Fish Oil - Ethyl Ester versus Triglyceride Forms

If you've purchased Fish Oil for very long, you've very likely had the experience of opening a bottle and almost passing out from the stench. Other relatively common problems with fish oil are fishy burps and a horrible taste upon biting into one of the capsules to test for freshness.  All of these problems were the reason that I initially gave up on fish oil - I live in a very sunny climate - and just went to eating fish once or twice a week.  I figured that any advantages I might get from the omega 3's were undoubtedly cancelled out by the rancid, oxidized oil that I was clearly occasionally consuming.

However, upon reading one positive study after another regarding fish oil, I decided to research the subject a little further examination:  I figured that there had to be a way of getting a decent fish oil even in the warm spot of the globe I lived in.  My first encounter was a very positive one as, in the middle of summer, I bought a fish oil that was in its most natural state, i.e. the triglyceride form.  This triglyceride-based fish oil was so fresh that I could actually bite the softgel with no smell or bad taste. 

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The theory is this:  the triglyceride form of fish oil is the more natural one and oxidizes less quickly than the ethyl ester form that is used in 98% of the fish oils sold today.  The ethyl ester form is the most common because the molecular distilation process that manufacturers use to filter the lead, mercury and PCB's out of fish oil, converts the fish oil from the less reactive triglyceride form to the more active ethyl ester form.  The triglyceride form has three fatty acids bonded to a glycerol backbone, whereas the ethyl ester form has the three fatty acids bonded to a ethyl ester. 

So why, you may ask, are almost all fish oils sold in ethyl ester form?  Well, as usual, rarely are answers ever simple and quick and this is no exception.  The main reason they are sold in that form is twofold:  1) most studies have been conducted with the ethyl ester form and 2) the ethyl ester form is what is necessarily produced from the commercial filtration process. Furthermore, ethyl ester proponents argue that if you get the fish oil rapidly into a sealed softgel where it has no contact with air, then the product will have very minimal additional rancidification.  They further argue that any oxidation will be additionally slowed by the addition of tocopherol (Vitamin E) into the softgel as well.

These arguments actually are all good ones.  However, there are a couple of things that might explain my negative experiences.  First of all, there is some rancidification that will occur before they get it into the capsule.  Secondly, some additional decay may occur even in the capsule especially if there is any heat involved.  This is more than likely more of an issue than the ethyl ester manufacturers would care to admit, because most of the Scandanavian countries and the UK have banned all non-triglyceride forms of  fish oil. [1]

Finally, and probably most importantly, any manufacturer that goes through with the additional step of putting the fatty acids back onto the glycerol backbone to get the triglyceride form, and it should be added charge a small premium for it, is going to carefully watch and monitor their product.  That's what some of this boils down to:  the quality and care of the manufacturer.

Actually, there is another consideration: the triglyceride form of fish oil creates more EPA and DHA, i.e. it is better absorbed  This is really the bottom line for fish oil:  how much of these two fatty acids does the product generate in our systems.  For those interested, the brand that I bought was Ascenta's Nutra Sea Fish Oil as it has always been very fresh with little "fishy taste". 

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NOTE:  Some have argued that fish oils are oxidative upon digestion and that fish oil thus probably does significant aging and cellular damage internally that we may not yet understand.  However, several studies suggest this to be a relative non-issue. [2]  In addition, one study also found that additional Vitamin E can protective help overcome most of the small amount of oxidative damage that is done anyway.  The study authors found that oxidative products in the urine "more than doubled when the fish oil capsules were introduced but then dropped by a factor of four when vitamin E was added. The vitamin E concentration in the red blood cells dropped very significantly when fish oil was ingested but more than recovered with the vitamin E supplement". [3] 

Also, I recommend that you take a mixed tocopherol blend of Vitamin E, rather than the standard alpha tocopherol Vitamin E used in this study, even though it is more expensive. Pure alpha tocopherol can lower your body's other tocopherols. 

REFERENCES:

1) Fish Oil, James Maroon, p. 110

2) Pharmacological Res, 57(6):451-455, Jun 2008, "Polyunsaturated fatty acids as antioxidants", Richard D Kefi, et. al.

3) Amer J of Clin Nutr, 58:98-102, July 1993, "Dietary fish oil-induced changes in the distribution of alpha-tocopherol, retinol, and beta-carotene in plasma, red blood cells, and platelets: modulation by vitamin E"