The Health Benefits
of Cod Liver Oil and Fish Oil
By Ben Kim, D.C.
One of the best additions that my wife and I have made to
our diets over the past few years has been cod liver oil.
Why has cod liver oil become a
permanent part of our healthy food plan?
It is one of the most reliable
and concentrated food sources of four nutrients that are
essential to human health: DHA, EPA, vitamin A, and vitamin
D. These four nutrients are needed for:
Healthy skin
Strong bones and teeth
Healthy joints
A healthy cardiovascular
system
A healthy nervous system and prevention of depression
and other mood disorders
-
A healthy digestive tract
|
Carlson Cod Liver Oil
Lemon Flavoured
16.8 oz. (500 ml) |
|
|
| 1
Bottle - 500 ml (Large Size)
$30.95 USD, plus S&H
|
DHA is a fatty acid that
is essential to the health of your nervous system and eyes.
It is vital to preventing depression.
If you suffer from intermittent or chronic depression, you
want to get DHA through your diet every day.
If you're pregnant or you plan
on getting pregnant, it's best that you eat foods with DHA
on a regular basis in order to support proper development
of your baby’s nervous system and prevent depression during
pregnancy and after your baby arrives. I am convinced that
the vast majority of cases of post partum depression can
be avoided just by ensuring adequate intake of DHA.
EPA is a fatty acid that promotes a healthy cardiovascular
system and decreases inflammation throughout your body.
Its anti-inflammatory properties make EPA especially helpful
to people who suffer with arthritis. EPA is also closely
linked with your emotional health, with many studies showing
that it plays a strong role in preventing depression.
Vitamin A is necessary for proper vision, healthy
skin, and strong mucosal linings, including the lining of
your digestive tract. Many skin and digestive disorders
cannot fully heal without adequate vitamin A intake.
Vitamin D is needed to reduce risk of virtually every
type of cancer.
Vitamin D is essential to maintaining
strong bones and teeth. It enhances the strength and efficiency
of your immune system, and decreases your risk of developing
autoimmune conditions. Vitamin D helps your body regulate
its blood sugar levels, playing an important role in preventing
type 2 diabetes. Finally, vitamin D is one of several nutrients
that are necessary for preventing high blood pressure.
My family uses a lemon flavoured variety of cod liver oil
made by Carlson Labs. For the past twenty years,
Carlson has been providing exceptionally high quality cod
liver oil by using only cod that are harvested from clean
arctic waters off the coast of northern Norway. These cold
ocean waters contain the ideal nutrients for the growth
of healthy cod, rich in the nutrients mentioned above.
During the fishing season, cod are gathered and brought
to the fishery every day, where workers immediately remove
the liver oil from the liver tissues. Many other types of
cod liver oil are not made on a daily basis because they
come from cod that are caught by large boats which are out
on the ocean for 1-2 weeks, making it impossible to make
as fresh a product. This is an important point, as the freshness
and nutritional content of cod liver oil depends largely
on how quickly the oil is removed from the liver tissue.
|
Carlson Cod Liver Oil
Lemon Flavoured
16.8 oz. (500 ml) |
|
|
| 1
Bottle - 500 ml (Large Size)
$30.95 USD, plus S&H
|
Carlson uses a special steam extraction process that produces
a super high quality oil that doesn’t have a bad taste or
smell like some other varieties. As soon as the oil is produced,
it is put into 2.5 ton containers that have nitrogen pumped
into them. Nitrogen is necessary to remove any oxygen in
the containers, another important step that is taken to
maximize freshness, as oxygen can damage the valuable fatty
acids in cod liver oil.
Ultimately, purified cod liver oil that is rich in nutrients
and naturally occurring antioxidants is bottled in Norway
and nitrogen-sealed, which ensures that there is no air
in the oil or bottle. Many other providers of cod liver
oil have it shipped to the U.S. in large drums, to be bottled
later to save on costs. Having the cod liver oil bottled
in Norway is yet another step that is taken to ensure freshness
and reduce the risk of the fatty acids in cod liver oil
going rancid during storage or shipping.
I appreciate that Carlson Cod Liver Oil is regularly tested
using AOAC international protocols for purity and potency
by an independent, FDA-registered laboratory. These
tests regularly confirm that Carlson Cod Liver Oil is free
of detectable levels of mercury, cadmium, lead, PCB’s and
28 other contaminants.
If you are anxious about the taste, not to worry. Carlson
Cod Liver Oil has a natural lemon flavour added to it, which
makes it totally fine to take before or during your meals.
We prefer to take it right before lunch or dinner in order
to facilitate optimal assimilation of the healthy fats and
fat-soluble vitamins in the foods that we eat.
Please note: For most people, a safe dosage of cod liver
oil is approximately one teaspoon per 50 pounds of body
weight per day.
Here's a look at what two teaspoons
of Carlson cod liver oil will provide you each day:
| Nutrients
in Two Teaspoons of Carlson
Cod Liver Oil |
| DHA (DocosaHexaenoic
Acid) |
1000
to 1180 mg |
| EPA (EicosaPentaenoic
Acid) |
680 to
1000 mg |
| ALA (Alpha-Linolenic
Acid) |
80 to
100 mg |
| Vitamin A |
1600 IU |
| Vitamin D |
800 IU |
| Vitamin E (natural
d-alpha tocopherol and mixed tocopherols) |
20 IU |
If you're regularly on the go or on the road and you prefer gel capsules to this pure liquid form, I recommend:
Carlson Cod Liver Oil, 300 Soft Gel Capsules
If you are looking for a reliable source of omega-3 fatty
acids without vitamin D or vitamin A, I recommend Carlson
Fish Oil.
