NOW Foods Neptune Krill Oil 500 mg Review

NKO stands for Neptune Krill Oil — a specific branded, standardised Antarctic krill oil that was the original krill ingredient behind much of the early krill clinical literature (most famously Bunea 2004 on hyperlipidemia). Mechanistically it's the same thing as other Antarctic krill oils: phospholipid-bound EPA+DHA plus naturally occurring astaxanthin. What NKO adds is brand-level traceability and the fact that the early human trials were run specifically on it. One honest nuance: Aker BioMarine (the company behind the Superba krill brand) acquired Neptune's krill inventory and intellectual property in 2017, so today NKO is effectively an Aker-supplied branded krill — the clinical heritage is real, the corporate ownership has changed.

Read the serving, not the softgel. NOW lists the panel per 2-softgel serving: 1 g (1000 mg) of NKO delivering 250 mg total omega-3, of which 135 mg is EPA and 60 mg is DHA — so 195 mg combined EPA+DHA — plus 450 mg phospholipids and 360 mcg esterified astaxanthin. That means a single 500 mg softgel carries only ~98 mg combined EPA+DHA. This is the core krill reality: a concentrated fish-oil capsule delivers 500-900 mg of EPA+DHA in one cap. To reach a general-wellness floor on NOW Neptune you take the full 2-softgel serving; to chase the 1-2 g/day cardiovascular range you'd be swallowing 10-20 softgels, which is where krill stops making economic sense versus fish oil.

It's real but you should weight it carefully. Bunea 2004 (Alternative Medicine Review) randomised 120 hyperlipidemic patients to krill oil, fish oil, or placebo for 90 days and reported that NKO meaningfully lowered total cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides while raising HDL — and outperformed fish oil at comparable doses. The caveats: it's a single, relatively small, two-decade-old trial published in a lower-tier journal, with industry affiliation, and the headline lipid effects have not been cleanly replicated at that magnitude in larger independent work. Treat it as supportive, brand-relevant evidence — not as proof that krill is dramatically superior to fish oil. The broader, better-replicated finding is narrower: krill raises the Omega-3 Index roughly on par with or modestly above fish oil per gram of actives (Ulven 2011, Ramprasath 2013).

Both are credible sustainability certifications for the Antarctic krill fishery; NOW Neptune carries Friend of the Sea (the top-ranked krill pick, Sports Research, carries MSC). The Antarctic krill fishery is managed under CCAMLR with conservative quotas (~1% of estimated biomass per year), and either certification signals traceable, audited harvest. The longer-term concern with all Antarctic krill is ecosystem load — krill are the foundational food for whales, penguins, seals, and seabirds. For a buying decision, Friend of the Sea on the label is a genuine positive and puts NOW Neptune well above any uncertified bulk krill.

Because NOW prices close to cost. At $16.99 for a 60-softgel bottle (30 two-softgel servings, Amazon, October 18, 2026), NOW Neptune costs about $0.57 per serving, or $2.90 per gram of EPA+DHA — reasonable for a clinically-studied, Friend-of-the-Sea-certified krill, and well under Viva ($4.11/g), Jarrow ($4.21/g) or Onnit ($5.25/g). NOW's model is high-volume, in-house manufacturing with thin margins, which is exactly why their supplements routinely undercut single-product brands. That said, the value is relative to other krill: per gram of actual EPA+DHA, even cheap krill costs several times more than concentrated fish oil. NOW Neptune is fair value within the krill tier, not within omega-3 overall; Bronson, Sports Research and Kori are a little cheaper per gram.

No. Krill are crustaceans, and NOW explicitly labels this product as containing shellfish (krill). Most krill oil is processed to minimise allergenic protein, but residual exposure is possible and allergic reactions are documented. If you have any shellfish allergy, skip every krill oil and use a vegan algal-oil omega-3 instead — it delivers the same EPA+DHA with zero crustacean exposure. This is an absolute rule, not a cautious-default suggestion.

1. [1] Bunea 2004 (NKO hyperlipidemia) PMID 15656713 — Evaluation of the effects of Neptune Krill Oil on the clinical course of hyperlipidemia. Randomised trial in 120 hyperlipidemic patients: NKO at 1-3 g/day for 90 days improved total cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides, and HDL versus placebo and outperformed fish oil at comparable doses. The headline NKO-specific evidence — but a single small, dated, industry-affiliated trial whose magnitude hasn't been cleanly replicated; read as supportive, not definitive.
2. [2] Ulven 2011 PMID 21042875 — Metabolic effects of krill oil are essentially similar to those of fish oil but at lower dose of EPA and DHA, in healthy volunteers. Krill oil produced metabolic effects and plasma EPA+DHA increases comparable to fish oil despite a lower absolute EPA+DHA dose — direct evidence for the phospholipid form's per-milligram absorption edge, while underscoring how little EPA+DHA krill actually delivers per cap.
3. [3] Ramprasath 2013 PMID 24304605 — Enhanced increase of omega-3 index in healthy individuals with response to 4-week n-3 fatty acid supplementation from krill oil versus fish oil. Head-to-head trial: krill oil raised the Omega-3 Index more than an equivalent dose of fish oil over 4 weeks, supporting the phospholipid-delivery advantage — though the effect size is modest, not the 'dramatically superior' marketing framing.
4. [4] Maki 2009 PMID 19854375 — Krill oil supplementation increases plasma concentrations of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids in overweight and obese men and women. Krill oil raised plasma EPA+DHA comparably to menhaden (fish) oil at a similar omega-3 dose, confirming bioequivalence of the phospholipid form — the basis for treating krill as a legitimate but expensive omega-3 source.
5. [5] Harris 2008 (Omega-3 Index) PMID 15208005 — The Omega-3 Index: a new risk factor for death from coronary heart disease?. Established the Omega-3 Index (RBC EPA+DHA %) as a cardiac-risk marker, with an Index above 8% tied to the lowest risk of death from coronary heart disease — the real endpoint to test after 8-12 weeks regardless of source.
6. [6] Tou 2007 (krill composition) PMID 17345959 — Krill for human consumption: nutritional value and potential health benefits. Comprehensive review of krill composition documenting the phospholipid-bound EPA+DHA structure and naturally occurring astaxanthin that gives krill oil its oxidative stability — the mechanistic basis for the no-burp, rancidity-resistant profile.