NOW Meals Dietary supplements, Extremely Omega-3 Molecularly Distilled and Enteric Coated, 180 Softgels

One of the cheapest, high quality, high EPA fish oil!
– No burp- High EPA concentration means few rather hard to digest fish oil pills- High quality (molecularly distilled is a process that leaves the “gunk” behind found in fish oil)- Strong rating on labdoor- By far one of the cheapest optionsMy go-to fish oilFor me, EPA way more so than DHA is the difference between waking up with painful joints after a hard workout the day before, or no hangover after a couple drinks too many the night before. It’s well studied in terms of its anti-inflammatory properties. Good for your brain too (I do care but that’s not what I’m taking it for). Krill oil doesn’t cut it, unfortunately (Krill are lower than fishes on the food chain and accumulate less heavy metals)*FISH OIL MINI-REVIEW – COST & QUALITY*As far as cost, I did the calculation for fish oil supplements:- Microingredients $0.1 per grams of EPA – not rated on labdoor- NOW brand (all pills) $0.2 per grams of EPA – 73 quality rating on labdoor- Viva brand (all pills) $0.3 per grams of EPA – 81 quality rating on labdoor- Life extension $0.3 per grams of EPA – 64 quality rating on labdoor- Dr. Tobias $0.4 per grams of EPA – 72 quality rating on labdoor- Solgar $0.8 per grams of EPA – 63 quality rating on labdoor- Nordic high EPA or regular pills $1.1 per grams of EPA – 63 quality rating on labdoor*SHORT OF IT: YOU CLEARLY DON’T GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! GO WITH NOW OR VIVA*It’s a difference of over 5x of EPA cost between the more expensive and the NOW brand. So you’d pay the price for a whole work week worth of EPA in a day with the more expensive one… And the quality is not even there! I tried Nordic before and them to be no better if not at times causing burping. Also surprised to see the lower labdoor ratings for premium brands such as Solgar and Nordic. For 5x the price, it feels more like a scam than a proper quality premium.Note that microingredients is the only brand cheaper on a $ per EPA g basis, but people report burping which indicates that the quality may be lower. I have suspicions they may be cutting a few corners… And I take this to be healthy, not be hurt. But don’t let my review stop you from trying them and feel free to comment if you have and know something!I also tested Viva before – it’s the other brand I would recommend. They achieved one of the top quality scores on labdoor as well. Ever so slightly more expensive than NOW. I believe NOW gives me no burp and I remember slight rare occasions of burping with Viva. Might be the way the pills are coated. Viva also has the most concentrated pills at 700g EPA/pill vs. 500g/pill for NOW, which is excellent. I figured I wanted to take 500g / serving this time to total 1 to 1.5/day. I might switch back to Viva – feel free to leave comments if you tried Viva and NOW and have a preference and can explain why.If you know of other brands worth considering let me know and I’ll add them to this mini-review.*OTHER CONSIDERATIONS (YOU CAN SKIP THAT PART :)*The other factor important to note is the concentration. You do not want to consume 10 pills of low EPA content. I was reading this comment from someone who had a “keriorrhea” (I had to look it up… nasty orange-colored bathroom events where you pass the oil through… I’m not going to say more) due to their 10 pills a day habit…. No thanks. High EPA it is for me. Also well worth noting, since these pills are typically for daily consumption, high concentration means less oil and less heavy compounds, and in particular less heavy metals which tend to accumulate in the “gunk” that gets filtered away – a key benefit of the molecular distillation process.Final note, while the high EPA pills are more expensive on a per pill basis, it turns out that for a given brand, they are generally priced exactly the same as the other pills on a dollar spent per EPA content. It just has less oil content and more EPA concentration – exactly what I want. It was a bit of a surprise for me at first, but it sorta makes sense: it probably takes as much oil to be processed for the high EPA as the low EPA and oil/fish is likely the bulk of the price (the distillation process is not the costly part / has a negligible cost)Bottom line: With a very sensitive stomach, I can take these on an empty stomach, even right before bed and not suffer any problems.NOW is generally a solid supplement brand with quality products. They deliver once again, in the very specialized fish oil supplement market.

Cheapest per unit of EPA+DHA
Fish oil supplements are hard to shop for. On the one hand there are inexpensive low quality fish oils of the type you find in the supermarket that contain little of the two fatty acids – EPA and DHA – that are responsible for fish oil’s cardiovascular and psychiatric benefits.On the other hand there are high-quality brands like Nordic Naturals which are very expensive but also have very high amounts of EPA and DHA.When ordering my Omega 3 supplements from Amazon this time around I wanted to find out whether it would be cheaper per unit of DHA/EPA to buy lots of low quality fish oil or just a few bottles of the high quality stuff.So I made up a simple excel sheet to calculate the price per unit of DHA/EPA using prices on Amazon in late June 2011. What I found out was surprising.Cost per gram of EPA + DHA:Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Formula, 180-Count: $0.39Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega, 1,000 mg Fish Oil, 180 Soft Gels: $0.30Ultimate Omega Liquid by Nordic Naturals – 8 Fluid Ounces: $0.47Kirkland Signature Enteric Coated Fish Oil Omega 3 1200 MG Fish Oil, 684 MG of Omega 3 Fatty Acids, 180 softgels (Pack of 2): $0.15Now Foods Ultra Omega 3, Fish Oil Soft-gels, 180-Count: $0.10First, I was surprised that the liquid product was actually more expensive than the capsules since I had always assumed the more concentrated the product the cheaper it would be in the long run. Not so.Also surprising is that the NOW Foods product is 4 times cheaper than the Nordic Naturals brand per unit of DHA/EPA and 50% cheaper than Kirkland Signature’s product.So, I ordered the Now Foods and after a week I can say I’m very happy. The capsules are large and may be difficult for some people, but no problem for me. (Nordic Naturals are smaller and easier to swallow).One issue with all nutritional supplements of course is the accuracy of the labeling. Companies are not required to prove their products actually contain the advertised amounts of the supplement. Obviously with a product so much cheaper than its competitors, that was a concern with this brand. But after a week on it I feel the same effects as I have with Nordic Naturals in the past, so subjectively at least the amounts advertised seem accurate.I’ve noticed no burping, and the capsules seemed super well sealed. According to NOW’s website its fish oil is molecularly distilled and thus free of contaminants.In my mind there’s no need to go for a product that is 3 to 4 times more expensive unless you really cannot swallow a largish pill.Also worth mentioning is that the high ratio of EPA to DHA is ideal for those using omega 3s for psychiatric conditions like depression and works fine for those looking for the cardio benefits.

No yucky smell & good value!
Size isn’t bad and the dosage is great to up it if you want more. I take two every day and it works great

Não causa enjoo fácil administração e sem gosto, sabor ou regurgitação.

Very Good

Os produtos NOW apresentam qualidade excepcional. As cápsulas são de tamanho fácil de engolir. Sem cheiro e sabor. Tomo durante a refeição para melhor absorção. Recomendo!