You would no doubt be aware by now how beneficial fish oil can be for your health. It reduces the risk of heart attack, reduces cholesterol, reduces triglycerides, improves the performance of your brain, is good for the eyes and also alleviates inflammation in the joints and other body parts. Agreed, it’s a really good thing for us, but how come hardly anyone talks about fish oil side effects at all?
Here’s the plain truth. There are some fish oil side effects that you need to know about; only then can you make the right choice and protect yourself from them.
Now, fish oil is inherently a simple product. Its just oil extracted from some specific kinds of fish, purified to remove contaminants and then packaged in small soft gels ready to be consumed. So if the fish is good and rich in omega 3 fatty acids (which are really responsible for all the health benefits we have talked about), then the oil would also be beneficial.
However, if there’s anything wrong with the fish then the oil would also carry the same problems. Let’s take a look at the most common things that can go wrong here.
Three biggest fish oil side effects
Number one in this list is a fishy aftertaste that is left in the mouth by many fish oil pills. This rancid aftertaste is an indication that the oil has become oxidized and is past its prime. Fish can quickly become rancid, so ideally their oil should be extracted as soon as they are caught from the ocean. Any delays in that could cause the oil to lose its potency and also develop a sour taste. Many manufacturers try to hide this fishy aftertaste by adding some kind of flavor to the oil. Now, I’m not saying that all flavored oils are rancid, but yes, that could be one possibility.
Secondly, polluted ocean waters cause the fish to ingest many pollutants like Mercury, PCBs and Dioxins. 
Eating too much of these fish or even their oil can cause serious health problems down the line.
Also, if you’re planning to take a Cod liver oil supplement, be warned that they tend to be even riskier than general fish oil capsules. The liver is the body part that’s responsible for filtering out impurities from the blood. A fish’s liver also does the same job and because of it, carries higher level of impurities than the rest of its body parts. By taking cod liver oil, you increase the risk of ingesting such pollutants.
A simple way out
The good news is – all these fish oil side effects can be easily taken care of if you choose a quality supplement that contains highly purified oil. The best supplements usually contain concentrated oil that has been thoroughly refined using cutting edge techniques like Molecular Distillation.
This complex process involves purifying the oil in a vacuum. The vacuum helps the oil to be distilled at a temperature much lower than its boiling point, so the oil doesn’t get rancid too. Which means no yucky fishy aftertaste to worry about. It also helps a great deal if the company’s manufacturing plant is nearby the area they source their fish from. This information can be easily found out from their website.
You can also ask the manufacturer to provide a COA (Certificate of Analysis) which proves their oil has been tested and certified to be pure by an independent laboratory.
These couple of simple checks can help you find the best quality supplement without the risk of any fish oil side effects at all. Make good use of this information now!
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