Omega 3 - Is it just a fishy tale? (Holland & Barrett's EPA Fish Oil Concentrate)

Name: perfectly-p

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Product:	Holland & Barrett's EPA Fish Oil Concentrate
Date:	20/09/07 (1448 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, not too expensive

Disadvantages: Taste disgusting if not swallowed whole

Like many, I have read newspaper and magazine reports on the benefits of fish oil, and in particular Omega3, in aiding concentration and improving the behaviour of children. Given that my children eats zero oily fish I decided that supplements were going to have to be looked into.

Omega 3 is available in many different forms - capsules, chewy tablets or liquid. Now I have bad memories of cod liver oil so I knew my children would not like the liquid form, no matter how much flavouring is added to try to disguise the fishy taste. I spent ages reading and comparing the labels of the many different products on shop shelves and decided to try Holland & Barrett’s Super EPA Fish Oil Concentrate.

What is Omega 3?
The chemistry of Omega 3 is complex (and I am no chemist) but to summarise, and simplify, the Omega 3 parent fatty acid is called alphalinoic acid or ALA. In this are two active ingredients called Eicosapentaenoic Acid or EPA and Docosahexaenoic Acid or DHA.

DHA is thought to constitute the building blocks of the brain and is particularly important for maintaining memory. EPA is a vital nutrient in the functioning of the brain and for nerve stimulation. EPA also has anti-inflammatory benefits and can be used to maintain healthy joints, heart and circulation.

Fish themselves do not produce Omega 3; they get it from the plankton on which they feed. Fish with particularly high levels of Omega 3 are known as oily fish and the best examples are salmon, mackerel, sardines and tuna. There are also small amounts of Omega 3 in meat and eggs. The government recommends eating at least two portions of oily fish a week. If you are vegetarian omega 3 can also be found in flax seed oil, rape seed oil, walnuts, tofu and some dark green leafy vegetables.

Why I chose this product.
One principle reason for choosing the Holland and Barrett’ s capsules over the others was that the high concentration of both EPA and DHA means it is only necessary to take one capsule per day. Some brands recommended taking up to four capsules every day! This of course has three advantages; one being you don’t need to buy so frequently, secondly the children only need to be persuaded to swallow one each day and thirdly the cost per day is markedly less than for some others.

Packaging
They come in a dark brown plastic container with a white label all round with details of the contents together with an actual size outline of the capsule. It has a white plastic lid which you need to tear the tab off and then flip the lid up. Inside is a papery plastic seal which has to be torn off to get to the contents. This was a bit fiddly and I had to resort to slicing it off with a sharp knife. My main concern is that once opened this container has no child proof lid and although it is not marketed at children this does make me slightly uneasy.

What the capsules look like.
These capsules are oval in shape and measure about 2.5cm long and about 1cm across, which I call quite large. They are a translucent pale yellow in colour with a squashy rubbery feel. If you slice it with a sharp knife (which I only did for the purpose of this review!) it is full of the oil which tastes, not surprisingly, of raw fish and is definitely not nice.

Nutritional values
Each capsule contains1000mg fish oil, of which 300mg is EPA and 200 mg is DHA and 6.71mg vitamin E. This is 70% of an adults recommended daily allowance for vitamin E. Vitamin E is an antioxidant which mops up the free radicals in the body which are produced by the body's normal chemical reactions and are thought to damage body cells. It would appear there are no recommended daily allowances established for EPA or DHA.

Ingredients
The ingredients are fish oil and the capsule shell which is made of gelatine and glycerine

How to use
The directions on the container say take one to three capsules daily, preferably with a meal. There is no mention of a child dosage.

Cautions
The label says the product should not be used as a substitute for a varied diet, which is common sense but they probably have to say it anyway. If you are under medical supervision, pregnant or breastfeeding then should consult a doctor before using.

Price
I paid £11.30 for 90 capsules which is not as cheap as some but, as I have already said, you do use less per day than some other brands. These are only available from Holland and Barrett stores. You can shop with Holland and Barrett online if there is not a store near you and they do have frequent special offers both in store and online so it is worth checking back regularly.

My opinion
Vegetarians may not wish to use these capsules as they are made with gelatine but I have noticed that some other brands do say suitable for vegetarians.

As I have already said I am concerned about the safety aspect of the lid. A certain amount of finger strength is required to flip the lid up but this does not make it child proof.

This product is not marketed specifically for children, so for those with small children this may not be the one to choose. The dosage may be too high and the capsules simply too big for a small child to swallow and if they are chewed they taste disgusting.

I started by giving my children two capsules each day for about a month and then reduced to just one capsule per day.

One unexpected benefit was that my sons eczema has all but disappeared and he no longer uses steroid creams daily. His doctor is ambivalent as to whether this was due to the fish oil but my son has had eczema for the last 10 years with nothing completely clearing it up – until now.

The school reports two terms on have not really changed much although one teacher said my youngest seems to be taking a more mature approach to their work - although that could mean anything you want it to. Whether this improvement is due to the fish oil capsules it is impossible to say.

This is of course not a scientific study and I can only speak as I find. If it helps with concentration then that can only be good, but I certainly believe these capsules are the reason for the improvement in eczema. So I think we will carry on with these capsules.


Holland and Barrett Retail Ltd
Nuneaton
Warwickshire, CV11 6XW

www.hollandandbarrett.com

©perfectly-p 2007 (aka perfectlypolished)

Summary: Claim to help maintain a healthy heart and circulation and may improve concentration levels.