Why krill oil is better than ordinary fish oil

EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) is an omega-3 unsaturated fatty acid. Fish oil supplements contain EPA and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) as triglycerides, whereas krill oil supplies them as phospholipids.

The beneficial effects of fish oil supplements and the even greater benefits afforded by krill oil are well known; indeed, research has shown that EPA is incredibly beneficial, especially with treatment-resistant depression. It is partly due to a higher EPA content that krill oil is even more beneficial than fish oil.

Interestingly, it was found that when taking EPA supplements, less is more: of three possible doses of ethyl-EPA -- 1g, 2g, and 4g -- the 1g dose proved the most effective in the treatment of depression.

It is not just in the treatment of depression that EPA has beneficial effects: taking pure EPA supplements also has benefits for concentration, ADD, ADHD (attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder), OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), mood, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic depression) and, of course, cardiovascular health.

Recent research has also shown EPA supplements to have beneficial effects on anorexia nervosa, which is the psychiatric disorder with the highest risk of morbidity and mortality.

Krill oil: health benefits, supplements and research

Krill oil has several health benefits. Ingesting EPA and DHA in phospholipids instead of triglycerides allows the body to absorb them more efficiently and easily. So supplementing your diet with krill oil results in the more efficient uptake of DHA and EPA.

Krill oil also reduces the risk of heart attacks: it keeps cholesterol at healthy levels, reduces bad cholesterol, and has anti-inflammatory properties that are very beneficial for your cardiovascular system.

Another benefit of krill oil is that it is extremely rich in antioxidants - chemicals that mop up free radicals. (Free radicals damage DNA and other biological molecules in cells. They cause ageing, cancer and other problems.) Specifically, the EPA part of the phospholipids in krill oil has an antioxidant known as astaxanthin attached to it. All in all, the antioxidant properties of krill oil are over 40 times as powerful as those of fish oil. Astaxanthin protects your skin against the harmful effects of UV rays, among other things.

A number of research studies have shown krill oil to have even greater beneficial effects than fish oil on depression and other mood and personality disorders. In some cases, in experiments comparing fish oil and krill oil, only krill oil had beneficial effects on brain function and depression. Scientists* think this might be due to one or both of the following factors:

(1) krill oil contains a greater proportion of EPA than fish oil, and EPA seems to be the crucial omega-3 fatty acid in brain health - more so than DHA;

(2) as mentioned above, in krill oil, DHA and EPA occur in phospholipids, not triglycerides, and this makes it much easier for the body to incorporate them into cell membranes.

Other studies have shown krill oil to have benefits on adult ADHD, pre-menstrual tension (PMS) and dysmenorrhea.

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* Sampalis F., Bunea R., Pelland MF., Kowalski O., Duguet N., Dupuis S. Evaluation of the effects of Neptune Krill Oil on the management of premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea. Altern. Med. Rev. 2003, 8:171-179.