We have had a few enquiries about the difference between Lester’s Oil and Krill Oil, so I thought I would explain the rationale behind the formulation of Lester’s Oil.
Initially, I researched the benefits of Krill Oil as a substitute for Fish Oil; in fact About Health owned domain names for Krill Oil and could easily have gone down that path. However, after further consideration, we felt a more tailored formulation could offer broader nutritional support.
What is Krill?
Krill is a small shrimplike creature that exists as many species in all the world’s oceans. They are an important food source for whales, seals, sea birds and squid. Krill Oil contains Omega-3’s, as well as phospholipids (mainly phosphatidylcholine) and some astaxanthin, but this is where the story gets murky. The Lester’s Oil bottle lists a full breakdown of the ingredients, but Krill Oil usually provides a partial list.
Astaxanthin
Astaxanthin is a natural antioxidant present in both Krill and Lester’s Oil. It is often highlighted as a key benefit of Krill Oil. Including astaxanthin in Lester’s Oil involves a significant cost, so it’s important to be aware of the actual content in each product. Astaxanthin levels in Krill Oil vary widely among brands, and some claims appear to be overstated. Lester’s Oil contains notably higher amounts of natural astaxanthin in its recommended serving.
Lester’s Oil has around 6.6 times as much natural astaxanthin in a daily dose. Another claim that I take issue with is the antioxidant content. One brand currently advertising on TV states that their Krill Oil contains 10 times the antioxidants of normal fish oil. This claim is misleading because fish oil is not taken as an antioxidant, it’s like saying it has 10 times the antioxidant content of a glass of water (which has none of course). In fact, antioxidants such as vitamin E need to be specifically added to fish oil to prevent it going off. Krill does contain antioxidants (i.e. astaxanthin) but in such small amounts that you would be better off taking other products, such as vitamin C, vitamin E, Co-enzyme Q10, resveratrol, multivitamins etc…. there are many good antioxidant formulas available, such as our Res-V. Krill Oil does contain phospholipids, namely phosphatidylcholine (PC). We can get this naturally from milk, eggs, meat and fish… so there are many good dietary sources. It is mainly used in supplement form for liver and heart health. Another phospholipid we looked at is phosphatidylserine (PS) this has approved claims status by the FDA in the United States. The FDA allows the label claim ‘Consumption of phosphatidylserine may reduce the risk of dementia in the elderly’. If I was going to supplement with one of these, it would be phosphatidylserine. Unfortunately, Krill has mainly the ‘choline’ version instead, but that’s not to say that it’s not useful and it forms the basis of the claim that the Omega-3’s in Krill are better able to be absorbed than those in fish oil (as they are already bonded to the phospholipids). Krill Oil actually has very little of the two most important ingredients, - DHA and EPA, which is in fact the very reason people use fish oil or Krill Oil. It contains so little, that marketers often don’t even write the amounts on the label. Again, a breakdown of the key ingredients was very difficult because the claims by different marketers are all over the place. I found a range from 7% to 19% of combined DHA and EPA in Krill Oil. In two 750 mg capsules sold in New Zealand the combined amount was between 12 and 15.4%, corresponding to (approximately) 100mg of DHA and EPA per daily dose. Compare that with Lester’s Oil which has 850 mg of DHA and EPA in every daily dose, more than 8 times as much! My point with some of these comments is that while Krill Oil is a good product, it was never a major constituent of human diets and there is no evidence to suggest it just happens to have the exact amounts of the key ingredients that make it a truly great complete whole food for human nutritional needs. There is a lot of misinformation and selective use of facts in its marketing, and research into its benefits is still extremely limited when compared to the number of studies on fish oil and Omega-3’s.
Lester’s Oil
Our concept with Lester’s Oil was to create a product that can help us reduce the chances of major health issues as we age. I looked at Krill initially and decided that while it contains useful ingredients, by choosing the right ingredients in doses optimised for humans – we could make something much better. The ingredients in Lester’s Oil have been selected for human health, unlike Krill - which is a great food for whales.
Lester’s Oil extra ingredients
This article focuses Krill Oil vs. Lester’s Oil, but does not go into the benefits of all the extra ingredients we include in Lester’s Oil such as Co-Enzyme Q10, vitamin D, Lutein and Zeaxanthin, all included in useful doses for human nutritional needs.
Summary
Krill Oil is a good product, and is a better source of Omega-3’s than normal bulk standard fish oil – if taken in sufficient doses, but it simply doesn’t stack up with Lester’s Oil in terms of the amounts of the key ingredients, especially DHA which makes up 11% of our brain mass. The phospholipids are certainly useful but Krill Oil does not contain phosphatidylserine; the one that is best for supporting human brain health and memory. The astaxanthin content is also very low and often misrepresented. We do not have data yet for the antioxidant power of Lester’s Oil, but I have no doubt it will be much higher than Krill Oil, because it has powerful antioxidants specifically added (Co-Q10, astaxanthin, Lutein and Zeaxanthin). From a cost perspective, Krill Oil is also very expensive for what you get, generally around a dollar a day or higher. Lester’s Oil costs around 80c per day and provides additional benefits that come with having a number of extra ingredients in therapeutic doses.
