Is Krill Oil Good for your Heart?
You may have heard of the nutritional supplement krill oil because it’s becoming more and more popular recently. Krill are tiny creatures, somewhat like shrimp, that live in the waters of the Antarctic Ocean. Krill oil is extracted from them and put into food supplements, usually as an oil inside soft gel capsules that should be taken orally.
Krill oil is associated with many health claims, including that it can support healthy brain function, boost the immune system, improve hair and skin quality, help with inflammation, reduce joint pain and stiffness, and even improve mood. But is krill oil good for your heart health, too?
The answer is yes. Krill oil has several ways of helping to keep your heart healthy. Most notably, krill oil is naturally high in omega-3 fatty acids, particularly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which are well known to promote heart health.
Other food supplements contain omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for our hearts, but they are not as bio-efficient in the forms present in other oils as they are in krill oil. This means our bodies get the most benefit from the omega-3 fatty acids from krill oil rather than from other nutritional supplements.
Why take an omega-3 supplement?
Our bodies need omega-3 fatty acids to keep them functioning healthily, including our hearts. But our bodies don’t naturally produce Omega-3, so we need to get them from our diet, usually from fish. However, many people find that they can’t or don’t want to eat the recommended 10 ounces of fish every week to get healthy levels of omega-3s.
So in these cases, it’s especially important to take a supplement containing omega-3 fatty acids. Krill oil appears to be a better source of this than other supplements because it naturally contains both EPA and DHA, which are great for our hearts. Other supplements contain other forms of omega-3 fatty acids, which our bodies then need to convert into EPA and DHA, meaning we don’t gain as much benefit from them.
How else does krill oil help our hearts?
It has also been shown that krill oil, because of the high levels of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids, helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Krill oil can lower “bad” types of cholesterol and raise “good” types of cholesterol in the body.
Having this out of balance can affect our circulation and lead to heart disease, so taking a krill oil supplement is a good idea if you struggle with your cholesterol levels. Of course, it is important to check your cholesterol levels with your family doctor, and to talk to them before starting to take any new food supplement or medication, including krill oil.
Krill oil also naturally contains choline, an essential nutrient for heart health. Choline helps with nerve signals, liver function, and healthy muscles. It also helps to break down a substance called homocysteine in our bodies, which, if levels get too high, can cause damage to our hearts.
Additionally, choline helps our bodies to transport fats safely around the body. Without choline, our livers can’t easily process the fats in our blood, leading to clogged arteries, which is unhealthy for the heart.
Finally, krill oil naturally contains phospholipids, which help our bodies to absorb the DHA and EPA omega-3 fatty acids, and the choline, which krill oil contains. So not only is this supplement a powerhouse of helpful nutrients, but it also contains what our bodies need to help absorb these and put them to use.
