Yep, the same stuff you grandparents told you stories about having to plug their nose to take. It sounds gross and well, it kinda is. But man is this stuff good for you! I had to give it a post of it's own just to fit it all in.
It's got all those omega 3 fatty acids you hear about so often without the worries over unsafe consumption of fish (most brands test for mercury and this study backs the idea that it is safe). It also has lots of Vitamin D and A.* . Studies show cod liver oil is good for your heart, eyes, and skin. I even found these abstracts on pubmed saying it's associated with a lower incidence of depression and may even help your survival rate if you have a solid tumor or lung cancer! I don't watch Oprah, but if I did, I would have seen Dr. Oz recommending it.
And the news for mommies-to-be is even better. Studies have shown a correlation between a mom's cod liver oil intake and decreased rate of the babies Type 1 diabetes, favorable brain development and IQ, and decreased rates of asthma and eczema.
So why wouldn't you want to take cod liver oil? Well, like I said, it sounds gross. But not as bad as you may think. Nowadays you can get flavored and emulsified cod liver oil. We take the TwinLab Emulsified Orange flavor (available for $6.41 at Vitacost which is the cheapest place I can find, our local health food store has it but for quite a bit more). I started with the mint flavor and it isn't horrid but we like the orange better.
We take a spoonful during our meal and quickly follow it with a bite of something tasty. It smells worse than it tastes. I've also heard that taking it mixed in with orange juice or quickly followed by orange juice works well for encouraging kids. Over the holidays I took it in front of my family and even my mom was skeptical, but really, if I can get Craig to take it, it's not that bad! Once little Nigel starts solids, he/she will start taking it too. I've heard a number of moms say that since their kids have been taking it since they were babies they actually like it. Maybe that will be the case with Nigel. I won't say that Craig and I like it but we both think it is important enough that we will deal with a little unpleasantness.
Picking a brand is tricky too. Most drug store brands are not worth the few dollars they cost. They are almost always bleached and deodorized which removes the natural vitamins so then have synthetic Vitamin A and D added back at unsafe levels. This can lead to toxicity and overall ineffectiveness.
You want to make sure that whatever brand you use has the natural vitamins in their proper ratio (1:10 D to A), that is has been tested for metals, and is the least processed you can find. Fermented cod liver oil is even better. Right now for us the cost is prohibitive but I hope to be able to switch over soon. This Weston Price article talks about cod liver oil basics and has brand recommendations. The type we use, Twinlab, is listed as a "good choice" while the fermented brand such as Green Pastures that I have heard great things about is listed as one of the "best" choices. I would recommend Twinlab as a good brand to try when just starting out. So get out there and take some cod liver oil!
*For you fellow pregnant moms that have been warned about Vitamin A - as long as the Vitamin A in the cod liver oil are naturally occurring, not synthetic, you don't have to worry about the baby having toxicity effects. This article talks about the good effects of Vitamin A on a fetus and explains the controversy better than I could.
This is interesting. Do you know if fish oil pills have the same benefits? I was looking some stuff up online, and some of the people said that you should be careful with the amount of cod liver oil you take if you get adequate exposure to sunlight - what's your take on this?
ReplyDeleteInteresting post! =) Thanks for sharing!
Fish oil has some of the benefits as it has DHA but it doesn't have the vitamin A or D. The sunlight has to do with Vitamin D as that is the primary naturally source of it, although we also get some in our milk or fortified foods but not a ton.
ReplyDeleteI know some people switch to fish oil during the summer but those are normally people who know they spend a fair amount of time in the sunlight when they aren't wearing sunscreen. I know that personally, I don't spend a ton of time outside unprotected, mostly because I'm super white and burn easily. I'd guess that most health conscious people also tend to be good about wearing sunscreen which is not good for Vit D levels.
It's a personal decision what you want to do but I think most people have a greater change of being deficient in Vitamin D and don't have to worry about getting too much. The American Academy of Pediatrics just doubled the amount of Vitamin D that children and teens should be getting and the Institute of Medicine is expected to be issuing a report shortly that increased the recommended levels for adults, precisely because it is so great and yet is so often deficient.
This article talks a bit more about it:
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/04/20/hlsa0420.htm
Hope that helps
That does - thank you =)
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