Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport is the fish oil supplement for (top) athletes. For anyone serious about sports, it is very important to know what you are taking in. What ingredients are in your food, what are the nutritional values, but also: what is the composition and quality of the food supplements you take. Just as important is to know what you are not taking in. You don't want to take in any undesirable substances and have nothing to do with doping. That is why Vitals products are checked for contaminants and each batch of Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport is tested for the absence of doping-related substances. This is done according to the NZVT system.

Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport has exactly the same composition as Ultra Pure EPA/DHA 1000 mg. The only difference is the name and that each batch of Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport is checked for doping and certified according to the NZVT system.

Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport is a fish oil preparation that contains the important omega 3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in a particularly high dosage, with a nice balance between EPA and DHA. It is ideally suited for people who want to optimally support their omega 3 fatty acid status or achieve specific health effects. The absorbability of the fatty acids in Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport is excellent because they are in the high-quality triglyceride form. Producer Golden Omega is known for making fish oil that is extremely pure. In addition, total oxidation levels (TOTOX) are very low in each batch of oil. The oil itself is very clear in color, reflecting its exceptionally high quality. All in all, Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport is highly dosed, pure, exceptionally fresh and highly absorbable. In short, you can confidently choose Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport from Vitals!

Suitable for elite athletes, tested for doping
Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport has been tested for doping according to the NZVT system (Nederlands Zekerheidssysteem Voedingssupplementen Topsport). This is a system in which dietary supplements are monitored to minimize the risk of a positive doping test. Each newly produced batch of Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport is checked according to this procedure. NZVT-tested products give the highest assurance of not containing any doping-controlled substances. In the NZVT database you can check whether the product has been tested by means of the batch code and THT. Not all products are tested every batch. Products that are tested every batch can be identified in the database by the "infinity" sign. For more information see www.dopingautoriteit.nl/nzvt. Are you interested in a Vitals product that is not tested every batch? Please contact us. Our contact details can be found on the contact page.

Good for heart, brain, eyes and more...
Omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA together have a beneficial effect on the heart. And DHA also contributes to the maintenance of normal vision and healthy brain function. It is not for nothing that eating oily fish in particular, which are naturally rich in EPA and DHA, is always part of official recommendations for healthy eating. In practice, however, a significant proportion of people do not appear to eat enough (oily) fish to meet the recommended daily doses of EPA and DHA. There are various reasons why people do not meet the recommendations, but this is a problem because fish is still our main source of EPA and DHA. Moreover, the same official recommendations indicate that it is better not to eat fish too often. This is because of the harmful substances that can occur in it due to environmental pollution (especially dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals such as methylmercury). This is not an issue with high-quality fish oil supplements that are purified and therefore contain little or no of these contaminants. More and more people are therefore choosing to supplement their diet with a fish oil supplement on a daily basis to take full advantage of the health benefits of these important long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.

A high-dose fish oil supplement like Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport has the added value that even the health effects that only occur at higher doses of EPA and DHA can easily be achieved with an intake of only 2 to 3 softgels per day. Research has shown that EPA and DHA at a daily intake of 2 grams (2 softgels) contribute to maintaining healthy fat levels in the blood. The blood contains various fats (also called triglycerides) that come from our diet on the one hand and are produced by the liver on the other. And EPA and DHA have a beneficial effect on the composition of the blood, in terms of fat content. At a daily intake of 3 grams (3 softgels), EPA and DHA are also beneficial for blood pressure. This makes Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport an excellent addition to a healthy and balanced diet for people who want to support their blood pressure and maintain healthy blood fat levels.

Required dosage of EPA/DHA for optimal omega 3 fatty acid status
Omega 3 fatty acid status refers to the amount of EPA and DHA present in the body. Nowadays, it is quite possible to measure omega 3 fatty acid status. One way to do this is through a finger prick blood test in which the so-called omega 3 index is determined. The omega 3 index refers to the percentage of EPA and DHA of the total fatty acid composition in the cell membrane of red blood cells and is a reliable measure of omega 3 fatty acid status. The omega 3 index correlates well with the content of long-chain omega 3 fatty acids in tissues and organs, including the heart.

There is growing evidence that an omega 3 index of at least 8% is optimal. Research shows that for many people, especially those with a Western diet (typically with excessive intake of omega 6 fatty acids), it is necessary to get high doses of EPA/DHA to achieve that. With a low omega 3 index (about 4.5%, which is a common value in Western countries), supplementation of 2 grams of EPA/DHA usually causes the omega 3 index to be around 8% after about three months. For maintenance, about 700-1000 mg of EPA/DHA per day is probably sufficient (depending on one's eating habits). Want to know what your omega 3 status is? Or want to know if you are taking the right dosage of this product? Click here to order the omega 3 index finger prick test.

Fish oil from Golden Omega
Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport contains fish oil from manufacturer Golden Omega. It is located in a state-of-the-art production facility in northern Chile. The building is in a very strategic location, namely right next to the waters where the fish used to manufacture the fish oil is caught. The great advantage of this is that the fish can be processed quickly after the catch and thus remains very fresh. Golden Omega works exclusively with certified fishermen to keep the ecological impact as low as possible.

Golden Omega's main focus in the production of its fish oil is purity and quality. The application of a patented purification process to remove contaminants from the fish in combination with a patented concentration process ensures that Golden Omega delivers very high quality products. This is reflected in the extremely bright color of the fish oils but most importantly in the very low TOTOX values of their oils (with an average value below 5). TOTOX stands for TOTAL OXidation Value and is a measure of the freshness/rancidity of an oil. Fish oil is eminently susceptible to oxidation because it contains a large amount of vulnerable unsaturated fatty acids. Oxidative damage to fatty acids occurs through contact with oxygen, but can additionally be accelerated by heating, among other things (as occurs during fish frying). A low TOTOX value is important because rancid oils do not appear to be healthy and, in addition to purity, is a good measure of the quality of a fish oil supplement. In addition, a low TOTOX value ensures that the chances of fish upsets are minimal. And for many people, that's also a big advantage.

Golden Omega has several quality and sustainability certifications as additional proof of the high standard their fish oils meet, including IFOS (seal of approval for the quality, freshness, purity and stability of fish oil), Friend of the Sea (seal of approval for sustainable fishing and protection of the natural ecosystem), Dolphin Safe (seal of approval for sustainable fishing and dolphin protection) and Green-e (seal of approval for green energy).

The difference between fish oil in the form of triglycerides and ethyl esters
There are different types of fish oil preparations on the market. In addition to supplements containing omega 3 fatty acids in the natural triglyceride form (often liquid fish oil such as Liquid EPA/DHA 1200 mg) and in the re-esterified triglyceride form (such as Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport from Vitals), there are also products that contain EPA and DHA in the so-called ethyl ester form. What exactly is the difference?

Naturally, fats in the diet, and also in fish oil, occur in the form of triglycerides. These consist of three fatty acid molecules bound to one glycerol molecule (see Figure 1). In the case of unprocessed fish oil, one of them is EPA or DHA, and the other two consist of other fatty acids. As a result, the natural concentration of EPA/DHA in fish oil does not exceed about 30%. For fish oil supplements in softgels, higher concentrations are desirable (up to 80-90%) because space in a softgel is limited. So during the manufacturing process, the fatty acid chains are separated from the glycerol and the EPA/DHA fatty acids are isolated by extraction. Because these free fatty acids are very unstable, they are then individually bonded to an ethanol molecule. These compounds are called ethyl esters. This method is used for many fish oil supplements. However, in the production of the fish oil in Ultra Pure EPA/DHA Sport by Golden Omega, the EPA/DHA fatty acids are re-linked (re-esterified) to a glycerol chain, again forming a triglyceride (also abbreviated to rTG, which stands for "re-esterified triglyceride"). In this way, it again resembles the natural fatty acid structure, but with three EPA/DHA side chains instead of just one.

EPA/DHA as triglycerides more absorbable than as ethyl esters
In the body, fats (triglycerides) are broken down into monoglycerides and free fatty acids so that they are small enough to be absorbed into the intestinal cell. They are then rebuilt into triglycerides. As triglycerides, the fatty acids are absorbed through the lymphatic system and enter the blood. The disadvantage of ethyl esters is that they require an additional enzyme to be split into free fatty acids. Moreover, they need surrounding triglycerides from food to allow the fat-splitting enzymes to do their job properly. Hence, multiple studies have shown that omega 3 fatty acids in the triglyceride form are more absorbable. And that this difference is even greater when the omega 3 supplement is taken with a meal that does not contain much fat (such as an average breakfast or lunch). For omega-3 fatty acids in triglyceride form, by the way, the absorption is even better with a meal containing fat compared to a low-fat meal or on an empty stomach.

Figure 1: Three forms of fish oil supplements.

Permitted health claims:

• EPA and DHA are good for normal heart function, at a daily intake of 250 mg EPA and DHA (1 softgel per day)
• DHA is good for maintaining healthy brain function and vision, at a daily intake of 250 mg DHA (1 softgel per day)
• EPA and DHA are good for maintaining healthy fat levels in the blood at a daily intake of 2 grams of EPA/DHA (2 softgels per day)
• EPA and DHA are good for maintaining normal blood pressure at a daily intake of 3 grams of EPA/DHA (3 softgels per day)