Why are Fish Oil Pills Bigger than Krill Oil Pills?

The word 'horse' comes up a lot when people talk to me about fish oil pills. As in, 'These are HORSE PILLS! I can't swallow them!' We know. I know.

Fish oil pill size is a problem

MegaRed and other krill oil pills wouldn't be so popular if they were as big as fish oil pills. Krill oil supplements are definitely small and easy-to-swallow, but they're not always better or more effective. More on that here. The main reason krill oil supplements are so small is that krill oil is so outrageously expensive. If they made larger krill oil pills, they'd be so pricey that nobody would buy them! They are not tiny because krill is so effective that you only need a tiny amount. (Marketers would love for you to believe that though!) Krill oil capsules are about 300 mg in size. Of the 300 mg, only about 90 mg is Omega-3. Most fish oil capsules are four times bigger, at 1200 mg. If we made a 1200 mg krill oil pill that is the same size as most fish oil pills, it would cost almost $100 for a bottle of 60 pills. If money were no object, that would finally be an effective krill formula. But then you'd be back to square one - it would be as big as all other fish oil pills. Oh well...can't win.

The appeal of the little red pill...

...that cures what ails is easy to understand. A few reasons why fish oil pills are so damn big:

1. Effective dosage. You need a lot of Omega-3 to feel the benefits.
   • Fish oils contain EPA, DHA and a couple of other Omega-3 fatty acids. It's the Omega-3 that gives you the health benefits.*
   • Usually, only 25% of the fish oil is Omega-3. The rest of the fish oil is, well, stuff you don't want.
   • So a 1200 mg fish oil sold at Walmart may have 300 to 360 mg Omega-3 per pill. That's not enough Omega-3 to make a noticeable improvement in your health.
   • For noticeable benefits, you need at least 1000 to 2000 mg of Omega-3 per day. That's a lot of fish oil!
   • So you just can't get effective dosages with small pills.
   • Shameless plug: ahem - our new batch of OmegaVia has over 1200 mg of Omega-3 per pill, which we've crammed into a a 1300 mg capsule.
2. Competition. This is simple.
   • If one company has a 1200 mg capsule, a competitor will introduce a 1300 mg pill.
   • This supplement arms race has led to giant pills with 1400 and 1500 mg of oil per capsule.
3. Fish oil is cheaper.
   • At the time of this writing, cost of high quality krill oil (bulk raw material bought in drum quantities) is about $220 per kilo.
   • To compare, the Ultra-concentrated form of fish oil we use in OmegaVia costs about half that much.
   • The 'triple strength' oil sold in GNC and Costco in the 1400 mg pills is about $50 per kilo.
   • The regular drug-store variety Chinese fish oil that you can buy at your grocery store costs about $5 per kilo.

Krill Oil Dosage - the little pill that could?

The effective dose needed with krill oil may be less than what you need with fish oil. The scientific proof of krill oil's superiority is just starting to come in. Even a best case scenario looks like you'd need half the amount of krill oil as fish oil. Let's say you need 1500 mg of krill oil Omega-3 for a particular benefit - my generous estimation. Well, you would still need more than a dozen little krill oil pills per day. Quick math:

• One regular krill oil pill has about 90 mg of Omega-3
•  You'd need 17 pills to get 1500 mg of Omega-3. Yep.
• The lowest price I could find for MegaRed was $0.24 per pill
• That's about $4 per day. Gulp.

That's the price of small pills. And you need a lot of them. Still, if you can't swallow the 'horse pills,' tiny krill oil pills may have to be an option for you.

Other Options?

The other option is liquid fish oil by the spoonful. Some brave souls can handle liquid fish oil. I can't. Most people gag at the thought. Liquid fish oil is an easy and relatively cheap way to get large amounts of Omega-3 in one gulp. Given so many of you have expressed dissatisfaction with large fish oil pills, You may wish to consider OmegaVia EPA 500 or DHA 600.   Image: Tinplace   *Individual results may vary. 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. Clinical research suggests the omega-3 dosage needed to help maintain healthy triglycerides is 2000-3000 mg per day when used as part of healthy diet and exercise.