By now, I hope you have understood how beneficial fermented cod liver oil (FCLO) is for our health, what to look for in FCLO, and the differences between regular fish oil/CLO and FCLO. Green Pasture, being the "best" rated FCLO by Weston A. Price Foundation and the health community for being the only company that produces FCLO traditionally, is the only FCLO brand that I would recommend to anyone. Now, let's consider a few factors:
Cost and Considerations For Getting Green Pasture FCLO
A bottle of FCLO may seem expensive at first sight, but I've come to realize that it really isn't that costly if we understand what we're getting for.
- Pure fermented cod liver oil. Traditionally processed through fermentation, Green Pasture cod liver oil retains all the naturally-occurring nutrients, and even enhances them, giving us more per serving than other brands in the market.
- More nutrients per serving. FCLO is jam-packed with nutrients that the recommended daily serving is so small, thus a bottle goes a long way. A bottle of FCLO gives about 118 servings (about 4 months). Regular CLO may be cheaper, but remember that most brands of CLO's have been highly processed and stripped of their natural nutrients.
- Lessen the need for other supplements. FCLO is rich in so many nutrients including omega 3 fatty acids DHA, EPA, vitamin A, D, K, that you don't have to take other omega 3, DHA, EPA and other fat-soluble vitamin supplements.
"Because Green Pasture’s fermented cod liver oils and butter oils contain such a wide variety and potency of fat-soluble nutrients, they not only enhance my patients’ lives, but simplify them as well. Patients are able to take much less cod liver oil than with their old brand and eliminate the need for additional supplements, which are lacking in other brands. (I recommend 3 ml or 3/4 teaspoon fermented cod liver oil and 2.5 ml or 1/2 teaspoon butter oil.) When I introduce them to the oils, I ask them to bring in all the supplements they are taking. I show them that with taking this oil combo they can eliminate one-half to two-thirds of their other supplements, and sometimes all of them. Often my patients are taking so many different types of synthetic vitamins, they literally walk in with a big box full of them. The reason they are taking so many is because each bottle usually contains only one or maybe a couple types of synthetic vitamins or nutrients. Obtaining nutrients through natural food sources allows them a more potent and broader range of nutrition, thus eliminating the need for boxes of bottles and huge dosing." - Rosann Volmert, DO, family practice physician, Pasadena, CA
- Make up for the lack of consuming wild-caught fish in our diets. Even though we know the health benefits of consuming fish in our diets, many of us including my family do not consume enough fish at home. Additionally, most fish we find in Singapore supermarkets are farmed, and we know that the nutrients of farmed fish is inferior to that of wild fish. Green Pasture FCLO comes from only wild-caught cod fish in the arctic and consuming this gives us the omega-3 fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins of wild-caught fish literally, which is so rarely found in Singapore. This is one of the main reasons why our family starts taking FCLO. Since wild fish is rarely available, we save the money that would otherwise go into buying farmed fish to buy FCLO. Even those of us who are fortunate to get ample servings of wild fish in your diet, you will have to consume a lot of them to get to the level of nutrients equivalent to that of FCLO.
"Eating fish will not provide the levels of nutrients that are found in cod liver oil. Even in heavy fish-eating populations, the addition of cod liver oil improves health. And taking fish oils is not the same as taking cod liver liver oil. One tablespoon of regular cod liver oil and one-half tablespoon of high-vitamin cod liver oil provide the amount of elongated omega-3 fatty acids found in twelve 1,000 mg fish oil capsules. As for vitamin D, body oils of fish can be good sources as long as you are willing to eat a lot of them. One-half pound of fatty herring or sardines gives a dose of vitamin D equal to that of about one tablespoon of cod liver oil. But salmon oil has one-fifth the potency of cod liver oil. (source)
- Stretching our dollars further. To stretch your dollars even further, we have to understand that:
1. FCLO works synergistically with saturated fats such as coconut oil or butter from pasture-fed cows. Thus, taking the two together allows the body to maximize the nutrients derived from FCLO.
2. Our body needs enough vitamin D to absorb calcium, which we all know is important for bone strength and preventing osteoporosis. Many of us are already taking calcium supplements and taking vitamin D-rich foods such as FCLO along with calcium supplements will ensure our body's absorption of calcium.
Dr Price "found that cod liver oil on its own was relatively ineffective but combined with high vitamin butter oil (extracted from dairy milk produced by cows that graze exclusively on specially selected rapidly growing grass), it produced excellent results. The butter oil contains what he called Activator X, now considered to be vitamin K2, which works synergistically with vitamins A and D. Your diet should include sources of vitamin K, such as good quality butter from grass-fed cows and/or high-vitamin butter oil, fat from grass-fed animals, cheeses from grass-fed animals and duck or goose liver, along with cod liver oil." (source)
It's true that healthy living comes with its cost, especially in Singapore, where anything considered "healthy food" is highly priced. But I hope that by now you begin to understand the extraordinary value of this superfood. FCLO is none like other supplements and it is far from ordinary. If you're still thinking about the cost, consider how if we can cut down our consumption of bubble teas or starbucks a couple of times a month, that savings can go into something that is much more nutritious than artificial foods, don't you agree? :)
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| Fermented Cod Liver Oil |
What About the Taste?
I will be lying if I tell you that I like the taste of fermented cod liver oil. It's oil from the liver of a fish so it is naturally fishy and you may find that taste and odor will be different from bottle to bottle depending on what the fish eats. However, you can be sure that fermentation is safe and not a "rotting process." Because today's marketing focus is maximizing profits and comfort to its consumers, companies find ways to use industrialized processes to control the compounds of their products to make them more marketable and palatable. Nutrient integrity is not their focus. Like I mentioned in my original post, if you find a brand that is "easy" to take, most likely it's not the real thing. Wouldn't you want something that is real? Paying less for unpure/synthetic vitamins is more expensive than paying more for the real thing.
Green Pasture has different flavors that help cover up the fishy taste of the FCLO. There are also many other ways to help you swallow FCLO with, such as milk, juice and raw honey. If you really think you can't handle the smell/taste, you can take the ones in capsules.
Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with Green Pasture nor am I paid to write a review about their products. I'm just a very satisfied consumer and believe in the effectiveness of Green Pasture FCLO. All opinions are completely my own.
Was Weston A Price referring to Cod Liver Oil or Fermented CLO when he said that you needed to consume butter oil along with it to get the activator X (or Vitamin K). As you mentioned above, fermented CLO has vitamin K in it (compared to the non-fermented variety, which I've learned does not - please let me know if I am incorrect). If this is true, then why do you need to consume the butter oil along with the fermented version of CLO?
ReplyDeleteSecondly - thank you very much for the in depth summary of cod liver oil! Was extremely helpful.