Our Mother's Were Right!
We All Need a Dose of Cod Liver Oil.

Cod liver oil not only gives us the special fatty acids that most of us lack, but also gives us both Vitamin D and Vitamin A. Most Americans are deficient in both of these vitamins in their natural form. Junk synthetic versions of them are tossed into every product in the supermarket but they don't do you any good.

The omega 3 fatty acids that are necessary to life and that we cannot make ourselves, are only found in fish oils. Some people claim that flax oil is a good source of omega 3's but that is not true. It is a precursor of omega 3, and a young person can make it within their body from flax oil. Unfortunately for us mature folks, we lose that ability with age so we have to get our omega 3 from fish oil.

Cod liver oil is the fish oil of choice for omega 3 because it has the vitamin D and A in it naturally plus vitamin E is added. Dr Mercola does a big number on taking cod liver oil in the winter and fish oil in the summer so that you don't get too much Vitamin D. But he put a whole page out recently on a study that showed almost all Americans are lacking in Vitamin D year-round. Lifeguards are the only group that get enough Vitamin D from the sun. I think it's safe to say that most of my readers have not been sitting in the sun in their bikinis for at least an hour a day.

So, what's omega 3 fatty acid good for?

Would you believe everything!

The list of diseases that sufficient cod liver oil can help to prevent or cure is long and impressive. Here is a sampling - heart disease, cancer, depression, Alzheimer's, arthritis, diabetes, ulcers, hyperactivity, visual acuity. It can even help your immune system reject the common cold.

If you imagine every cell of your body as if it were a jellyfish swimming in the ocean, the cell wall is the barrier than defines the edge. Inside is jellyfish, outside is ocean. But the cell wall needs to be able to let the nourishment from the ocean inside and let the waste products outside. It has to be permeable.

As we get older our cell walls stiffen up, toughen up and tighten up and it's not so easy to let the good things in and move the bad things out. Some of that stiffening is just the normal aging of the organism and some is from our terrible American diet. Fish oil, along with the vitamins A, D and E, in the oil, acts like a massage for our cell walls. They open up and relax and flex and extend like cats being scratched. They act like they suddenly got younger.

When you imagine that happening to our brain cells you can see why fish oils are credited with improving Altzheimers and other cognitive problems. Our bodies are, after all, a huge cooperative of billions of cells having an incredible conversation with each other and calling it life. When the cell walls toughen up and stop talking, then parts of us die. Fish oil can prevent that.

The best cod liver oil is made by Carlson's, a family business with great integrity. They have bottled their cod liver oil in Norway for twenty years. It is independently tested to be free from heavy metals and contaminants and is bottled just one day after being caught in cold arctic waters. I was considering selling the cod liver oil on this site but Vitacost.com sells it cheaper than I can buy it so it's better for you just to get it there.

If you are concerned about Vitamin A toxicity there is no need to be. It is virtually impossible to become toxic on vitamin A if you take it along with vitamin D. As written in a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,December 2003, vitamin D is associated with reduced vitamin A toxicity.

The dose is a teaspoon a day for every fifty pounds that you weigh. I take more than that because it has a very good effect on my blood sugar. I take 3 tablespoons a day without worrying because there is no known level of toxicity for cod liver oil.

Oh, the taste! You were wondering about the taste! Well, it tastes of lemon and I have no trouble at all glugging the tablespoon down three times a day. It tastes just fine. They have a softgel version but it's more money, you get less and it's just for sissies.

A short fat primer.

I know that most of you know this already but trans-fat is the bad fat. It is really dangerous to our health. Transfat is anything that started out as an oil, like corn oil, and was made into a solid, like margerine. The process makes it a non-food foreign particle to our bodies and makes us sick.

Then the less bad fats are the omega 6 fats - liquid oils of all kinds from vegetables and seeds e.g. corn oil, safflower oil. We do need the omega 6 oils but some of us get way too much of them in our diet. The ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 should be 1:1 but in the average American diet it is often up to 20:1. Olive oil is the best of the omega 6 fats.

Fish oil is the only reliable source of omega 3, the good oil.

There is one more fat, omega 9, which is found in macadamia nut oil, almond oil and hazelnut oil. These are not classified as essential fatty acids, meaning we could live without them. They are predominantly monounsaturated and have high smoke points so they are best for cooking.

Dr Pescatore, of "The Hamptons Diet" is hoping that Australian mac-nut oil will become the next oil fad and make him rich. A few years ago coconut oil became the rage and many people have made millions off it since. However most research shows that it increases cholesterol levels.

I am using mac-nut oil for cooking now and I like it but I don't do much cooking so I don't use a whole lot. I sometimes eat a tablespoon or two but I like the lemon flavor of cod liver oil better.

So that's the story on fats. Here is the call to action - Now's the time for you to order some Carlson's Cod Liver Oil and get started on a massage for every cell in your body. Hold that vision of every cell sighing in pleasure as you glug down your first tablespoonful. In 6 months time you will be so glad you did.

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© 2005 Pamela Free All rights reserved -Health for life