Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Krill Oil versus Fish Oil

This is a sponsored post, but I assure you the opinions and text are my own. 

I have been asked to write a little about the differences between Krill Oil and Fish Oil, which is better for you?  Since I am a daily popper of the gigantic Fish Oil pills, I figured it would be good to look into this debate.  I have been taking Fish Oil supplements for years, and I buy products that have DHA and Omega 3's added for my daughter.  So, I guess you could say I have bought into the idea that Fish Oils are beneficial to your health hook line and sinker! 

By this point we pretty much all know that DHA is necessary for healthy brain development, Omega 3 Fatty Acids are beneficial for regulating cholesterol levels and improving heart health, and that our skin and waistlines even benefit from the addition of these healthy oils.  Both Krill oil and Fish oil contain these beneficial elements, so where do the differences in proposed benefits begin? 

From what I have read, the major difference between regular Fish Oil and Krill Oil is that Krill Oil contains higher levels of an antioxidant called Astaxanthin which is able to cross the blood-brain barrier thereby carrying it's beneficial antioxidants into the brain reducing the amount of free radicals and protecting the eyes, brain, and central nervous system from potential damage.

The second difference proponents of Krill Oil are pushing is that Krill Oil contains fewer contaminants like mercury and other toxins than standard Fish Oils do.  This is mainly due to the fact that Krill is fished from cooler climates, further away from major sources of pollution.  Fish Oil defenders, however, remind us that no place on our beautiful planet is truly free of pollutants, especially airborne pollution, and claim that good Fish Oils are decontaminated prior to use, whereas Krill Oil is not decontaminated.  Of course, we have seen some of the techniques the food industry employs to "decontaminate" our food are pretty suspect themselves, for example they use ammonia to decontaminate hamburger...yuck.  So, personally I would rather have a product that requires less processing naturally than one that has to undergo complicated decontamination procedures to make it safe.

On a purely cosmetic side, Krill Oil is also supposed to be less "fishy".  I know a lot of people complain they get a nasty fish taste and get fishy burps when taking Fish Oil supplements.  Krill Oil is supposed to eliminate this nasty side effect.

One major downside of Krill Oil for me is the price.  It can be significantly more expensive than the standard fish oil, but proponents will tell you it's worth it.  If you have more questions you can check out this site http://krilloil.com/fish-oil-vs-krill-oil.html

I would be curious to know whether any of my readers have done a comparison for themselves.  Let me know what you think!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Things That Make You Go, Hmmm

So, you've made the life changing decision to have weight loss surgery.  Your doctors are behind you 100%, after all, the risks of having surgery are far less than the risks of remaining morbidly obese.  You have attended your weight loss surgery seminar to find out what the process is, what tests you need to do, what types of sugeries are available, etceterra.  You are ready to do this!  But wait!  What about the recovery period?  6 Weeks of refraining from lifting anything over 20 pounds.  And, guess what?  Your insurance may be willing to help pay for the surgery itself, but they are not willing to help you pay for any post surgical assistance you will need. 

So, what to do, what to do.  I happen to have a 20 month old baby who is more than 20 pounds, and I know for a fact there is no way she is going to agree to give mommy 6 weeks off from carrying her at least some of the time.  So, it looks like we are going to have to fork out more mullah to pay for some in-home child care, which, surprisingly will be cheaper than paying to send the baby girl to day care.  We opted for the in home care, though, not just because it will be cheaper, but because my husband and I don't want to force our daughter to adapt to an 8 hour day completely away from mommy without some sort of gradual easing into it.  That, and the simple fact that I love spending time with my daughter, and I just can't imagine handing her off to some group of strangers when I am sitting at home twiddling my thumbs.  I would probably miss her more than she would miss me, and I know eventually I will have to allow her to go to at least part time day care just to get her used to the environment, but I don't have to do it yet.

Either way, though, this is going to be an additional expense on top of our insurance copay that we hadn't really anticipated.  I am so grateful to my husband for being so supportive in this decision, not just emotionally but financially as well.  I couldn't do it without him, but he keeps reminding me that I am doing it for him too.