A Detailed Review of Nordic Naturals Fish Oil

bottle of Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Purified Fsh Oil 1000 mg review

If you walk into a dozen different health food stores, you’ll probably find Nordic Naturals fish oil on the shelves.

While the name brand, Nordic Naturals, is very popular with health food retailers, you may be wondering if Nordic Naturals fish oil are really as good as other competing products.

This popular name brand was founded by a Norwegian named Joar Opheim.

When Joar first arrived in America over 20 years ago, he discovered that Americans rarely used fish oils for their health benefits.

Today, Nordic Naturals has one of the largest lines of fish oil products; including fruit-flavored liquids and soft-gels, as well as specialty products made for cats and dogs.

But are they better than other fish oils?

We’ll take a closer look at this popular supplement’s ingredients, how it’s made and a comparison to other popular products.

How are Nordic Naturals Fish Oil Made?

close-up of anchovy and sardine used to make Nordic Naturals fish oil review

All of the Nordic Naturals fish oils are made in Norway from smaller fish, such as sardines, arctic cod and anchovies.

Why would you want to use a smaller fish to make your oil?

The main reason is that smaller fish generally have higher amounts of omega 3 fatty acids and lower amounts of impurities usually seen in larger-sized fish.

Joar Opheim claims to use ‘molecular-distillation‘ to produce their oils. The process uses low-heat and a vacuum to produce highly-purified fish oils free of mercury and other contaminants.

How Pure are Nordic Naturals Fish Oil?

Using products that have been tested and certified can help ensure you’re getting what’s stated on the ingredient label; as well as having the lowest possible levels of contaminants.

Nordic Naturals claims their oils exceed the quality levels set forth by the Norwegian Medicinal and European Pharmacopoeia Standards (EPS).  They also claim to have the lowest dioxin levels (less than 0.4 per trillion)

The company is so confident in their product quality that you can access Third-Party Lab Test Results and also request a Certificate of Analysis from the company website.

From a consumer standpoint, this is very helpful and ensures you’re getting a high-quality product.

Nordic Naturals is an Award-Winning Fish Oil

It appears that Nordic Naturals must know what they’re doing because they’ve won a few awards for their high quality Nordic fish oil.

For example, they won a consumer’s choice award from Consumerlab.com for having the highest ratings in consumer overall satisfaction, product quality and product effectiveness.

At one point, their pediatric products (Omega 3-6-9 Junior Formula and Children’s DHA Liquid Formula) were presented with Most Valuable Product Award from Therapy Times, a web community for therapeutic professionals within the health care industry (the site is no apparently longer on-line).  Studies reported that both products appeared to have positive effects on speech and language in some children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

What separates Nordic Naturals from a lot of other fish oil companies is they are a research-driven company.

Their products are currently being used in 14 clinical studies at various research facilities and universities around the world, including Harvard University, National Institute of Health and Columbia University.

A number of clinical trials using their products are available on the company website.

Comparison of Nordic Naturals Fish Oil to Dr. Sears Omega RX Fish Oils

So while all of the positive accolades and research studies are nice, we compared Nordic Naturals fish oil with another popular product, Dr. Sears Omega Rx Fish Oil.

Dr. Sears Fish Oils is a popular omega 3 supplement produced for Zonelabs.com.  It provides extremely high amounts of omega 3 fatty acids in a highly-purified state.

We compared the omega 3 fatty acid levels of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and the cost per product.

Comparing EPA and DHA Dosage per Teaspoon (5 ml)
Nordic Naturals
Ultimate Omega Liquid
Dr. Sears Zone Lab
Omega Rx Fish Oil
EPA813 mg2250 mg
DHA563 mg1125 mg
Bottle Size and Servings per Container8 oz (45 servings per bottle)10 oz (60 servings per bottle)

Dr. Sears OmegaRx2 fish oil provides a higher EPA and DHA per serving, but this comes at a higher cost of about $3 per serving.

The Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega Liquid fish oil will only cost about $1 per teaspoon, but you also get a lower amount of EPA and DHA.

Compared on a cost-to-benefit ratio, it appears the Dr. Sears OmegaRx2 provides higher doses of EPA and DHA, which may be more suitable for specific health conditions.

The Verdict:

Overall, Nordic Naturals fish oils are a highly-purified product available at an affordable price point.

It’s appears similar to other popular products, such as Carlson Fish Oils. Both brands cost about the same and you’ll get similar amounts of omega 3 fatty acids.

Consumers may enjoy the larger selection of products; you can choose between regular omega 3 fish oils, high-concentration formulas, omega 3, 6, and 9 combinations, arctic cod liver oil, products for children and even fish oils for cats and dogs. You also have a selection of soft gels, liquid oils and a variety of different flavors.

The extensive amount of research behind their products is also impressive, as well as the Certificates of Analysis and 3rd Party Testing to ensure purity and quality standards.

Here’s a more extensive list of Nordic fish oil supplements available from Nordic Naturals:

If you’re looking for a high-concentration of fish oil, Ultimate Omega Liquid provides 70% pure omega 3 concentrates of 813 mg. EPA and 563 mg. DHA per 1/2 teaspoon. This is more than double the omega 3 concentration found in regular concentration fish oils.

Search for more Nordic Naturals Fish Oils at Amazon.com:


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