Cod Liver Oil
What is Cod Liver Oil?
Cod Liver Oil is a popular dietary supplement ingredient whose recently touted benefits are supported by centuries of documented clinical research. The oil is, as the name implies, extracted from the livers of cod fish before it is processed and distributed by health stores in either capsule or liquid form. Cod Liver Oil is historically remembered as the vitamin D source used to prevent rickets in children, coming to the forefront of medical research with the highly regarded works of Dr. Weston A. Price.
What does Cod Liver Oil Do?
Cod Liver Oil is a dense source of vitamins A and D, nutrients that are nearly impossible to get in sufficient quantity through dietary measures. It also provides a significant portion of the daily recommended allowance of EPA/DHA and heart healthy Omega 3 fatty acids. Several research studies have shown that this blend of vitamins from this 100% natural source have a profoundly positive effect on overall health and wellness. The even greater implication of this super food is its potential to both prevent and treat a wide variety of illnesses and diseases.
Who can benefit from using Cod Liver Oil?
Everyone! Doctors routinely recommend Cod Liver Oil as a daily nutritional supplement because of its preventative and restorative health qualities. Its high Vitamin D level assists in the development of strong teeth and bones. It plays a role in brain and nervous system development, helping to prevent learning disorders in children. It is widely accepted as an immune-boosting antioxidant, but has also been suggested as a preliminary treatment for:
- Thyroid Disease
- Heart Disease
- Joint Pain
- Tooth Decay
- Mood Disorders
- Autoimmune Disease
- Arthritis
- Cancer
- Hormonal Acne
- Eye Problems
I personally take it to keep away an eye issue. Two years ago I suddenly developed an eye irritation. My right eye would get white gunk in it and would tear almost constantly. It got worse as the day went on, everyday. It didn't matter if I wore contacts or not. I went to both my regular doctor and my eye doctor, to no avail. Neither could tell me anything to make it go away. I was doing hot compresses on my eyes a couple times a day - what an inconvenience! I finally went through two rounds of antibiotics, but that didn't help either. This had gone on for over 6 months before someone suggested Cod Liver Oil. I started taking the Green Pastures Blue Ice Cod Liver Oil Capsules, two a day, and it was gone in two days! I'm still amazed by the quick, thorough results.
Is Cod Liver Oil safe?
You can trust that, unless otherwise stated, all the products found at Nourishing World are safe enough to give to even the youngest member of your family. In its natural state, Cod Liver Oil and its organically-occurring vitamin content is a healthy supplement choice. The use of fish naturally raises the question of mercury content, and there has been a lot of buzz about whether or not Vitamin A is as beneficial as was once believed. We work only with companies who have a reputable product that meets the strict WHO (World Health Organization) standards for lead and mercury content. The natural Vitamin A that is found in these Cod Liver Oil supplements does not pose the health risks associated with the lab-synthesized Vitamin A used to fortify many brands of Cod Liver Oil. However, those who have a condition that limits the body's ability to process Vitamin A should check with their doctor. Cod Liver Oil may not be recommended during pregnancy or for those with decreased liver function such as in alcoholism. Dosage should be decreased in the rare case of abnormally high Vitamin D levels due to sunbathing or otherwise frequent exposure to summer sun.
Are there any Side Effects?
For the majority of users, no side effects are reported with the use of Fermented Cod Liver Oil or Extra Virgin Cod Liver Oil. Some people experience an unpleasant sensation in the throat when the fermented cod liver oil liquid is swallowed because of the enzymes used in the fermentation process. A similar sensation is reported from some users of the extra virgin cod liver oil because of the tiny bit of rosemary oil added as an antioxidant. We find that mixing it with a bit of juice or milk can help with both the mild discomfort and the fishy taste. Occasionally, people have reported digestive upset or loose stools at the onset of adding Cod Liver Oil to their daily regiment. This can be remedied by starting at a lower dosage and incrementally increasing the amount. If you are bothered by the occasional "fish burp," try putting the capsules in the freezer, which allows the oil to stay frozen until it reaches the intestines. I find this happens more when I take it on an empty stomach and then don't eat. As soon as I burp once, I eat and it goes away. Check out this blog post we did on the best ways to get it down.
What should I look for when buying Cod Liver Oil?
1. Find out how it is processed.
Many of the Cod Liver Oil supplements available on the market today are molecularly distilled, a chemical process involving heat which ultimately denatures a large percentage of their nutrient value. It is the fastest, most cost-effective manufacturing process, and companies switched to this method in order to get a faster and higher yield. The nutrient value of their product is sacrificed. To combat the decrease in potency and replace the fat-soluble vitamin D and heat-sensitive Omega 3 fatty acids, their oil is then refortified with a synthetic version of these nutrients. Green Pasture's Lacto-fermented Cod Liver Oil is cold pressed, allowing the oil to maintain all of its health benefits. Rosita's Extra Virgin Cod Liver Oil is cold-processed using an ancient, rare Artisan method to extract the oil and preserve all the delicate nutrients. In essence, all-natural Cod Liver Oil contains significantly more nutrient stores compared to heat-extracted and synthetic fortified Cod Liver Oil.
2. Look at how it is cleaned.
The majority of Cod Liver Oil supplements you will find on the store shelf boast "Purity" that has been achieved by a complicated chemical process that involves alkali refinement, bleaching, winterization, and odor removal. These heavily processed oils are carbon filtered and heated to 400 degrees, which effectively kills off the powerful healing qualities once present. Their manufacturers like to point out that the taste of these processed oils is more pleasing and that synthesized oil is cleaner with more precise, measurable levels of nutrient content. We are more partial to the naturally-occurring oils with their intrinsic vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants, and enzymes still intact. Keeping consistent with all of the products we sell at Nourishing World, we believe that Cod Liver Oil is safest and most effective when it is as close to natural as possible.
What Dr. Weston A. Price Really said about Cod Liver Oil:
Dr. Weston Price is the dentist-turned-medical-sociologist and world health crusader whose research into the decline of modern human health spanned the globe. Dr. Price literally traveled the world studying the nutrition and fitness habits of isolated people in order to compare his data to the health statistics of developed countries. He concluded that modern people's ailing health was due largely to nutritional gaps in the average person's diet. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, a book published in 1939 by Dr. Weston A. Price, suggested that the way our culture manufactures, prepares, and stores food strips it of its nutritional vitamin content. These nutritional deficits, he philosophised, were responsible for a myriad of conditions ranging from tooth decay to cancer. His remedy to the global nutrition epidemic was seemingly simple: Cod Liver Oil. In his study of isolated people and ancient cultures, Price noted that Cod Liver Oil consumption as a traditional healer and sacred food was a common denominator. His further studies suggested that Activator X, the Vitamin K found in rich proportion in butterfat from cows in green pastures, boosted the effects of the Cod Liver Oil.
What is the recommended dosage?
The Weston A Price Foundation (WAPF) Recommended Dosage
Children (3 mo-12 yrs) 1/2 t liquid per day
Adults (age 12+) 1 t liquid or 10 capsules per day
Pregnant/Nursing Women: 2 t liquid or 20 capsules per day
Green Pasture's Recommended Dosage
*Green Pasture's product label has a suggested serving of two ml or two capsules. The owner, David Wetzel, offers a recommended range but suggests that individuals customize their dosage to their needs, making adjustments depending on the state of their health – when ill take more.
Keep in mind when reading these recommended dosages that there are two to three capsules of fermented cod liver oil per 1/2 teaspoon of liquid.
Children (3 mo-12 yrs) 1/8 - 1/2 t liquid per day
Adults (age 12+) 1/2 t – 1 1/2 t liquid or 3-9 capsules per day
Rosita's Recommended Dosage
Infants 2 – 3 drops daily as needed. Drops may be given by spoon or a dropper prior to feeding.
Children and sensitive individuals should begin by taking 1/8 - 1/4 t liquid, or 1 softgel, with food and increase if needed. Softgels may be punctured and the oil squirted into the mouth of young children.
Adults 1/2 t – 1 t liquid or three softgels daily.
Pregnant and Nursing Mothers should not exceed 1/4 t or 1 softgel daily. Best taken with food.
What Cod Liver Oil Products Does Nourishing World Recommend?
Nourishing World wholeheartedly supports the work of Green Pasture and can recommend any one of their products with great confidence. Look for Blue Ice Fermented Cod Liver Oil. Green Pasture is the only Cod Liver Oil manufacturer in the industry to use the traditional production technique of lacto fermentation. Their supplements literally take six months to manufacture and yield far less product per batch than is common in pharmaceutically-engineered Cod Liver Oils, but they still independently test samples from each batch for heavy metals. Their natural cleaning process removes any impurities without the use of heat or carbon filtration, so the end product is always the most natural, nutrient-rich Cod Liver Oil possible.
Our favorite Green Pasture Cod Liver Oil product is the one crafted around the life's work of Dr. Weston A Price. Green Pasture's Cod Liver Oil/Butter Oil Blend is the pinnacle of a super food and the one Green Pasture supplement we would suggest over any other. This Cod Liver Oil is cold-pressed, fermented, and minimally cleaned before being blended with vitamin-K-dense High Vitamin Butter Oil to ensure the body extracts the maximum health potential from both oils.
Rosita Real Foods is newer to the market of high quality cod liver oil, but theirs is a tremendous raw extra virgin cod liver oil. Rosita, too, uses a traditional production process – a Druid Viking extraction process – with small batches of fresh, wild-caught Atlantic codfish from the beautiful, clean waters off northern Norway. There are never any chemicals, solvents or mechanical devices used in the extraction or production of this unique oil. The end result is totally unrefined. So, as with Green Pasture Fermented Cod Liver Oil, Rosita's Extra Virgin Cod Liver contains all the fantastic nutrients in the original oil, with nothing destroyed from heat or chemical manufacturing processes. No heat or chemically processed oil will ever come close to matching the nutritional power packed in raw, unadulterated cod liver oil, like that found in Fermented Cod Liver Oil or Extra Virgin Cod Liver Oil.
Blue Ice Fermented Cod Liver Oil Liquid, 4 Flavors
8 fl. oz. / 237 ml
118 1/2 t servings per bottle
NO Fillers ~ NO Additives ~ NO Synthetic Vitamins Added
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Blue Ice Fermented Cod Liver Oil Plain or Orange Flavor
120 Vegetable Capsules
500mg per capsule
NO Fillers ~ NO Additives ~ NO Synthetic Vitamins Added
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Blue Ice Royal Butter Oil/Fermented Cod Liver Oil Blend Gel, 3 Flavors
8.1 fl. oz. / 240 ml
96 1/2 t servings per bottle
NO Fillers ~ NO Additives ~ NO Synthetic Vitamins Added
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Blue Ice Royal Butter Oil/Fermented Cod Liver Oil Blend Capsules
120 Vegetable Capsules
750mg per capsule ~ 500mg Fermented Cod Liver Oil & 250mg High Vitamin Butter Oil
NO Fillers ~ NO Additives ~ NO Synthetic Vitamins Added
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Rosita Extra Virgin Cod Liver Oil Liquid
5 fl. oz. / 150 ml
Approximately 30 one t servings
NO Fillers ~ NO Additives ~ NO Synthetic Vitamins Added
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Rosita Extra Virgin Cod Liver Oil Softgels
90 Vegetable Capsules
500mg Extra Virgin Cod Liver Oil per softgel
NO Fillers ~ NO Additives ~ NO Synthetic Vitamins Added
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