Nature knows best

Bio-availability is influenced by the molecular shape of fatty acids, sugars, proteins, and other nutrients. Nutrients are considered bio-available when they are in a form that is easily absorbed by the body.

The benefits associated with omega-3 fish oil can only start taking effect once the body has absorbed the nutrients that it contains. We believe that the more natural the molecular structure the better the bio-availability.

So, when assessing how 'natural' fish oil is, it is important to know about the different forms currently available on the market:

1. Natural fish oil comes in a triglyceride form. This is the oil that you get when you 'squeeze' the fish and extract the natural oil from it. The drawback from this particular form of fish oil is that it usually has low omega3 content because it's not concentrated and generally has high levels of contaminants such as heavy metals, PCBs, dioxins etc.

2. Ethyl ester oil occurs when you take natural triglyceride oil and prepare it for molecular distillation, which is required to concentrate the Omega 3 content and remove contaminants. The concentration process cannot take place until the natural triglycerides are converted to an ester form. The ester form is still in a semi-natural state because it is the result of a process that naturally occurs in the body to allow for bio-availability (easy absorption). The Omega 3 content can be dramatically increased using this concentration process.

3. Synthetic triglyceride oil is another form of fish oil that is very common and it is often marketed as 'natural' when in fact it is not. It is a triglyceride, but not a natural triglyceride. It is produced after concentration. As mentioned above, the natural triglycerides are converted to ethyl esters for concentration. This is perfectly ok. HOWEVER; some companies then re-convert the esters back into triglycerides. The resulting oil is often referred to as synthetic triglyceride oil. The original position of the triglyceride's carbon bonds can change and the molecule's overall structure is altered. This cannot be controlled during this process. Part of the oil can become foreign to what the body is used to – and this may negatively impact the bio-availability of the fish oil.

Getting the best of both 'natural' worlds

Our Omega3/DHA Fish Oil is a blend of hoki oil in its natural triglyceride form and concentrated molecularly distilled tuna oil in an ethyl ester form. Both are exceptionally pure and easily absorbed by the body due to their omega-3's maintaining a natural molecular shape. We do not use any synthetic triglycerides in our oil as we believe that our products should be as natural as possible.