on fish oil in ethyl ester form, so they should be safe. Yes, both the triglyceride and ethyl ester forms end up in the same form in your blood after digestion, but since the triglyceride form is absorbed better and is more "natural," I have decided to purchase fish oil that is in re-esterified triglyceride form, meaning they convert natural fish oil they obtain first to an ester to concentrate and remove contaminants and then convert it back to a trigylceride form. (However, note that some products may be labeled "natural" but not be triglyceride form.) It is the opinion of some doctors I respect in the field that Omega-3s be a concentrated formulation that is molecularly distilled, pharmaceutical grade, and are in re-converted back to triglyceride form. Anecdotally, some doctors have found that their patients got the same results with those kinds of supplements as they did with Lovaza but with decrease in side effects (especially upset stomach). From the consumerlab.com list that leaves only two supplements: NutriGold Triglyceride Omega-3 Gold (providing 400mg EPA and 200mg DHA with Total of 700mg Omega-3s, at $0.03 per 100mg of EPA + DHA) and Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega (providing 325mg EPA and 225mg DHA with Total Omega-3s of 640mg, at $0.06 per 100mg of EPA + DHA). For my personal use, I have switched to Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega but may try the Nutrigold Triglyceride Omega-3 Gold soon. Bottom Line: Consider using NutriGold Triple Strength Omega-3 Gold if you just want a Lovaza substitute and do not care if it is in ethyl ester form (as Lovaza is in ethyl ester form). If you are a hippie and like things more "natural," or you are doing your own research and find that the triglyceride form of omega-3 might be better or more effective for you, consider Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega or Nutrigold Triglyceride Omega-3 Gold.