Benefits
Knee joint comfort, stiffness and function
In 235 adults with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis, 4 g a day of a Superba Boost product for 6 months improved knee pain, stiffness and function slightly more than placebo, below published thresholds for a meaningful change. A 30 day trial of 2 g a day in 50 adults with mild knee pain favored krill oil on some items, not on overall pain scores. The largest trial, 2 g a day for 24 weeks in 262 people, found no pain benefit.
Muscle strength and size in older adults
In a 6 month trial in healthy adults over 65 who exercised little, 4 g a day of Superba Boost raised knee extensor strength 9.3 percent, grip strength 10.9 percent and thigh muscle thickness 3.5 percent relative to a control oil, without changing a physical performance battery. In an 8 week weight loss trial, 4 g a day of Aker krill oil limited losses of lean mass and grip strength versus placebo.
Skin moisture, elasticity and water loss
In two 12 week pilot studies in about 100 healthy adults, 1 g or 2 g a day of Superba Boost reduced water loss through the skin and raised skin hydration and elasticity compared with placebo. The changes were small: on 1 g, water loss fell from about 14.5 to 13.8 units. Aker BioMarine funded both pilots, two of the three authors worked for it, and many participants dropped out.
Blood triglycerides, a lipid marker
In a 12 week trial in 300 adults with borderline high or high triglycerides, krill oil at 0.5 to 4 g a day was compared with olive oil. Only after pooling all four dose groups did triglycerides fall 10.2 percent relative to placebo, with no rise in LDL cholesterol. The maker sponsored it. In the 6 month knee trial, serum lipids did not differ from placebo. Triglycerides are a blood marker, not a heart outcome.
Omega-3 index and choline supply
In trials of this oil, the omega-3 index, the share of EPA plus DHA in red blood cell membranes, rose against placebo, for example from 6.0 to 8.9 percent on 4 g a day for 6 months. A single 8 g dose of Superba Boost raised blood choline about as much as choline bitartrate did, with a much smaller rise in TMAO. These are blood measures, not health outcomes.
Exercise performance and cognitive test results
Trials supplied by the maker found no improvement in these areas. Six weeks of 2 g a day did not change cycling time trial performance in 37 young adults, though one immune cell measure was higher after exercise. About 20 weeks of krill oil in 555 Army officers and one year in 267 adolescents with a low omega-3 index did not change cognitive test scores; both trials reported poor capsule adherence.
Mechanism of action
EPA and DHA bound to phospholipids
In this oil most of the EPA and DHA is attached to phospholipids, mainly phosphatidylcholine, rather than to the triglycerides of fish oil: 73 percent in one knee trial product. Once absorbed, EPA and DHA enter cell membranes, which the omega-3 index tracks. In a crossover trial of a different krill oil brand at 600 mg omega-3 a day, the index rose more than with fish oil, a blood marker difference.
Choline from phosphatidylcholine
Superba Boost carries choline as phosphatidylcholine, about 79 mg per gram in one trial product. After a single 8 g dose, free choline in blood reached a similar level to choline bitartrate, peaked later, and produced higher betaine and much lower TMAO. This was a 12 person study sponsored by the maker, and no trial has linked this choline to a health outcome.
Omega-3 effects on joints and muscle are proposed
EPA and DHA are proposed to ease joint discomfort through inflammatory signaling and to support muscle through membrane effects. The trials do not settle this: in the 6 month knee trial, inflammatory markers did not differ from placebo, and in the muscle trial C-reactive protein did not change. The oil also contains a small amount of astaxanthin (about 0.11 mg per gram in one product), whose separate effect was not tested.
Clinical trials
Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel trial; 4 g a day of Swisse High Strength Deep Sea Krill Oil made with Superba Boost (Aker BioMarine), giving 0.60 g EPA and 0.28 g DHA a day, versus a vegetable oil blend placebo; supported by Swisse Wellness, which helped design the study; registered NCT03483090 (Stonehouse et al. 2022, Am J Clin Nutr)
235 adults aged 40 to 65 with clinically diagnosed mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis, regular knee pain and low omega-3 intake (117 krill oil, 118 placebo).
Knee pain improved in both groups, more with krill oil (adjusted between-group difference at 6 months -5.18 on a 0 to 100 WOMAC scale, p = 0.04); stiffness (-6.45) and physical function (-4.67) also improved more (p < 0.05). The authors note these differences were below published minimal clinically important improvement values. NSAID use, serum lipids, inflammatory and safety markers did not differ, and the omega-3 index rose from 6.0 to 8.9 percent versus 5.5 to 5.4 percent on placebo.
Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in five Australian cities in people with knee osteoarthritis, significant knee pain and effusion-synovitis on MRI; 2 g a day of krill oil versus matching placebo for 24 weeks; funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, with krill oil and placebo softgels and omega-3 index testing provided in kind by Aker BioMarine, the study funders had no role in design, analysis or reporting (Laslett et al. 2024, JAMA)
262 adults (mean age 61.6, 53 percent women) with significant pain and effusion-synovitis on MRI; 130 krill oil, 132 placebo; 222 completed.
Pain on a 0 to 100 visual analog scale, the primary outcome, fell about 20 points in both groups with no difference between them (-19.9 versus -20.2; between-group difference -0.3, 95 percent CI -6.9 to 6.4). One or more adverse events were reported by 51 percent on krill oil and 54 percent on placebo.
Randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial; 2 g a day of Superba Krill Oil (Aker BioMarine) in eight 250 mg capsules, giving 240 mg EPA and 110 mg DHA a day, versus safflower oil; capsules prepared and the study funded by Sunsho Pharmaceutical, a Japanese company; registered UMIN000014413 (Suzuki et al. 2016, PLoS One)
50 adults aged 38 to 85 with mild knee pain at an orthopedic clinic in Japan.
Both groups improved on the Japanese knee questionnaires. After adjustment, the krill oil group improved more than placebo on knee pain while sleeping and standing (both p < 0.001) and on knee range of motion (p = 0.011), and on two pain and stiffness questions; two other questionnaire items favored placebo. The knee pain visual analog scale and the total knee questionnaire score did not differ between groups. Plasma EPA rose with krill oil.
Randomized, double-blind, controlled trial; 4 g a day of SuperbaBoost krill oil (each 1 g capsule 193 mg EPA, 96 mg DHA, 79 mg choline, as described in the secondary analysis) versus a control oil for 6 months; primary outcome knee extensor (quadriceps) maximal torque; registered NCT04048096; the authors declared no conflicts of interest (Alkhedhairi et al. 2022, Clin Nutr)
102 healthy adults over 65 with a BMI under 35 who did less than 1 hour a week of structured exercise; 94 completed (49 krill oil, 45 control), mean age 71.
Relative to control, quadriceps maximal torque, the primary outcome, rose 9.3 percent, grip strength 10.9 percent and thigh muscle thickness 3.5 percent (p < 0.05). The short physical performance battery, quality of life and most neuromuscular measures did not differ. A later secondary analysis found the strength and size gains similar across sex, age and BMI subgroups.
Two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-finding pilot studies run in England in 2016 and 2017; 1 g a day (study 1) or 2 g a day (study 2) of Superba Boost krill oil (570 mg phospholipids, 170 mg EPA and 90 mg DHA per gram) versus placebo; funded and supplied by Aker BioMarine Human Ingredients, which employed authors Handeland and Burri (Handeland et al. 2024, J Cosmet Dermatol)
Healthy adults with raised baseline transepidermal water loss; 51 analyzed in study 1 and 50 in study 2, after 29 and 30 dropouts, often because the capsules were hard to swallow.
Transepidermal water loss, the primary outcome, fell more than on placebo in both studies (study 1: 14.47 to 13.83 units, between-group p = 0.002), and skin hydration and elasticity rose more than on placebo. The omega-3 index rose by 0.44 points on 1 g and 1.42 points on 2 g, against almost no change on placebo.
Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with five groups (olive oil placebo or 0.5, 1, 2 or 4 g a day of krill oil, named Superba Krill Oil in the registry entry NCT01415388) for 12 weeks; sponsored by Aker BioMarine, which employed four of the five authors, the fifth being from the consultancy Intertek Cantox (Berge et al. 2014, Nutr Res)
300 adults with low habitual fish intake and fasting triglycerides of 150 to 499 mg/dL.
Because triglycerides varied widely within individuals, the four krill oil groups were pooled; pooled krill oil lowered serum triglycerides by a calculated 10.2 percent relative to placebo, and LDL cholesterol did not rise. The abstract does not report a dose response, and the authors said a study with more measurements per group was needed to raise confidence in the result.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial; 2 g a day of krill oil (each 500 mg capsule 60 mg EPA, 30 mg DHA) versus a placebo oil matching the average European diet for 6 weeks; capsules provided and the study funded by Aker BioMarine Antarctic (Da Boit et al. 2015, PLoS One)
37 healthy young adults (19 men, 18 women, average age 26); 18 krill oil, 19 placebo.
Cycling time trial performance and physiological measures during exercise did not differ between groups. Natural killer cell activity and PBMC IL-2 production were higher 3 hours after exercise on krill oil (p < 0.05), while plasma IL-6, TBARS and other cytokines did not differ.
Double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (RRIPP-3); eight capsules a day of concentrated krill oil giving about 2.3 g omega-3 versus macadamia nut oil for about 20 weeks; supplements produced and supplied by Aker BioMarine Antarctic, which funded the study but had no access to data before analysis (Marriott et al. 2021, Nutrients)
555 US Army officers entering the Infantry Basic Officer Leaders Course (mean age 23, 98.6 percent men); 245 completed.
No group by time interaction showed a treatment effect on any cognitive, resilience or mood outcome, in either intention to treat or per protocol analyses. Omega-3 levels rose less than expected in the krill oil group, suggesting poor adherence. Fifteen adverse events were reported (7 krill oil, 8 control), none serious.
Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled parallel trial; four capsules a day of krill oil (each 191 mg EPA, 94 mg DHA, 78 mg choline and 100 mcg astaxanthin) versus vegetable oil during 8 weeks of alternate day fasting; capsules provided free of charge by Aker BioMarine Human Ingredients, which had no role in design, conduct or analysis; funded by a Qassim University PhD studentship; registered NCT06001632 (Alblaji et al. 2025, Obesity (Silver Spring))
52 adults with overweight or obesity enrolled; 41 completed (25 women, 16 men; mean age 39, mean BMI 31.1).
Weight loss was similar in both groups (-4.6 versus -4.5 kg). Fat-free mass and handgrip strength did not change on krill oil (-0.2 kg each) but fell on placebo (-1.2 kg and -0.9 kg), and the changes differed between groups (p < 0.05). The authors note the grip strength effect was below the clinically important difference used in their sample size calculation.