I posted this to TYP.
FISH OIL PRICES: The prices are dropping like a stone. Dr Davis blogged last week that mercury in fish oil was non-existent.. When I looked at fish oil last year, I decided that "Fish oil was Fish oil" and what was of concern was the amount of Omega-3s in the capsule. These capsules are really a "commodity," and the companies selling them go to the extreme in puffery to justify their high prices. You would think the oil was pressed from the fish by Virgins in the Virgin Islands. I can see only two differences that you should consider.
1) Enteric-coated Capsules: ones coated with material that delays release of the medication until after it leaves the stomach. I don't really know if this is worth much to you. Perhaps it's a disadvantage with fish oil.
2) Concentration of the Omega-3's in the capsule: The only advantage I see here is that you need to take less capsules to get your daily dose. The lower density capsules are cheaper by a large multiple. The lower priced capsules contain 300mg to 360mg of Omega 3's. The high-priced ones contain 500mg. So it's pretty simple to check prices and Omegas and do the math. Here's an example:
Let's assume you want to ingest 2000mg of Omega-3's a day from Fish Oil:
Renew Life, FishSmart Ultra, 1000 mg, 90 Enteric Coated Gel Caps
These contain 500mg of Omega and sells for $24.97 a bottle of 90. Assuming no delivery charge, it's still 27.7 cents a capsule. It would take four of them to give you 2000mg a day, or $1.11 a day.
Carlson, Super Omega-3 Fish Oil, 1000 mg, 100 + 30 Free Soft Gels
These have no Enteric coating and sell for $15.50 for two bottles of 130. Assuming no delivery charge, that's 11.92 cents per capsule. It would take 4 of them to give you 2000mg a day, or 47.78 cents a day.
Kirkland Fish oil 1000mg 400 Soft gels
The Costco private label, they sell for $8.99 a bottle of 400. They contain 300mg of Omega 3's per capsule. Thats a cost of 2.75 cents per capsule. It would take 7 of them to give you 2100mg, or 19.25 cents a day. This week they are "$2 off" per bottle, or 1.75 cents per capsule. That's 12.25 cents per day.
So the Carlson brand would cost you 21/2 times as much per day, while the Renew life would cost over 5 times as much. Perhaps the lesser number of pills to take, or the enteric coating, is worth it to you.
Or perhaps you believe the puffery that your particular brand uses. |
