Speaking of fish oil...

Javagal2778
Javagal2778 Posts: 74 Member
edited November 21 in Health and Weight Loss
How many calories for a 1200 mg capsule? I take 2 salmon oil capsules in the morning and 2 omegas at night. I have never counted them but I definitely should! Neither has caloric info listed. I'm just trying to get a general consensus here for what you track yours at. I'd rather guesstimate than not track at all. (my inner OCD tracker just cringed as I typed "guesstimate" ;) )

Replies

  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
    edited August 2017
    Should be about 10 calories each pill. Shocked the bottle does not tell you. Make sure you are dealing with a reputable vendor. I prefer to buy at a store for this reason and avoid the internet.
    That is a lot of fish oil. Make sure you tell your doctor since it can thin your blood. And tell him/her about other supplements you may be taking such as turmeric, ginger, glucosamine, co-q 10, garlic, herbs such as ginko, that can also thin the blood.
    Thin blood may sound "good" but it can be very dangerous.
  • Javagal2778
    Javagal2778 Posts: 74 Member
    I was also surprised. 2 different brands, no info. Thanks for your input! I will revisit the amount with my ND. Thin blood doesn't sound good at all!
  • mcraw75
    mcraw75 Posts: 99 Member
    Mayo Clinic recommends no more than 3000mg per day, so you are safe with 1200mg if you don't already take thinners or supplements that TheW stated. Definitely get a reputable brand that has a nutritional label.
  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
    edited August 2017
    @mcraw75 Each fish oil pill is generally 1000 to 1200 mg of oils. The OP is taking 2 in the morning and 2 at night. Thank you for looking up the max of 3,000 mg a day !!!
  • mcraw75
    mcraw75 Posts: 99 Member
    Here's the link to the Mayo Clinic site.
    http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil-alpha-linolenic-acid/safety/hrb-20059372

    Make sure you're reading the dosage correctly also. It might be a 1200 per serving, not 1200 per capsule.
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
    The amount of actual EPA/DHA in a 1200 mg capsule is usually around 300 mg (it will say on the bottle). The dosing instructions have to do with that, not with the total mg of oil in the fish oil capsules. Rancid fish oil can be harmful, so I always break open fish oil capsule when I get a new supply to see if it passes the smell test.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,563 Member
    edited August 2017
    One Nature's Bounty fish oil soft gel (1200 mg) is 20 10 calories, from the label on the bottle. I would imagine any other 1200 mg soft gel would be the same.

    eta: oops, sorry
  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
    edited August 2017
    1200 oil is the number that label uses for calories. Does not matter what the EPA or DHA content is inside that 1200 pill of oil when it comes to caloric count.
    Many higher quality fish oil pills offer higher EPA and DHA numbers inside that 1200mg or 1000mg pill. Sams club brand was lower EPA/DHA than Costco's Kirkland brand years ago.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,563 Member
    edited August 2017
    TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »
    1200 oil is the number that label uses for calories. Does not matter what the EPA or DHA content is inside that 1200 pill of oil when it comes to caloric count.


    ? I'm not quite sure what this means.

    edited to remove double quote
  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
    edited August 2017
    Ex: Kirland Fish Oil 1000mg.
    It contains only 250 of EPA&DHA. The rest is just fish oil. The dosing has to do with the 1000mg pill, not the EPA/DHA content.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,563 Member
    TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »
    Ex: Kirland Fish Oil 1000mg.
    It contains only 250 of EPA&DHA. The rest is just fish oil.

    Oh, I wasn't talking about the actual contents, just the calories per soft gel. I was answering the OP's question about calories.
  • Javagal2778
    Javagal2778 Posts: 74 Member
    I'm glad I asked about this- informative! Thanks for all the input.
    The higher quality brand is OmegaGenics EPA-DHA 720. It contains 430 mg of EPA and 290 mg of DHA. The recommendation on the bottle is 4/day. (I do 2 because I'm cheap, lol!)
    The Costco brand is Kirkland Alaskan Salmon Whole fish oil. 90 mg of EPA and 110 mg of DHA.
    I wonder if the no nutritional info (cals, fat, etc) is a Canadian thing? The high quality capsules are bought from an ND.
  • boredloser
    boredloser Posts: 119 Member
    edited August 2017
    "In the average teaspoon of cod liver oil there's around 42 calories. In a 500mg cod liver oil capsule there?s a much smaller amount - around 5 calories - and in a 1000mg capsule around 9 calories. Vitamin supplements don?t have many calories - around 5-10 per tablet at the most."

    https://nutracheck.co.uk/Library/ForumArticles/How+many+calories+in+cod+liver+oil+or+vitamin+supplements.html


    Thats for cod liver though, not salmon.

    I can say that the cod liver capsules I have (Seven Seas cod liver oil plus multivitamins) doesn't have any calorie info on the label, and neither has any other brand or store brand ones I've bought in the past..
  • me0231
    me0231 Posts: 218 Member
    The fish oil I take has 10 calories each and I take two.
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    My fish oil is 1230mg per capsule
    450 EPA
    300 DHA
    Recommend serving is 1 a day
    = 11 calories
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