Any experiences of krill oil?

Juhana Harju · medicine forum Guru Joined: 06 May 2005 Posts: 1056

Has anyone tried krill oil? The results are so impressive that I wonder why
it does not evoke more serious attention. I just found that the LEF sells
this product also.

Bunea R, El Farrah K, Deutsch L. Evaluation of the effects of Neptune Krill
Oil on the clinical course of hyperlipidemia. Altern Med Rev. 2004
Dec;9(4):420-8.

Department of Internal Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec,
Canada.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of krill oil on blood lipids, specifically
total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and
high-density lipoprotein (HDL). METHODS: A multi-center, three-month,
prospective, randomized study followed by a three-month, controlled
follow-up of patients treated with 1 g and 1.5 g krill oil daily. Patients
with hyperlipidemia able to maintain a healthy diet and with blood
cholesterol levels between 194 and 348 mg per dL were eligible for
enrollment in the trial. A sample size of 120 patients (30 patients per
group) was randomly assigned to one of four groups. Group A received krill
oil at a body mass index (BMI)-dependent daily dosage of 2-3 g daily.
Patients in Group B were given 1-1.5 g krill oil daily, and Group C was
given fish oil containing 180 mg eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 120 mg
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) per gram of oil at a dose of 3 g daily. Group D
was given a placebo containing microcrystalline cellulose. The krill oil
used in this study was Neptune Krill Oil, provided by Neptune Technologies
and Bioresources, Laval, Quebec, Canada. OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary
parameters tested (baseline and 90-day visit) were total blood cholesterol,
triglycerides, LDL, HDL, and glucose. RESULTS: Krill oil 1-3 g per day
(BMI-dependent) was found to be effective for the reduction of glucose,
total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, and HDL [this is a mistake in this
abstract, it actually *increased* HDL; comment by Juhana], compared to both
fish oil and placebo. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study
demonstrate within high levels of confidence that krill oil is effective for
the management of hyperlipidemia by significantly reducing total
cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides, and increasing HDL levels. At lower and
equal doses, krill oil was significantly more effective than fish oil for
the reduction of glucose, triglycerides, and LDL levels. PMID: 15656713

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15656713

"Krill oil at a daily dose of 1 g, 1.5 g, 2 g, or 3 g achieved significant
reductions of LDL of 32, 36, 37, and 39 percent, respectively (p=0.000)."

The full study:

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FDN/is_4_9/ai_n9485702

(No, I am not selling this product. I am just looking for more natural ways
to combat heart disease. The krill oil is a promissing option among some
other approaches.)

--
Juhana

anon · medicine forum beginner Joined: 09 May 2005 Posts: 17

Juhana Harju on 5/17/05 2:21 AM at shantigiri@despammed.com in
3etkb0F4u585U1@individual.net wrote:

Juhana Harju · medicine forum Guru Joined: 06 May 2005 Posts: 1056

anon wrote:
:: Juhana Harju on 5/17/05 2:21 AM at shantigiri@despammed.com in
:: 3etkb0F4u585U1@individual.net wrote:
::
::: Has anyone tried krill oil? The results are so impressive that I
::: wonder why it does not evoke more serious attention. I just found
::: that the LEF sells this product also.
:::
::: Bunea R, El Farrah K, Deutsch L. Evaluation of the effects of
::: Neptune Krill Oil on the clinical course of hyperlipidemia. Altern
::: Med Rev. 2004 Dec;9(4):420-8.
::: [...]
:::
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abst
::: ract&list_uids=15656713
:::
::: "Krill oil at a daily dose of 1 g, 1.5 g, 2 g, or 3 g achieved
::: significant reductions of LDL of 32, 36, 37, and 39 percent,
::: respectively (p=0.000)."
:::
::: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FDN/is_4_9/ai_n9485702
:::
:: One observation about the krill studies is that they used very small
:: doses of fish oil to compare to. 180mg EPA and 120mg DHA is very
:: low. That is equal to only 1/2 of one of my "Super EPA" fish oil
:: capsules. Krill was able to exert an effect at a very low dose of
:: EPA and DHA, which I'm guessing was even lower than the fish oil it
:: was compared to. It suggests that the effects from krill are from
:: something other than EPA and DHA. Remember, EPA and DHA have an
:: overwhelming number of studies supporting their effects. This
:: implies that you may be able to get additional benefits by combining
:: krill and high EPA/DHA oil consumption. That is, unless krill exerts
:: it's effects using the same mechanism as EPA and DHA, but that it's
:: just better. I think that is the conclusion the authors hope you
:: will make. But, that is unclear.

Fish oils do not reduce cholesterol or increase HDL not matter what the dose
is. You are correct when suspecting that there are other mechanisms in work.
Probably the beneficial effects are mostly due to the very high astaxanthin
content of krill oil, which is detected and documented. Astaxanthin is a
very potent antioxidant with some cancer preventive properties also. I agree
that fish oils have a huge number a studies to support their use. However,
as I said, fish oils do not reduce cholesterol.

--
Juhana

anon · medicine forum beginner Joined: 09 May 2005 Posts: 17

Juhana Harju on 5/17/05 3:05 AM at shantigiri@despammed.com in
3etmujF4upqlU1@individual.net wrote:

Juhana Harju · medicine forum Guru Joined: 06 May 2005 Posts: 1056

anon wrote:
:: Juhana Harju on 5/17/05 3:05 AM at shantigiri@despammed.com in
:: 3etmujF4upqlU1@individual.net wrote:
::
::: anon wrote:
::::: Juhana Harju on 5/17/05 2:21 AM at shantigiri@despammed.com in
::::: 3etkb0F4u585U1@individual.net wrote:
:::::
:::::: Has anyone tried krill oil? The results are so impressive that I
:::::: wonder why it does not evoke more serious attention. I just found
:::::: that the LEF sells this product also.
::::::
:::::: Bunea R, El Farrah K, Deutsch L. Evaluation of the effects of
:::::: Neptune Krill Oil on the clinical course of hyperlipidemia.
:::::: Altern Med Rev. 2004 Dec;9(4):420-8.
:::::: [...]
::::::
:::
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abst
:::::: ract&list_uids=15656713
::::::
:::::: "Krill oil at a daily dose of 1 g, 1.5 g, 2 g, or 3 g achieved
:::::: significant reductions of LDL of 32, 36, 37, and 39 percent,
:::::: respectively (p=0.000)."
::::::
:::::: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FDN/is_4_9/ai_n9485702
::::::
::::: One observation about the krill studies is that they used very
::::: small doses of fish oil to compare to. 180mg EPA and 120mg DHA is
::::: very low. That is equal to only 1/2 of one of my "Super EPA" fish
::::: oil capsules. Krill was able to exert an effect at a very low
::::: dose of EPA and DHA, which I'm guessing was even lower than the
::::: fish oil it was compared to. It suggests that the effects from
::::: krill are from something other than EPA and DHA. Remember, EPA
::::: and DHA have an overwhelming number of studies supporting their
::::: effects. This implies that you may be able to get additional
::::: benefits by combining krill and high EPA/DHA oil consumption.
::::: That is, unless krill exerts it's effects using the same
::::: mechanism as EPA and DHA, but that it's just better. I think that
::::: is the conclusion the authors hope you will make. But, that is
::::: unclear.
:::
::: Fish oils do not reduce cholesterol or increase HDL not matter what
::: the dose is. You are correct when suspecting that there are other
::: mechanisms in work. Probably the beneficial effects are mostly due
::: to the very high astaxanthin content of krill oil, which is
::: detected and documented. Astaxanthin is a very potent antioxidant
::: with some cancer preventive properties also. I agree that fish oils
::: have a huge number a studies to support their use. However, as I
::: said, fish oils do not reduce cholesterol.
::
::
:: Lowering cholesterol is certainly not one of fish oil's stronger
:: effects.
::
:: "[...] A slight, but significant, increase in HDL-cholesterol was
:: seen in the DHA group, and a slight, but significant, decrease of
:: total cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1 was noted in the EPA group."

That's right. However, the combination of fish oils and garlic would be a
good choice - there is at least one study combining them - but the effect is
still not as impressive as krill oil.

--
Juhana

Juhana Harju · medicine forum Guru Joined: 06 May 2005 Posts: 1056

Juhana Harju wrote:
:: anon wrote:
:::: Juhana Harju on 5/17/05 3:05 AM at shantigiri@despammed.com in
:::: 3etmujF4upqlU1@individual.net wrote:
::::
::::: anon wrote:
::::::: Juhana Harju on 5/17/05 2:21 AM at shantigiri@despammed.com in
::::::: 3etkb0F4u585U1@individual.net wrote:
:::::::
:::::::: Has anyone tried krill oil? The results are so impressive
:::::::: that I wonder why it does not evoke more serious attention. I
:::::::: just found that the LEF sells this product also.
::::::::
:::::::: Bunea R, El Farrah K, Deutsch L. Evaluation of the effects of
:::::::: Neptune Krill Oil on the clinical course of hyperlipidemia.
:::::::: Altern Med Rev. 2004 Dec;9(4):420-8.
:::::::: [...]
::::::::
:::::
::
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abst
:::::::: ract&list_uids=15656713
::::::::
:::::::: "Krill oil at a daily dose of 1 g, 1.5 g, 2 g, or 3 g achieved
:::::::: significant reductions of LDL of 32, 36, 37, and 39 percent,
:::::::: respectively (p=0.000)."
::::::::
:::::::: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FDN/is_4_9/ai_n9485702
::::::::
::::::: One observation about the krill studies is that they used very
::::::: small doses of fish oil to compare to. 180mg EPA and 120mg DHA
::::::: is very low. That is equal to only 1/2 of one of my "Super EPA"
::::::: fish oil capsules. Krill was able to exert an effect at a very
::::::: low dose of EPA and DHA, which I'm guessing was even lower than
::::::: the fish oil it was compared to. It suggests that the effects
::::::: from krill are from something other than EPA and DHA. Remember,
::::::: EPA and DHA have an overwhelming number of studies supporting
::::::: their effects. This implies that you may be able to get
::::::: additional benefits by combining krill and high EPA/DHA oil
::::::: consumption. That is, unless krill exerts it's effects using
::::::: the same mechanism as EPA and DHA, but that it's just better. I
::::::: think that is the conclusion the authors hope you will make.
::::::: But, that is unclear.
:::::
::::: Fish oils do not reduce cholesterol or increase HDL not matter
::::: what the dose is. You are correct when suspecting that there are
::::: other mechanisms in work. Probably the beneficial effects are
::::: mostly due to the very high astaxanthin content of krill oil,
::::: which is detected and documented. Astaxanthin is a very potent
::::: antioxidant with some cancer preventive properties also. I agree
::::: that fish oils have a huge number a studies to support their use.
::::: However, as I said, fish oils do not reduce cholesterol.
::::
::::
:::: Lowering cholesterol is certainly not one of fish oil's stronger
:::: effects.
::::
:::: "[...] A slight, but significant, increase in HDL-cholesterol was
:::: seen in the DHA group, and a slight, but significant, decrease of
:::: total cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1 was noted in the EPA
:::: group."
::
:: That's right. However, the combination of fish oils and garlic would
:: be a good choice - there is at least one study combining them - but
:: the effect is still not as impressive as krill oil.

This is the study I was recalling. Krill oil is doing much better.

Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Feb;65(2):445-50. Related Articles, Links

Comment in:
Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Feb;65(2):560-1.

Effect of garlic and fish-oil supplementation on serum lipid and lipoprotein
concentrations in hypercholesterolemic men.

Adler AJ, Holub BJ.

Department of Human Biology, University of Guelph, Canada.

This study examined the effects of garlic and fish-oil supplementation
(alone and in combination) on fasting serum lipids and lipoproteins in
hypercholesterolemic subjects. After an initial run-in phase, 50 male
subjects with moderate hypercholesterolemia were randomly assigned for 12 wk
to one of four groups: 1) 900 mg garlic placebo/d + 12 g oil placebo/d; 2)
900 mg garlic/d + 12 g oil placebo/d; 3) 900 mg garlic placebo/d + 12 g fish
oil/d, providing 3.6 g n-3 fatty acids/d; and 4) 900 mg garlic/d + 12 g fish
oil/d. In the placebo group, mean serum total cholesterol,
low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triacylglycerols were not
significantly changed in relation to baseline. Mean group total cholesterol
concentrations were significantly lower with garlic+fish oil (-12.2%) and
with garlic (-11.5%) after 12 wk but not with fish oil alone. Mean LDL-C
concentrations were reduced with garlic+fish oil (-9.5%) and with garlic
(-14.2%) but were raised with fish oil (+8.5%). Mean triacylglycerol
concentrations were reduced with garlic+fish oil (-34.3%) and fish oil alone
(-37.3%). The garlic groups (with and without fish oil) had significantly
lower ratios of total cholesterol to high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol
(HDL-C) and LDL-C to HDL-C. In summary, garlic supplementation significantly
decreased both total cholesterol and LDL-C whereas fish-oil supplementation
significantly decreased triacylglycerol concentrations and increased LDL-C
concentrations in hypercholesterolemic men. The combination of garlic and
fish oil reversed the moderate fish-oil-induced rise in LDL-C.
Coadministration of garlic with fish oil was well-tolerated and had a
beneficial effect on serum lipid and lipoprotein concentrations by providing
a combined lowering of total cholesterol, LDL-C, and triacylglycerol
concentrations as well as the ratios of total cholesterol to HDL-C and LDL-C
to HDL-C. PMID: 9022529

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9022529

--
Juhana

anon · medicine forum beginner Joined: 09 May 2005 Posts: 17

Juhana Harju on 5/17/05 4:38 AM at shantigiri@despammed.com in
3etsbrF4t5eqU1@individual.net wrote:

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