Discover the potent nutritional benefits of krill oil and the ways in which it can improve your health.
It's the new darling among the omega-3 products, boasting all sorts of extra special benefits for our health. So should we be ditching all our other omega-3 supplements for a tub of krill oil capsules?
What is krill oil?
This is a nutrient-dense substance extracted from a tiny, bottom-of-the-food-chain crustacean called krill.
It's said to provide the same health benefits, but quicker and better, as fish oil because it is also a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) which are essential to human health.
More about krill oil
For making supplements, the favoured species of krill is the Euphausia superba that live deep in the icy waters around the Antarctic.
Krill looks like a shrimp or prawn and can grow to between about 10mm and 20mm.
Living in every ocean in the world, krill are considered by many scientists to be the largest biomass in the world.
Manufacturers of krill oil products for human use claim that if all the krill in the world were weighed it, it would weigh more than twice the weight of the entire human population. Interestingly, about half of the annual population of krill are eaten by other animals higher up the food chain such as whales, seals, fish and penguins.
What are the benefits of krill oil?
Research has found that what makes this oil special is that its long-chain fatty acids are packaged differently from fish oils, coming in the form of a phospholipid which is easier for the body to absorb.
This phospholipid also has the added bonus of containing another essential nutrient, choline, as well as an antioxidant.
This better absorption rate – up to 60 per cent better than fish oil, say krill oil makers – means less capsules a day need to be taken to achieve the desired health benefits.
For example, people taking fish oil for arthritis, can need to take between nine and 14 standard capsules a day for effect, whereas, according to the krill oil marketing, only one capsule is needed to achieve the same effect.
There are also claims that krill oil creates no fishy burps.
What does krill oil do?
While the research into krill oil's health benefits is still thin on the ground because it's a relative newcomer in the omega-3 market, because of the concentration of long-chain fatty acids this oil contains, it's claimed it does everything that fish oil does (but possibly faster and better).
So, therefore, it could be linked with reducing arthritis pain and symptoms, preventing heart disease and other cardiovascular issues, combating inflammation in the body, improving concentration and generally benefiting overall health.
Krill oil or fish oil?
According to the experts, there is definitely room in the market for both, but the weight of evidence still rests with fish oil because of the thousands of studies which have been completed on it proving its therapeutic benefits.
This is not to say that krill oil will not eventually be shown to be the premium omega-3 supplement on the market – but at this moment there is not enough scientific data to support that claim.
Nevertheless, it remains a good source of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.
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