By Julie Elaine Brown, M.A., May 16, 2009

When I was at Canyon Ranch last year the nutritionist on staff whom I went to see also said Krill oil vs fish oil for me, and I will try to find his paperwork. What I remember is that it can be more easily digested? I know that I promptly forgot about it until this post and now I'm wondering too...

By Rosa Lin, May 18, 2009

Krill is super high in omega-3 fatty acids, being the major food source of deep cold water fish (the ones we extract fish oil from) from salmon, to seals and whales. A lot of omega-3 supplements in Asia and Europe are krill and (gross alert!) seal based.

Fish oil is much more commercially available and affordable, and provides EPAs and DHAs in either ester form (not so good in many experts' opinion, very synthetic and "pure") or triglyceride (natural fats) form, a form that our digestive system is most familiar with.

Krill oil on the other hand is touted to be of a composition that is most "cell friendly" than triglycerides--- in "phospholipid" form --- of which our cell walls are of the same structure. How this fares through our digestive tracks, I am not sure. I agree that it sounds great on paper!

Krill oil is definitively "better" than the standard pharmaceutical grade fish oil because it contains extra antioxidants like vitamins A, D, E, and astaxanthin, which are absent from fish oil. Taking krill oil eliminates your need for extra fat-soluble antioxidant supplements... so think of it as a 4-pills-in-one type thing.