Taken as a dietary supplement, a fish oil capsule every day will provide the body with omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential to the health of the heart, brain and nervous system. And because the body uses omega-3 fatty acids to produce eicosanoids, which help the body absorb calcium and other trace elements, taking fish oil capsules with your daily vitamin supplement will enhance the effectiveness of your other vitamins.

Many doctors recommend a fish oil capsule as a dietary supplement, even if a person eats fish as often as three to five times a week. Recommended dosage varies from two to five grams per day. Dosage variations for fish oil capsules are not dependent on patient condition, but doctor preference. The body cannot produce omega-3 fatty acids, so they must be obtained from the foods we eat or from a quality fish oil supplement.

Fish oils have been advocated by natural health experts to help alleviate depression and attention deficit disorder with positive results in their patients. In the case of depression, a combination of two specific omega-3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA) achieved the greatest results. It is therefore considered important that a fish oil capsule contain both DHA and EPA fatty acids.

A fish oil capsule should contain purified fish oil from a fish not likely to swim in polluted waters since some studies have found contaminants in fish oil capsules. Some companies use the term pharmaceutical grade fish oil which is purified fish oil.

Health supplement companies should be able to provide the consumer with information about the purity of the fish oil, the purification method, the EPA and DHA content and the fish source. A fish oil capsule from the Hoki fish of New Zealand is an excellent choice, because the Hoki is naturally high in EPA and DHA omega 3 fatty acids and comes from pristine waters.

Fish oil capsules are tasteless and odorless and provide healthy amounts of omega-3 acids in an easy to swallow form. The omega-3 EPA and DHA are easier for the body to use than plant sources of Omega 3 (known as ALA) which is the omega-3 found in such things as flaxseed oil. The body has to turn ALA into EPA and DHA, and the conversion may not happen smoothly.

In short, a fish oil capsule is the best known source of naturally occurring EPA and DHA.