Salmon Oil Vs. Herring Oil

[RedHead]

Does anyone know the differences or benefits (if there are any) between fish oils, particularily salmon and herring?? I usually buy salmon oil, but they also sell herring oil for dogs which is cheaper, so I occasionally buy that. I know that price is often an indicator of quality for supplements though, so does salmon oil have higher or different amounts of the "good stuff" (omegas, DHA, EPA, etc)than other fish oils? I thought there was something in the orange colouring of wild salmon oil that was good, but I can't remember what. Any ideas?

[OwnedBySummer]

Try KJW on the forum -- I have heard her talking about precisely this but I honestly don't remember what she said. I "think" she preferred the herring.

[Guest stealle]

I thought there was something in the orange colouring of wild salmon oil that was good, but I can't remember what. Any ideas?

 

I registered for this forum just to try to answer your question. I have a new golden retriever and I'm studying what supplements are best to give to my puppy. I stumbled upon this thread in the process.

 

Salmon has more of a pink/red color. This is from astaxanthin they consume in their diet. Salmon can get this from eating the astaxanthin algae directly but most likely they get it from eating krill (krill eat astaxanthin). Astaxanthin is a powerful antioxidant. I take 12mg of astaxanthin and 1000mg of krill oil every day. I'd like to do the same for my dog, however, krill oil and astaxanthin are only sold in gelcaps (not bulk/pump bottles). These products have a long shelf life as long as they are enclosed in their gelcaps. Once exposed to air, they oxidize. The shelf life would not be long enough to sell in a liquid pump bottle. Not to mention, astaxanthin can make quite a mess. I tossed one in my dogs bowl once and it looked like he had a bloody mouth. This stuff is quite messy outside of the gelcap. If you want to give this to your dog I would suggest getting your dog to swallow the gelcaps down whole.

 

Salmon contains astaxanthin, but much less than krill oil. I don't think herring contain any or much astaxanthin. Herring does have a slightly higher concentration of Omega 3 than Salmon oil. I believe Herring and Salmon both technically have higher amounts of omega 3. However, herring and salmon and other fish oils all transport their omega 3 in triglycerides vs krill oil transports omega 3 in phospholipids which makes it much more bio-available. In short, this means presumably, a small dose of krill oil has the same benefit as a larger dose of fish oil.

 

Personally I don't want to deal with giving gelcaps to my dogs everyday It's just easier to squirt oil on the food. I think I will be giving carmspack sh-emp oil (blend of herring oil, flax oil, and coconut oil) on a daily basis and perhaps something like 1000mg of neptune krill oil, 4mg of Hawaiian astaxanthin, and 200 iu of vitacost gamma E on the weekends.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention. The main reason I prefer krill oil over other fish oils, at least for human consumption, is because I have bad acid reflux. Fish oil is known to cause fishy burps even in people without acid reflux. That was certainly the case for me. I never have fishy burps when taking krill oil, which is a common benefit of this oil.

Edited November 18, 2012 by stealle

[RedHead]

Wow, thanks for all that info! Now I do remember reading about the krill and also many of the omegas actually coming from the food the fish eats. I actually found an old bottle of herring oil and compared it with my salmon oil. It could highly depend on the brand, but from my 2 bottles the salmon oil is higher in everything (e.g. 29% omega3 compared with 14% in the herring). It is also significantly higher in DHA and EPA.

 

I just basically wanted to know if I was wasting my money buying the more expensive salmon oil, but I guess now I will stick with that since it seems to have almost double the amounts.

Edited November 18, 2012 by RedHead