Fermented Cod Liver Oil

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For a long time I thought that fish oil and cod liver oil were basically the same thing, nutritionally speaking. In the last year or so I found out that I was wrong.

In order to balance out our omega-3s we have been taking fish oil for quite some time now. Eating grass-fed meats and the correct fats is a huge step forward in not requiring as much omega-3 supplementation. Fermented cod liver oil is different in that it contains the fat soluble vitamins A & D in the correct ratios so that our bodies absorb them and see them as a natural product. If you are wondering why vitamins A &  D are so important you can see this article and this article.

The Weston Price foundation has this to say:

Most brands of cod liver oil go through a process that removes all of the natural vitamins. The resultant product contains very low levels of vitamin A and virtually no vitamin D. Some manufacturers add manufactured vitamins A and D to the purified cod liver oil and until recently, one manufacturer added the natural vitamins removed during processing back into the cod liver oil. Fortunately, we now have available in the U.S. a naturally produced, unheated, fermented high-vitamin cod liver oil that is made using a filtering process that retains the natural vitamins.

Now that our fish oil stock is getting low I will be picking up fermented cod liver oil instead.

If you are looking for a source for fermented cod liver oil you can find it here.

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9 Comments

  1. I love the Blue Ice supplements – I bought the unflavored capsules (they require refrigeration, not sure about other products) and there is no “fishy-ness”. Pricey, but if they get my Vitamin D levels up…they will be worth it! Blood test in October, we’ll see! Thanks.

  2. I take about a tablespoon of Carlson’s lemon flavored cod liver oil most days. I’m told they have an appropriate ratio of Vitamin A/Vitamin D as well. It sounds like the fermented version is probably the best for you.

    I used to get at least one or more colds per year up until I started regularly taking the cod liver oil. It’ll be two years in January since I’ve been sick and I think the cod liver oil, especially the vitamin D, has made all the difference.

    Thank you for all of this great info, Shannon!

    Susan

  3. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I had no idea that there was a difference in how cod livers oils were processed. Valuable information!

  4. I’m getting low on my first bottle ever. I wondered if I’d be able to stomach it, but I lived through regular CLO and I’ve lived through the fermented kind, lol. It’s got a bit of tingle, but I bought the Cinnamon Tingle flavor, so not sure if that’s a trait of the oil itself or the flavor.

    When I was getting ready to buy a replacement bottle I found that Green Pastures now makes a CLO/butter oil blend. I’m trying that next.

  5. Do you continue to take your CLO in the summer? I have stopped and take Carlson’s vitamin A derived from fish oil because I am getting D from the sun and I don’t want to get too much. Any thoughts?

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