Best fish oil supplement while pregnant?

[Stayseeliz]

I'd love some thoughts on this! There are so many to wade through. I'm confused!!

[nova22]

I have some from GNC that has a lemon flavor, which I can't actually detect, but it prevents fishy burps that are normally caused by fish oil supplements.

[karen1968]

I don't know if this is "best" or not, but I"m taking Nordic Naturals Pre-Natal DHA capsules (strawberry flavor - yum!). IIRC, DHA is the most important of the essential oils during pregnancy because it is essential in brain development. However, you can get the same level of DHA in other fish oil supplements.

I prefer these because I can not STAND fish oil - the smell alone nauseates me, so in pregnancy it's a real no go. These don't smell, and I keep them in the freezer and take right before bedtime to minimize the burp factor.

[kellybell]

I use Carlsson lemon scent, which actually tastes good enough that my 4 and 2 year old will have it too.

How much are each of you taking a day?

[Virginia884]

I take one from Trader Joe's. Not sure if it's the 'best', but it's convenient and fairly cheap.

[lillymonster]

Originally Posted by karen1968

I don't know if this is "best" or not, but I"m taking Nordic Naturals Pre-Natal DHA capsules (strawberry flavor - yum!).

I take these - no fishy burps, but they did make my stomach upset, so I am waiting until morning sickness fades a bit more to try them again.

[nia82]

I have some fish oil pills, these: http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Factor.../dp/B000CQQLEQ
I hate HATE seafood and fish, and these do not have any fishy aftertaste at all. I used to take the NOW ones, but I like these better as they flush down more easily... I never had fishy burps, that would gross me out as a passionate fish flavor hater!

[RedOakMomma]

You have to be careful with fish oils...many of them have trace PCBs, lead, mercury, and other chemicals in them. It's not an area of your health you want to cheap out, yk?

I don't have it bookmarked, but a while back someone listed a site that had blind testing of several brands, and it was shocking to see how many common brands (and store brands) were BAD. Why try for the health benefits of fish oil if you're just pumping your body full of pollutants?

Nordic Naturals and Spectrum Naturals have been evaluated by several third party sources for contamination, and they alway pass with flying colors. I use those two brands (Nordic for the kids, usually Spectrum for me).

I get the Spectrum Natural caplets and take them just before bed. Never a fishy burp. I tried taking the oil, and the flavored oil, and it was just gross enough that I lost my motivation to take it daily. The capsules/caplets help with that. No oily feeling in my mouth.

[LROM]

I use Carlson "Super DHA" and actually take them even when I'm not pregnant.

If anyone's heard Carlson didn't pass that PCB test, please do post that! I've heard great things about them and they're carried in many high end health food stores, so I'm hoping they're safe.

[tinynyota]

I take Nordic Naturals "Ultimate Omega", which were recommended by my acupuncturist. No fishy burps! I think they really help my mood too. But they're not cheap - I'd say it's my most expensive supplement by far, especially because I try to take 4000-6000 mg/day.

I've heard good things about Carlsson, New Chapter and Spectrum fish oil too.

[Stayseeliz]

Does anyone know if the New Chapter Wholemega and Wholemega Prenatal are any different? I accidently bought the regular Wholemega and it's has the exact same ingredients as the prenatal. Should I just take those??

[EllisH]

Trader Joe's capsules are trusted and very affordable (I ship them back to Europe whenever I visit California). Costco brand is also held to be good. Carlson oil from a bottle (lemon flavour) is also good, but now that I am pregnant, I prefer the capsules again.

[RedOakMomma]

Honestly, I wouldn't buy cheap varieties of fish oil at all. Pollutants like PCBs are stored in the fatty tissue of animals, and if a company is charging less for their fish oil, then you have to know they're getting it from a cheaper source. Cheaper sources of fish oil include bigger fish, higher up on the food chain and more contaminated with pollutants. You want high-grade fish oil, made from small fish and tested regularly.

An article about the PCBs in fish oil and the lawsuit that's going on:

http://thestockmasters.com/fish-oil-supplement-03032010

Which Fish Oil Supplements Contain PCB? That would be brands Nature Made, Twinlab Norwegian, Solgar, Now Foods and GNC liquid Norwegian.

If these well-known brands have PCBs, I would bet a lot of store brands and generics do as well. Not many brands, other than well-known ones, have been tested. It pays to go with a reputable brand.

Fishoilsafety.com published results of its testing--but there are only 10 brands they tested.

Another article about fish oil safety: Montreal Gazette

From the article:

"Consumers who want the health benefits of fish oil shouldn't also have to take the health risks of an extremely toxic man-made chemical. And they don't have to, since preliminary test results show that some fish oil brands have only 1/70th as much PCB contamination in them as others," said Roe.

That's the good news for consumers, he added.

"Some companies do a lot better job than others, and we think this is something people should know."

After weighting to determine how toxic some of the contaminants are, the products that ranked the lowest for toxicity were, in order, TwinLab Norwegian Cod Liver Oil, TwinLab Emulsified Norwegian Cod Liver Oil, Solar 100 per cent Pure Norwegian Shark Liver Oil Complex, and Nature Made Odorless Fish Oil.

"Without more testing, we can't know whether this group includes the worst in the market — or the best," the plaintiffs wrote in backgrounder of the 10 brands.

Also, HERE is a long list of other brands that were tested by Environmental Defense Fund, though this was a few years ago.

[Stayseeliz]

So I don't need to buy a prenatal fish oil supplement just a high quality supplement?

[RedOakMomma]

I don't use prenatal-specific anything, really. Not with vitamins, not with fish oil. Instead, I adjust amounts of the vitamins/supplements I take. With fish oil, I'm taking 4 or 5 capsules daily. When I'm not pregnant, I take 3. Same with vitamin D and some others...I just adjust them for pregnancy.

[new york momma]

My BIL who is a doctor researched fish oil when his wife got pregnant recently. He said the best brand is Expectra. It has something to do with how the oil is extracted. My ob/gyn agreed with his research.

[EllisH]

Originally Posted by RedOakMomma

Honestly, I wouldn't buy cheap varieties of fish oil at all. Pollutants like PCBs are stored in the fatty tissue of animals, and if a company is charging less for their fish oil, then you have to know they're getting it from a cheaper source. Cheaper sources of fish oil include bigger fish, higher up on the food chain and more contaminated with pollutants. You want high-grade fish oil, made from small fish and tested regularly.

Not necessarily true. Check out this link on safe-to-use products, citing from a Consumer Lab product review: http://forum.lowcarber.org/archive/i.../t-209514.html

Just because designer clothes are so much more expensive than what you can buy at Target, doesn't mean designer firms pay their manufacturing personnel a higher wage. Cost and price of production aren't always causally related.

Trader Joe's fish oil capsules are molecularly distilled, which is one way of clearing the fish oil of PCBs.

Better to be able to afford the cheaper fish oil (declared safe), than not to have them at all or not take enough.

[snguyen]

It's expensive stuff, but I use Green Pasture's high-vitamin cod liver oil. It is recommended by the Weston A. Price Foundation, and they are very picky about purity and the right vitamin blend ratios.

http://www.westonaprice.org/cod-liver-oil.html

[EllisH]

Originally Posted by snguyen

It's expensive stuff, but I use Green Pasture's high-vitamin cod liver oil. It is recommended by the Weston A. Price Foundation, and they are very picky about purity and the right vitamin blend ratios.

http://www.westonaprice.org/cod-liver-oil.html

But you'd have to be comfortable with the high levels of Vitamin A it contains. I am sympathetic to Price's argument on Vitamin A, even so, I don't want to try it out on my baby (my friend did, however, and I have to admit, she gave birth to a perfect son!).

[Baby~Braatens~Mama]

Don't know which is best, but I have been using Spring Valley Algal Omega-3 Fish-Free DHA 200 mg tablets. No gluten, no fish, no added preservatives, no artificial colors, no artificial flavors, no lactose. It's just a nice thumb-nail sized gell tab with, in my experience, no taste and no ill effects. In fact, I never got sick or had fowl tasting burps... I do take it every morning with my prenatal (Stewarts) and the one time I did so before eating I got sick.