Nordic Naturals commitment to fish oil in triglyceride form gains new scientific backing

October 1, 2010 — Nordic Naturals announced that its commitment to producing only the natural triglyceride form of fish oil has been reconfirmed and heightened this week by new scientific research in this field.

Dr. Jorn Dyerberg and Danish co-workers demonstrated that the bioavailability of omega-3s in the re-esterified triglyceride form was 70 percent higher than omega-3s in the ethyl ester form, according to new findings published in the journal Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids.

From its inception in 1995, Nordic Naturals has offered its concentrated fish oil exclusively in this form, citing that the re-esterified triglyceride form ensured optimal absorption and utilization, thus improving efficacy.

According to CEO Joar Opheim, “It is great to see science proving what we at Nordic Naturals have always believed. Our understanding of the body’s utilization of ingested omega-3s has always supported our commitment to re-esterified triglycerides as the best form for our concentrated fish oils. Thanks to Dr. Dyerberg’s findings we have the science to support the superiority of the triglyceride form.”

In fish, the omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, occur naturally in triglyceride form. To make a quality fish oil concentrate, the individual fatty acids must first be removed from the glycerol backbone. To stabilize these delicate fatty acids, they are bound to an ethyl alcohol molecule before they undergo molecular distillation to both purify and increase the amounts of EPA and DHA. Once the desired concentration is achieved, a manufacturer chooses from two distinctly different options.

The first is to reattach the fatty acids to the glycerol backbone in a process known as “re-esterification” to recreate the natural triglyceride structure. The second, far less costly option is to leave the fish oil as an ethyl ester, a “new to nature” form of fatty acid.

Source: Nordic Naturals, www.nordicnaturals.com