Rhonda Patrick Fish Oil Brand Choice & Protocol

In Rhonda’s latest Oct 2024 update, she mentioned taking Metagenics OmegaGenics EPA-DHA 2400mg liquid fish oil (see 20% off coupon code).

Each bottle contains 30 servings of ~1 gram of DHA and 1.4 grams of EPA.

Dose: Rhonda didn’t mention her dose in the latest update. She was previously taking 4-6 grams of EPA+DHA in total per day, which is high. It would be at least 2 servings of this per day. I am unsure if she’s still taking such a high dose.

Alternatives? Previously, Rhonda was taking a fish oil product from Norway that wasn’t sold internationally. When people asked for tips on sourcing a fish oil product, she suggested using the IFOS website to check brands for their quality, and specifically their oxidation score.

Table of Contents

Vegetarian / Vegan Fish Oil Alternatives?

Rhonda personally opts to get her omega-3s from fish oil, due to its high levels of EPA & DHA per gram.

However, when asked on Joe Rogan’s podcast how vegetarians can supplement EPA & DHA, she believed algae oil is the optimal source.

In part, this is because fish don’t actually produce omega-3s, instead they get them from the plankton and algae in their diet – so by consuming algae you’re going direct to the source¹.

In a non-supplemented vegetarian/vegan diet, the primary source of omega-3 fatty acids comes from alpha linolenic acid (ALA), which is found in various plants (particularly flaxseed).

However, the omega-3s EPA & DHA are also important to humans, so relying on ALA solely has a few issues:

ALA is weakly converted to EPA – Research estimates between 0.2% to 6% of ALA is converted to EPA². This aligns with a presentation by Dr Bill Harris, the omega-3 expert Rhonda interviewed, where he estimates less than 5% of ALA is converted to EPA (link).
ALA barely converts to DHA – The same research paper above estimates 0.05% or less of ALA is converted to DHA³. In Dr Bill Harris’ presentation above, he similarly estimates less than 0.1% of ALA is converted to DHA.
This aligns with research showing that vegetarians and vegans have lower levels of EPA & DHA compared to those who eat fish⁴.

The good news is that research shows algae based omega-3s will raise EPA & DHA levels in vegans, even at relatively low dose⁵. A study showed their omega-3 index score went from 3.1 to 4.8 after 4 months of taking 172mg DHA & 82mg of EPA per day.

Below are a couple of algae based omega-3s, so you can see their cost per gram of EPA & DHAs:

Name	Price	Quantity	Flavored?	EPA/DHA $/gram
Source Naturals - Non-Fish Omega-3s	$15 with coupon	30 soft gels	Sorbitol sweetener	$5.44 / $2.72
Sun Warrior - Algae-Based Omega-3	$20 with coupon	60 soft gels	Maltitol sweetener	$5.89 / $1.33
Deva - Vegan Omega-3	$32 with coupon	60 soft gels	Vegetable glycerin	$3.55 / $1.77

^ Rhonda recently interviewed Omega-3 expert Dr Bill Harris (link)

The Omega-3 Index Test

Rhonda notes in her recent Joe Rogan interview (#1701) that she’s a proponent of what’s called the “omega-3 index test”. Mentioning that higher levels are associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality⁶.

In essence, it measures the omega-3 fatty acids in your red blood cells, expressed as a percentage of the total fatty acids. With a score of 8% or greater is correlated with better health outcomes⁷.

The company that makes this test, OmegaQuant, offers it as an at-home “dried blood spot” test. Fortunately, it doesn’t require much blood, just a single drop onto a piece of card, which you then post back. OmegaQuant was founded by Bill Harris who Rhonda interviewed (link). The test comes in 3 versions:

Omega-3 Index Basic Test ($49) – which provides the omega-3 index score only
Omega-3 Index Plus Test ($74) – which provides the index score + trans fat index, omega-6 to omega-3 ratio & AA:EPA ratio (inflammation marker)
Omega-3 Index Complete Test ($99) – which provides everything in the Plus test, and then in addition includes a trans fat index & individual fatty acid levels

For 10% off the tests, use this OmegaQuant coupon code.

^ Rhonda displaying her paper on mitigating APOE4 induced Alzheimer’s disease risk

Omega-3 Phospholipids, Alzheimer’s & APOE4

This next section is mainly relevant to those with the APOE4 gene. It’s estimated that around 25% of the population have it. You can check this by getting a 23andMe test (their cheaper ancestry test is sufficient) – and then exporting the raw data they provide into Rhonda’s genetic report or to Promethease. 23andMe’s more expensive health package should include APOE4 testing.

APOE4 increases Alzheimer’s risk between 2-3x if you’ve 1 allele and 15x if you’ve 2 alleles.

One of the reasons for the increase in Alzheimer’s risk with APOE4 is that it impairs regular DHA transport.

In 2018 Rhonda published an open access paper on a possible mechanism for getting DHA into the brain, which bypasses the impaired route.

Rhonda’s paper proposes that consuming DHA in phospholipid form gets around impaired DHA transport. The reason for this is that phospholipid DHA gets converted to DHA-lysoPC, by a specialized transporter called MFSD2A. This transport system appears to continue to work even when regular DHA transport is impaired.

Providing DHA to the brain again, in the form of DHA-lysoPC, may reduce Alzheimer’s disease risk.

According to Rhonda, omega-3 phospholipids are found in fish, and in greatest concentration in fish roe (fish eggs).

Where Rhonda gets her Omega-3 Phospholipids from

Previously, Rhonda got her phospholipids via wild salmon roe caviar.

She would bulk buy her caviar from Vital Choice, who sell it in 2.2lbs packages that can be frozen, and then defrosted one quarter at a time.

However, as of August 2023, she has stopped consuming salmon roe. Instead, believing that the fish oil supplementation she follows is adequate.

This works because fish oil, when it’s in its natural triglyceride form, can be converted within the body into a phospholipid form.

Fish Oil Rhonda Doesn’t Use Anymore

It’s probably clarifying which fish oil supplements Rhonda isn’t taking any more – for the avoidance of confusion. She no longer takes:

Nordic Naturals – ProOmega 2000 – she took this up until around 2017 (see last tweet mentioning). Not to be confused with the supplement she recently mentioned – Carlson Maximum Omega 2000. Since she stopped with Nordic Naturals, she has been taking NPure-3.
Nordic Naturals – Omega-3 Phospholipids – she took this up until around 2016 (see last tweet mentioning).
Krill Oil – prior to taking the Omega-3 phospholipids supplement by Nordic Naturals, she was taking krill oil.

Closing Words

Above we’ve looked at the importance of omega-3 fatty acids and how Rhonda incorporates them into her diet. For more on the subject, see a video Rhonda created on omega-3s and their importance in reducing cardiovascular disease.

Hopefully the above was helpful, if you’ve any questions, please leave them in the comments below.

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For more Rhonda Patrick related content, see below:

A relatively comprehensive list of supplements that Rhonda has discussed taking, some daily, some for specific use-cases (link)
A detailed post on Rhonda’s diet – including examples of her breakfast, lunch and dinner (link)
A post on Rhonda’s approach to exercise + examples of what she does (link)
Notes on many of the key things Rhonda has discussed about pregnancy, breastfeeding & baby health – based on her journey into motherhood (link)