Krill oil and fish oil supplements help raise blood levels of DHA and EPA. Although studies are limited, clinically it appears both are equally effective in LASIK laser eye surgery and dry eye management.
In my last blog, I looked at the two forms of fish oil omega-3: triglyceride omega-3 and ethyl ester omega-3. While both formulations of omega-3 supplements clinically appear to help healing after LASIK and PRK laser eye surgery and both appear to help with dry eye management, there appears to be very little difference between the two.
In this blog, I’d like to look at another form of omega-3 from the ocean — krill oil omega-3. Krill are very tiny shrimp-like organisms that are very low in the marine food chain. Krill are eaten by whales, seals, and even penguins. Krill oil supplements are becoming very popular for humans too! Many claims are made that krill oil is significantly better than fish oil. Certainly, krill oil supplements are more expensive than fish oil supplements.
Krill oil omega-3 chemically is different than fish oil omega-3. The omega-3 fatty acid in krill oil has its head attached to a phospholipid molecule, unlike the case for fish oil omega-3. Phospholipids are interesting compounds as they allow oily substances to disperse in water. This property affects how krill oil omega-3 acts in the human body once its ingested. Because krill oil omega-3 can disperse in water, it tends to dissolve in the contents of the stomach after being consumed. By contrast, fish oil omega-3, which lacks the phospholipid, tends to float on the top of the food in the stomach which makes a fishy aftertaste more likely than with krill oil. The other difference is that krill oil can be more readily absorbed than fish oil without the body’s need for bile salts. Conversely, a downside of krill oil is that it should be avoided by those with shellfish allergies.
Unfortunately, there has not been a lot of good research comparing the health effects — or the effects on the eye and eye surgery — of krill oil omega-3 to fish oil omega-3 supplementation. The goal of any form of omega-3 supplementation is largely to increase blood levels of two specific omega-3 chemicals: DHA and EPA. Although studies are not yet necessarily conclusive, it appears that both krill oil and fish oil supplements are roughly equally effective at raising DHA and EPA blood levels. Both would be expected to be essentially equally good at helping the eye heal after LASIK laser vision correction and in treating dry eye. Certainly this has been my experience with my patients.
See Also
Are Krill Oil Pills As Good As Fish Oil?
Consumers Reports review of krill oil versus fish oil omega-3 supplements.
Healthy Heart
University of Massachusetts discussion of the health benefits of omega-3, including krill oil.
Krill Oil
WebMD overview of health effects and dosing of krill oil omega-3 supplements
Krill Oil Versus Fish Oil in Modulation of Inflammation
A basic science review from the European Journal of Nutrition of krill oil versus fish oil in terms of anti-inflammatory properties.
Omega-3 and Dry Eye
A review from EyeWorld about the benefits of omega-3 in dry eye management.
Metabolic Effect of Krill Oil Are Essentially Similar to Those of Fish Oil
A study showing similar effects of krill oil and fish oil.