Does anyone have any idea of how much EPA/DHA a serving of udos choice oil contains? I’m considering adding extra supplementation but the fish oil capsules i’ve seen are pretty expensive. In fact i saw one the other day for $30CAD and it only contained 640mg of EPA and 428mg of DHA per serving. There is only 30 servings as well.
It’s tough to say. Linolenic acid (an omega-3) may be converted to EPA and DHA in the body (these conversions take place in brain cells, sex glands, adrenal glands, the inner ear, etc.-but I don’t need to convince you of the importance of EPA and DHAJ). Anyway, given Udo’s high concentrations of omega-3s, you’re certainly getting quite a bit of linolenic acid in every serving. However, the problem in determining exactly how much EPA and DHA you are getting arises because the conversion is not 100% efficient. We may know how many mg of omega-3s that Udo’s contains, but we don’t know how much linolenic acid are in that figure, let alone how much EPA and DHA are in the linolenic acid itself. In short, 10g omega-3s doesn’t equal 10g linolenic acid, which doesn’t equal 10g EPA/DHA. Also, this conversion becomes even less efficient as we age. Plus, modern food processing techniques have degraded the fatty acid quality of many linolenic acid sources. Take home message: it’s best to get your EPA and DHA directly (fish oils, coldwater fish, mother’s milk-effective, but neither convenient nor socially acceptable) and just use Udo’s and flaxseed oil as back-ups.
You can find cheap fish oil supplements at large wholesale and discount clubs like Sam’s, Costco, BJ’s, and Trader Joe’s