14/05/2026
Available at our health shop
This range is driven by two factors.
1. The supplement’s chemical form
2. The amount of fat in the meal you take it with
This is how it works:
+ Omega 3 ethyl esters (EE) are concentrated, synthetic forms of fish oil.
To be absorbed, as EE lacks a glycerol backbone, it first needs to be broken down by the pancreas and then rebuilt into triglycerides inside the intestinal walls using a glycerol backbone sourced from dietary fat.
So, you need to take your EE omega 3 with a high quality fatty meal for good absorption. If the meal is too low in fat, there isn’t enough glycerol available, so you absorb far less, no matter how good the supplement is.
+ Omega 3 Triglyceride-form (TG) fish oil is the natural, better absorbed form of omega-3s found in fish. Triglycerides already have a glycerol backbone and so are highly efficient energy storage molecules precisely because they are easily broken down (hydrolyzed) and reassembled using a readily available "scaffolding."
So, you are getting the better absorption, and the fatty meal is not necessary.
To prove this, in 2 studies - PMID: 2847723 - they measured EPA and DHA absorption from fish oil in these different forms (EE and TG) and with different meals.
These were the results:
+ EE FISH OIL
A low-8g-fat meal, EPA from ethyl ester (EE) fish oil, was absorbed at roughly 20%.
A high-44g-fat meal, absorption of both EPA and DHA from ethyl esters, was approximately 60%.
+ TG FISH OIL
EPA absorption was already 69% with a low-fat meal and improved to 90% with a high-fat meal.
DHA absorption from triglycerides was not significantly affected by meal fat content.
The takeaway:
If your omega 3 supplement ingredient says triglyceride or rTG you are getting better absorption, and the meal matters less.
If your omega 3 supplement ingredient says ethyl ester or EE or does not specify the form at all, take it with a meal that contains meaningful fat such as olive oil and avocado.
Both our Omega 3 Fortified and Omega 3 Pure & Wild contains the superior and natural Triglyceride Form (TG).
