Go FISH OIL!! I'm not taking that bait!

Fish oil is the hot topic these days and the recent 'study' that I have seen fly through social media about fish oil and prostate cancer sounds a bit fishy to me. Actually, I would say it is " de-bait-able"!        People need to go to deeper waters to see what is really happening in those studies.  It's like the ones that scare off women from using soy because of some affects toward breast cancer. Many people are falling for that bait. GET THE FACTS.  Search deeper.  What, who, when were these studies done and lets look at some other ones too. Sounds like a fish tale for consumers, if you ask me.  The bottom line is that you just have to be choosy about your source of fish oil. And if this conclusion
 were true, don't you think there would have been a lot of prostate cancer in  Japan and other communities on that Pacific coast?  And soy was so beneficial to the Japanese women that they didn't even have a word for "hot flash".  A great explanation disputing that study is here. http://alturl.com/8tu5f

So if it depends on the source, then let's talk fish oil supplements. Several years ago there was a lawsuit filed against a number of brands ( NOT SHAKLEE) that raised concerns, brands that used cod liver oil.

The lawsuit was filed against some Fish Oil Manufacture because of contaminant concerns.  They were sued by Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation in California for not telling consumers that their products contained levels of PCB's.  Sad that the FDA was not the one that initiated the action to force the manufacturers to remove their contaminated products from the shelves.  They sure them under California prop 65 which requires a warning label whenever a product has toxic ingredients. The defendants in this lawsuit were Omega Protein, a Houston based company that is the world's largest producer of omega-3 fish oil, and the many companies that they produced fish oil for like Rite Aid, CVS, GNC, Now Health Group, Pharmavite, Solgar and Twinlab.  Recognize any of those?  Wait there are more!!!  The Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation only tested 10 omega-3 supplements manufactured by Omega Protein and found PCB's in ALL of them.  They plan to continue testing and to add other companies to the lawsuit if the products are contaminated.    It doesn't stop there.  Many of the labels on these products said that the omega-3 supplement was treated to reduce or remove PCB's.  As consumers, we were lead to believe that they were safe. Ouch!  

Dr. Steve Chaney who teaches at UNC Medical School gives these guidelines to consumers. 
1. Get your supplements from an established company with a reputation for quality and integrity, a company that has been around for a number of years so that you know that their reputation is based on their track record over the years rather than just on hype. 
2.  Make sure that they run rigorous quality controls on their products.  I recommend pharmaceutical grade quality  controls on their products.
3.  Make sure they have published clinical studies on their products that prove both safety and effectiveness.  Choose a company that has many published studies on THEIR products rather than just one or two.

Over 30 years ago, our family chose Shaklee company for ALL of our supplements, including Omegas.   There are NOT, and never have there been ANY safety issues with Shaklee's Omegaguard.  WHY?
1.  Shaklee uses pharmaceutical grade fish oil
2.  Shaklee uses a molecular distillation process to remove contaminants like dioxins, mercury and PCB's.
3.  Shaklee's fish oil comes from highly purified whole fish- NOT from the liver of cod or shark ( which the brands in the lawuit used) which tend to accumlulate these harmful compounds.
4.  Shaklee helped create a MONOGRAPH to establish the standard for quality and purity, including defining...limits for contaminants including dioxin, PCB's, lead, arsenic, mercury and cadium.  :)

While  fish oil/omegas offers great health benefits, remember that taking a questionable BRAND can be detrimental to your health.  Thank you Shaklee Vice President Cindy Lathum and Dr. Chaney for info in this article, and the great reminder of the important of  the BRAND/COMPANY we choose.

Quality always triumphs when it comes to our health!
For more info on the clinical studies from Shaklee,  www.clincals.shaklee.com