Barleans organic oils

[Rebecca Petris]

I have been wanting a better selection of Omega 3 EFA supplements for the Shop, but have been hampered by my lack of (time, of course, and) literacy in the world of supplements. What's finally forced me to a decision is that I'm running low on Dry Vites and the manufacturer just doubled their price. Heh, I guess lots of people read the WSJ.

I have shopped off and on for several months and compared proprietary "sold for dry eye" supplements, various brand name supplements sold for general health, and private label opportunities. In general my attitude about Omega 3s is as follows:

1) Go for top quality oils if possible. All oils are not equal.
2) While fish or flaxseed oils are the most popular and seem to be the most beneficial, there are some people who clearly get more benefit from other types.
3) Blended oils are a good thing as they are both more convenient and economical than taking multiple supplements and you can hedge your bets about which type(s) of oil are going to be most helpful.
4) You don't need to spend a fortune to get good oil. I think $15-25 per month is a reasonable range to be in.
5) I have a very low tolerance for extravagant claims and mysteriously complex formulae.

So, in the end I picked BARLEANS (Cindy, that's your cue to say "You're welcome, Rebecca!" ), a family-owned business in northern Washington state enjoying an international reputation for the quality, purity and freshness of their organic oils.

DRY VITES FANS: Yes, I'm afraid these are going to be discontinued for the present. I do have some left (not very much) so if you want them, go ahead and either buy them in the shop or send me an email to hold some for you. My tentative recommendation for current Dry Vites users is Barleans "Total Omega" or perhaps one of the Omega Twins. I have not of course been able to try all of them yet but as I do, I will report back.

Here are the Barleans products currently stocked in softgel form in The Dry Eye Shop

Flaxseed oil
Lignan flaxseed oil
Signature fish oil
Fresh Catch high EPA-DHA oil
Borage oil
Evening Primrose Oil
Total Omega (flax, fish, borage) oil
Omega Twin (flax, borage) oil
Lignan Omega Twin (lignan flax, borage) oil

[melen27]

I am in a quandry re the fish oil/flaxseed oil supplementation. I can not swallow what seem to be GIANT fish oil capsules and even the ones that are a blend from Thera tears and are football-shaped don't go down well.

I am taking the liquid flaxseed oil made by Barleans. My question is how much is reputed to be sufficient?

Any experiences about this topic would be helpful and/or if anyone knows of capsules that are smaller?

Melen27

[Rebecca Petris]

I am in a quandry re the fish oil/flaxseed oil supplementation. I can not swallow what seem to be GIANT fish oil capsules and even the ones that are a blend from Thera tears and are football-shaped don't go down well.

I am taking the liquid flaxseed oil made by Barleans. My question is how much is reputed to be sufficient?

Any experiences about this topic would be helpful and/or if anyone knows of capsules that are smaller?

Melen27

Capsule size is a problem for many people unfortunately. Most of the fish oil capsules seem to be the same size. The Barleans capsules LOOK so big I was sure they were larger than than the Dry Vites I used to take - then I measured them and it turns out they just look bigger because they are very dark rather than light colored.

As regards dosage - I always just go with the label recommendation personally. Any others?