My Krill Oil Mistake

Why I returned my Krill Oil pills back to the store

Guest blog by: Kathy Mankofsky, RD, LD. I was out at Walgreens when my husband called to say he heard that krill oil is so much better than fish oil. He said that I should buy krill oil instead of fish oil. I told him that I would check it out. Just when I was looking at the the krill oil bottle, my cell phone rang and I got distracted by the call. I glanced at the bottle and I saw what I thought was 900 mg of Omega-3. Since I thought krill oil was sooo good, I must have imagined an extra zero on the end of the Omega-3 on the label. I thought that I saw 900 mg of Omega-3 on the krill oil label. So I bought it and took it home. When I got home, I looked at the label more carefully. I saw that I had misread it. That bottle didn’t have 900 mg of Omega 3 per pill. It had only 90 mg Omega-3 per pill. Big difference! So if I wanted to get the 900 mg that I thought I was getting, I’d have to take 10 of the krill oil pills. That’s nuts! I can’t take that many pills!

What’s The Big Deal About Krill Oil?

One study showed that people who took krill oil had 1.5 times more Omega 3 in their cell membranes than those who took fish oil. Source: Is Krill Oil 48 X Better Than Fish Oil? According to that study, 90 mg Omega-3 in krill oil compares to 135 mg of Omega-3 in fish oil. (90 mg per krill oil pill x 1.5 = 135 mg Omega-3.) Now, using this conversion formula, we can compare apples to apples. The fish oil that I was taking at that time had 720 mg of Omega-3 per pill. Did I want to switch from 720 mg Omega-3 down to 135 mg Omega-3 per pill? Absolutely Not! The krill oil would have to be 8 x more absorbed to have the same amount of Omega-3 as the fish oil I was taking (90 mg x 8 =720 mg Omega-3). Granted krill oil has some antioxidants in it, I'm mostly interested in the benefits of Omega-3.

Let’s Compare Krill Oil To The Lowest Strength Fish Oil

Even the cheapest (lowest strength) fish oil has twice as much Omega-3 as krill oil! (Cheap fish oil=300 mg Omega-3 per pill vs 135 mg Omega-3 per pill in common brands of krill oil)

Krill Oil is Dramatically More Expensive Than Fish Oil

	Krill Oil National Brand	Nature Made Double Strength
Retail Price	$27.99	$17.99
Pills/Bottle	60	120
Amount of Omega-3 Per Pill	90 mg	720 mg
Cost of 1,000 mg Omega-3 (effective dose)	$4.84	$0.30
# of Pills to get 1000 mg Omega-3	about 11	about 2

I knew it was more expensive, so I should get more for my money. So I assumed that krill oil would be more concentrated in Omega-3. Actually, I got less, way less, for more money. You have to pay between 7 and 11 times more for the same amount of Omega-3 from krill oil.

What To Look For When Buying An Omega-3 Product

You want to look at the 3 most important things:

1. How much Omega-3 are you getting per pill?
2. What is it going to cost you? (Cost per 1000 mg Omega-3)
3. Is it independently certified for quality?

After comparing the the first two points above in krill oil vs fish oil, I went right back to the store and exchanged it for my regular fish oil!   *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.