The health and wellness community has for years touted the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. These benefits range from cardiovascular health, cholesterol reduction, anti-inflammatory properties to improved brain function. These benefits created consumer demand, and the industry responded by marketing omega-3 in everything from gummy vitamins to yogurt, and even in supplements for our four-legged friends.

However, current conversation in the vitamins and supplements space is that of transparency: specifically, whether all manufacturers are making it clear for consumers to understand what they’re getting, where they’re getting it from – and if it will deliver in optimizing your health. In other words: how do you know if you’re picking the right supplement?

As far as omega-3 goes, there are a few components that will help you gauge the quality of your supplement. It is not a coincidence that these are also at the heart of what makes Oceanblue different, and at the core of entire range of omega-3 products.

Here’s a checklist below:

Identify Your Daily Dosage

Each desired health benefit – whether cardiovascular health, decreased inflammation, or improved brain function – requires a different daily dose of omega-3. GOED-the global organization for EPA & DHA omega-3s – offers the following intake recommendations for three key benefits. Once you’ve identified how much omega-3 you require daily in order to achieve your desired benefit, you’re in a better position to narrow your search.

Evaluate Dose Per Capsule (Concentration)

According to GEOD, seafood is the primary source of EPA and DHA in the diet. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend two servings of fatty fish per week to deliver the recommended amount of omega-3s your body needs to support cardiovascular health. For pregnant and lactating women, that recommended dosage about doubles. And for general health, we’re looking at more than 1g (vs. mg) of Omega-3 EPA+DHA per day. That’s a lot of salmon and other natural sources – daily.

Which brings us to the benefit of supplements. It will be challenging for most people to consume sufficient cold-water, fatty fish (or other omega-3 food sources) to reach the minimum recommended daily dosage, so supplements make sense. Your task then becomes evaluating a supplement that delivers that dose as efficiently as possible. The higher quality the Omega-3 and the stronger its concentration, the fewer capsules you’ll need to swallow daily.

1 soft gel daily of a high-quality supplement like Oceanblue Omega-3 2100 will deliver 1,050mg of omega-3 fatty acids (675mg EPA/ 300mg DHA/ 75mg DPA). These supplements are sourced from wild-caught anchovies and sardines with zero to low mercury exposure off the Peruvian coast. In case you’re running the calculations, that’s more than twice GOED’s daily recommendation to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

Research the Source of Omega-3 Oil(type of fish and geography)

The type of fish your Omega-3 supplement is sourced from – as well as the geography (or farm) from which it is sourced from – should be clearly labeled on your supplement, to afford you the opportunity to research potential contamination levels in those waters, sustainability practices, and other guildlines.

Ocean Blue sources the anchovies from the coast of Peru, where very cold waters are known to possess no to extremely low contaminants. Peru’s anchovies in particular have very high Omega-3 content. This is thanks to a strong current that delivers nutrients directly into their feeding zone. The fishery employs conservative measures to protect the bio-source, and to ensure the sustainability of this natural resource. Your research should ideally lead you to responsible manufacturers and suppliers.

Stay the Course

Once you’ve selected the right omega-3 supplement for your dosage requirement, the reality is that it will only benefit you if you take it consistently. If it requires 4 daily capsules to achieve that dose, you should take those 4 capsules at the same times daily – and not just for 4-6 weeks (we’re talking long-term here). For this reason, we recommend selecting a high-quality and high-potency omega-3 supplement like Oceanblue Omega-3 2100. Taking 1 to 2 capsules a day for 6 years will be a far easier and more sustainable habit to form than taking 4 or 6 daily.

Look for Oceanblue Omega-3 at your local Price Chopper/Market32 store!