Hey all…has anyone taken a look at Charles Poliquin’s new Smart Blend EFA product, made by MRM? Per 2 capsules, it has 260 mg. EPA and 220 DHA from “high performance fish oil complex” along with 250 mg. CLA and 80 mg. GLA from borage oil. It’s rather pricey…best price I could find was 240 caps for 47.95. Any thoughts on this? Would the fish oil quality really be that much better than say Members’ Mark, which is what I’ve been taking along with separate Tonalin CLA (1000 mg/capsule) and an evening primrose cap, in addition to 1 tbsp. daily of Udo’s. I still have a hard time believing that a 300 ct. bottle of Members’ Mark is as good as something like this or something like Dale Alexander, the Zone caps or Mauro’s formula, which is highly touted by Dr. Serrano. I have to admit, I’m thinking of trying it. I assume he recommends the same dosage as usual, 6-9 caps daily.
Udo’s Choice, comes in a bottle and put it on anything from salad to your protein shake, not a problem to from the spoon either.Check the notes from the Swis seminar under Udo Erasmus he is a great source of info on EFA’s.
Our athletes have been using it for years and it address’s a multitude symptoms not mention the lean out affect when eating a healthy balance of good fat and carrying a training load, nothing but great results from our experience.
Having Poliquins name attached to it means that it is probably a quality product. That doesn’t mean that you can’t find another similar quality product for less though. It sounds to me like everyone is really starting to jump on the fish oil/efa/cla bandwagon as of late. I wonder who JB would recommend as reputable company with this issue. Anyone recall any previous comments he may have made???
Side note:
Solgar has recently changed the “omega 700” caps. Originally they consisted of only “wild atlantic salmon oils” and now the label reads “fish oil blend”. Skimping on quality/cost?
Hey, MR. Quality of fish oil is an issue. The gold standard is “molecular distillation.” Forget about “pharmaceutical quality”; it’s a term of art, not a standard or a legal definition. Back to molecular distillation, it’s one of a series of processes that fish oil goes through. Specifically, it removes mercury, PCBs and other “yucky” stuff. It also condenses the amount of EPA and DHA. JB recommends 6-10g of an EPA/DHA combo per day. Properly processed, quality fish oil is expensive, no bout adout it. Barry Sears sells his brand for about $78 a bottle. Since liquid is more cost effective than capsules, I started looking for a good source. I finally got my costs for 6g of EPA/DHA down to about 75 cents a day. Check out Sun/Arkopharma’s product, Ultra Omega-3. There’s a great article/response by the company (Sun/Arkopharma) about how fish oil is processed, impurities, etc. BTW, I’ve had dealings with iHerb (the site that posted Arkopharma’s response and also the company that had the best price for Arkopharma’s product), and they’re an incredible group of people. My first order was six bottles. They came carefully packed in Zip-Lock bags. One of the seals was slightly unsealed. I lost maybe a tablespoon of product. Two people from customer service responded, trying to give me a refund. (I refused, but actually had to argue with them!) Cost $6.50 a bottle, S&H $4. Coast to coast, I got my order in 3 business days. The fish oil comes only in one flavor, lemon-lime. Sounds strange, but it sure goes great over my canned tuna. And the best part, no fishy burps (unless you drink a carbonated soda, in which case you get tiny little lemon-lime carbonated burps ).
FYI, if you’re young and your fatty acid enzymatic pathways are working at optimum, about 25 to 30% of Omega-3s are converted to EPA/DHA.
Whatever you do, MR, please don’t buy bargain-brand fish oil at Cosco, Sam’s or Walmart. They buy in bulk and use their buying power (huge!) to negotiate rock-bottom prices. Rock-bottom prices many times mean that compromises in quality have to be made in the manufacturing process(es). The other thing I’d recommend, and this is just a personal preference of mine, I prefer to avoid cod liver oil at any cost. The liver is the organ of detoxification. It’s the garbage dump of the body. Fish-BODY oil is far superior to cod-LIVER oil…if you want to avoid the “yucky” stuff like chemicals, mercury, PCBs and the like.
BodyIQ, sardines and anchovies are actaully signigicantly higher in EPA/DHA than salmon. Wild salmon is still a good source (farm-raised salmon, though, is NOT) of EPA/DHA. However, wild salmon commands a premium price ($12-$20 per pound mail order). Solgar is probably just getting smart, balancing cost against a quality end result. After all, we as consumers want the best quality at the lowest possible price, right? Solgar’s a good company, known for their quality.
Hmm, I wonder what a “high performance” fish is? One that swims really fast and is hard to catch - hence the high price?
If I remember correctly, Poliquin has the ratios of EPA/DHA reversed from most popular brands. Something about the ability to focus is affected by the different ratios. I read on MRMs website that they recommend those ratios for kids who are diagnosed ADD.
BodyIQ, I’ve been using the Solgar “700” stuff for a while now, and my bottles just say “from cold water fish.” Where does it say anything about salmon, blend, etc.? Also, what do you think about the quality of this product, one way or the other? Thanks.
Hey, Paul. There’s some debate as to whether EPA or DHA is best for brain function. If one’s fatty acid enzymes are working properly, EPA is converted to DHA. My understanding is that a blend works best for general health. EPA is good for cardiovascular health (lowers blood pressure, reduces platelet aggregation). It also cuts down on inflammation. DHA is good for brain function, cognition, memory, mental alertness. There are high levels of DHA at the synapses in the brain (the VERY small space between the nerve cells, the pathway along which electrical “messages” are sent), and a lack of DHA is also linked with depression.
Unless you have a medical condition, don’t worry too much about the ratio of EPA to DHA. Just the fact you’re incorporating it into your diet is going to benefit you greatly from a health and performance perspective.
The “older” formula claimed that the oils came exclusively from “wild salmon” but have since changed over the last 4 or 5 months. Solgar has a good reputation so I rely on them for quality but have to wonder now.
Tampa-Terry brought up some good/valid points to consider as well. Thanks for your insights. Does this sun/arkopharma have a website to visit?
god, do i smell a sales pitch or what.
Thanks for your response, TT. Something to consider though: the Members’ Mark brand (Sam’s) as well as others were tested by Consumer Labs (recommended by Dr. Mercola), and in fact did meet the requirements as far as EPA/DHA as well as minimal mercury content. Granted, I get sick of taking 15-20 caps a day. I will look in to the one you recommended…it sounds pretty good.
I just checked out the Zone liquid as well as the other one…I didn’t realize Sun/Arkopharma was the Health from the Sun company. I saw this at one of the health food stores I shop at and thought it looked like a great deal, only it wasn’t as cheap as it was on IHerb. Thanks again for the 411…I’m gonna have to get me some of that.
Hey, MR. I’m familiar with Consumer Labs and respect their impartiality and testing HIGHLY. I lean towards the liquid because the cost per 6g is less. The lemon-lime flavoring (subtle) is, uh, “interesting.” At this point, it looks like you have some good choices; capsules when you need to take your fish oil to go and liquid if you want to keep your costs down . . . or need a little taste variety. Thanks for the feedback on the Sam’s/Mark brand. I wasn’t aware they had been tested by Consumer Labs.
Arkopharma has a web site. They’re French. Do a search on Google for their name. I found more information, though, in iHerb’s web site about fish oil impurities and how they process their product, standards, etc.
I wish I would’ve saved the article that had the companies that were tested…it was in an issue of Vitamin Retailer that we get sent to the GNC I work for. I do get sick of popping pills all the time…I think I will give the liquid a shot just for a change of pace. Thanks again for the info too.