Carlson's Cod Liver Oil

[NoWhammies]

Okay - I've tried this and determined it isn't going to make me vomit (I hate fish - so I had some significant concern here - plus I remember episodes of Little Rascals where the kids would be forced to take foul tasting Cod Liver Oil - did I just date myself or what?)

I've read most of my way through PPLP - I'm a fast reader....and it was rather non-specific as to dosage for Cod Liver Oil. Anyone have any thoughts as to dosage - or if you take it, how much do you take? Do you actually toss the bottle every two to three weeks as recommended - it isn't exactly cheap! I bought the smallest bottle possible, given the consideration that I was going to give it a taste and puke - but I figured if I hated it, I could foist it off on my husband.

[ElleH]

I'd actually like to know why Cod Liver Oil is better choice than the Lemon Fish Oil. And I believe Dr Mike actually promotes the use of krill oil lately.

[NoWhammies]

it is the lemon flavored stuff I am taking, actually.

[ElleH]

OK...I take 1-2 tsp a day. The minimum "dose" is about 1 tsp a day and you'll see sites that say up to a TBL or even more a day, for specific ailments. And the bottle is good for 60 days, once opened. Hope this helps. :)

[NoWhammies]

It does, thanks. :)

[mellifera]

In "The No Grain Diet" Dr. Mercola advises taking a teaspoon of cod liver oil per 100 pounds of body weight if you're not having vitamin D levels tested, and a teaspoon per 50 pounds of body weight if you are having D levels tested. He writes that you can overdo vitamin D if you get enough sunlight and supplement with cod liver oil.

Isn't it amazing how the lemon oil masks the fish taste? It's so much better than burping fish for hours.

[NoWhammies]

Ohhh..thanks! Well - I see you are from the northwest, too (I'm just a little south of you)....would you say we've been getting adequate sunlight this spring?

[mellifera]

Ohhh..thanks! Well - I see you are from the northwest, too (I'm just a little south of you)....would you say we've been getting adequate sunlight this spring?

It sure doesn't feel like it! :lol:

[LessLiz]

I'm east of you guys and the last of the snow melted in our yard just 3 days ago.

[NoWhammies]

Man, Liz - that sucks. We had snow a few weeks ago, but it didn't stick. It just snowed and sleeted all day while we sat out at a soccer tournament. The poor kids were frozen.

[Hutchinson]

In "The No Grain Diet" Dr. Mercola advises taking a teaspoon of cod liver oil per 100 pounds of body weight if you're not having vitamin D levels tested, and a teaspoon per 50 pounds of body weight if you are having D levels tested. He writes that you can overdo vitamin D if you get enough sunlight and supplement with cod liver oil.

Isn't it amazing how the lemon oil masks the fish taste? It's so much better than burping fish for hours.Cod Liver Oil is not the best source of Vitamin D because CLO also contains high amounts of Vitamin A and you can more easily overdose on Vitamin A than vit d.

It is preferable, for those whose skin sensitivity doesn't permitsufficient regular sun exposure (http://thevitamindcure.com/calculator) (UK readers can find the UV INDEX (http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/) here) to use a separate effective strength source of D3 such as Carlsons 2000IU (http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?c=1&pid=7255860309350762561&at=0) or Biotech 5000iu (https://secure.bio-tech-pharm.com/catalog.aspx?cat_id=2)
I've been told Vitalady (http://www.vitalady.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?search=action&keywords=vtmnad&template=Templates/sr_vtmnad.html) are cheaper for Biotech stuff but haven't used them myself yet.
WAB666 saves you $5 off your first Iherb order.

The state of 25(OH)D insufficiency is such that generally speaking women living around or above latitude 42 will require 4000-5000iu daily and men 5000-6000iu daily and these amounts are simply not achievable safely from CLO.
Breast milk flows naturally with optimal amounts of Vitamin D3 when 25(OH)D status is kept between 50-60ng/ml 125-150nmol/l. We should not accept as normal 25(OH)D levels lower than those our bodies would naturally attain and maintain given regular non-burning full body sun exposure.

[aj_cohn]

If you want some good, free reading about sources of Vit. D and safe levels of supplementation, point your browser to http://sunlightandvitamind.com/. The author has clearly done her homework.

[Hutchinson]

If you want some good, free reading about sources of Vit. D and safe levels of supplementation, point your browser to http://sunlightandvitamind.com/. The author has clearly done her homework.But for those of us living about latitude 42 her suggestion that we should limit our intake to 1000iu/daily without 25(OH)D testing is dangerously misguided.
There is absolutely no risk to consuming less than 10,000iu/daily (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/85/1/6) therefore to imply there may be is totally unjustified.

This paper Diagnosis and treatment of vitamin D deficiency (http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/PDFs/diagnosis-vitdd.pdf) provides a useful up to date summary of current knowledge.

We need to understand that each 400iu/daily of D3 will raise 25(OH)D by between 7-12nmol/l. so 1000iu/daily will raise status by an average of 9ng/ml = 22.5nmol/l (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/85/3/649)
the average UK adult has a 25(OH)D status of 40nmol/l at the moment raising that to 66.6nmol/l leaves them insufficient.
At the end of summer (or what we call summer in the UK) the average UK adult will have a status of 70nmol/l raising that to 92.5nmol/l still doesn't enable them to store D3 for the winter.

Look at the plots here of stored cholecalciferol (D3) (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=17218096) showing what happens when people get ample sunshine or adequate supplementation. We need to aim for a status of at least 50ng/ml 125nmol/l and preferably 60ng/ml to achieve optimal health.

The average UK adult will not and cannot achieve that on 1000iu/daily.

[ruthla]

I've actually never read anything conclusive about vitamin A actually being toxic when the vitamin A is from natural sources. I've only seen info about synthetic Vitamin A Palmitate being dangerous in high doses- which is then extrapolated to "all vitamin A is dangerous in high doses."