My fish oil dilemmas

[Revived]

I bought Green Pastures fermented cod liver oil/ butter oil blend because I've read so many blogs about how it's the best thing ever and the only kind of omega 3 supplement several top bloggers will take and it's supposed to be really good for cavities among other things. And my problem is that I can barely stomach the stuff.

The main reason I'm taking it in the first place is because I can't stomach fish. I just can't. I've tried numerous times and it just grosses me out and it ends up being a waste of money. But I know I need the omega-3s. So I thought this way would be less unpleasant but it's not. Every time I try, I almost vomit trying to get it down. And then I keep burping the taste of it for hours after which is pretty traumatizing for me.

They sell a pill version but it's more expensive and this stuff is already so expensive. Anyone have any pro tips? Or justification for why a less disgusting/less expensive fish oil pill is just as good? I mean as far as an omega-3 supplement. Or what about krill oil? I haven't researched that yet but would I do better with that?

Really I'd like to be able to continue taking what I have because I still have most of the bottle left and I can't afford to waste it but the thought of actually getting it down and then burping for hours after is so in appealing that most of the time, I can't talk myself into it. Any rituals I can perform to make it easier to take and less ........errr.....burpy?

What's a fish despising omega-3 deficient girl to do??

[dipitie]

Nobody answered? First of all, the skate liver oil is orange flavored and is actually "pleasant" when burped up LOL I usually do a mix of the spicy orange skate liver oil and the cinnamon cod liver oil. To take it, I get the spoonful in my mouth and immediately take a drink of water and swallow it down. I'll drink some additional water to make sure all the oil is out of my mouth. And I do this all before breakfast which minimizes the burps. Something about putting food over it keeps it from burping back up. Hope this helps, hope you see this! I randomly found this post while looking to see if the stevia in my favorite fish oil is compliant!

[McTracy]

I share your shivers with fish oil but because I do believe it's important, I've found a way to take it without too much of a sour lemon face (although my kids find that entertaining). I take it before breakfast and chase the spoon of oil immediately with berries or another fruit.  The oil texture/flavor is immediately overcome by the natural happiness of fruit flavor and I then choose to move on to my breakfast so that the oil isn't the only thing in my stomach digesting.  No fish burps, no aftertaste.   Worth a try?  

[akuchta]

I don't think that the flavored Green Pastures fish oils are compliant because of the stevia extract.  I take the SFH (tangerine flavored) as recommended by the Hartwigs.  It doesn't taste horrible and I don't have fish burps.  I used to take Carlson's capsules as recommended by my dietician, but I could not take them on Whole30 because of the glycerin in the capsules.

[dipitie]

Yes, technically the Green Pastures isn't compliant but those are the only fish oils that my doctor trusts, so I'm not willing to take anything else.

[EatTrainClean]

Revived -

 

FCLO is unpleasant but worth it. Vitamin A, D and K content in addition to omega-3 content.

 

That said, here is a really good product that tastes fairly good:

https://www.nordicnaturals.com/en/Products/Product_Details/514/?ProdID=1629

 

Keep in mind that all you really need is docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). 1g per day is what the usual recommendation is.

 

The above fish oil contains this amount. However, if you're a vegetarian, you can get this from algal DHA, which is available everywhere in the world, including your neighborhood CVS.

 

Hope this helps,

Casey

[Tina R]

I am not an expert but why aren't you eating pastured eggs and grass fed beef to increase your omega3? According to this website Grain fed beef can have ratios of omega 6 to omega 3 of 20 to 1.http://www.mercola.com/beef/health_benefits.htm. Grass fed beef ratios can be 4 to 1.

[Beets]

The capsule version of FCLO doesn't have stevia. I take it daily and don't get any burps. In the past when I was really sensitive to fish burps (pregnant) I kept mine in the freezer and that helped.

I plan to use the one bottle of FCLO capsules and then switch to the mildly less expensive liquid version.

[Nadia B]

Super tips from Holistic Squid blogger: 

 

1. Chill it - The colder the better.
2. Freeze it in a baking pan, break off a chunk, and swallow it frozen. Oil pill!
3. Float it â€“ Suspend the emulsified gel into water or juice and throw it back in a single gulp.
4. Chase it â€“ Some swear by something tart (komubucha, oj, or a squeeze of lemon), and others prefer to chase fat with fat. 

[PamH]

Suck it up and pay extra for the capsules.  That's my advice.    Love the idea of eating grass fed beef, too.  So you won't eat fish?  Salmon filets?  Wild pacific coho is awesome right now.  Eating fish is probably the best way to get the EPA/DHA anyway.

 

Krill oil is good but still fishy.  I once had a bottle arrive that had a few broken capsules and it STUNK.

 

I would not go for the formulas that work to make the oil more palatable with additives like flavors and sweeteners.  We are all big people and I think we just need to take it if we want to take it.

 

Sorry.  I'm a mom with a special needs child and I've been in this battle to take supplements for 12 years now.  My success came from just saying, "this is the way it is" instead of working hard to hide them.

 

Question:  fish oil contains Vitamin E to prevent oxidation.  The vitamin E is often soy sourced.  Is that non-compliant?

[ultrarunnergirl]

I always urge people who don't like fish to try the salmon cakes in It Starts With Food. Really, they aren't even a tad bit fishy, and so delicious. I make them every week.

[JJtraveler]

I've wondered this too. I use SFH because they sell it at my gym, and it's a company only a couple of hours from my house (local product!! whoot!!). I had someone recommend the fermented stuff, but the only place I can find information on it is the actual company webpage. So I can't really tell if it's worth the a)totally gross flavor most people report, even with the flavored & sweetened varieties and b  ) the extra cost. SFH has very high epa/dha s or whatevers, plus D3. and I guess it's quite processed because it doesn't taste very fishy. particularly the citrus flavors. the chocolate, mint, and vanilla are a little weird, in my opinion. I have some Nordic Naturals oil from the health food store that also has very little fishy flavor.

 

I don't like eating fish myself. I don't totally gag over it, so every so often I just force it down just because it's good for me. but aside from fish sticks (in a bowl of ketchup!) it's not anything that brings me joy. I've used tinned tuna several times during the w30 because it's portable and makes sure I can eat something in transit. but definitely it's a choke it down & move on thing, not a real 'enjoy your meal' thing.

 

I cant' tell any difference between when I use fish oil and when I don't, but lots of people do and it is supposed to be anti-inflammatory so I keep going with it.