Paleo Diet: Raw Paleo Diet and Lifestyle Forum
Raw Paleo Diet Forums => Hot Topics => Topic started by: Diana on December 24, 2009, 05:37:45 pm
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If fish oils are bad for us, what about cod liver oil? For the time being we need it for vitamin A esp. Will the benefits of the extra vit A outweigh the disadvantages if there are any? Thanks,
Diana
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Go for the fermented Blue Ice cod liver oil product. It's the only cod-liver-oil I know of which is genuinely raw and free of preservatives.
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There are probably other foods containing enough vitamin A. Cod liver oil has DHA and EPA just like any other fish oil and consuming it in excess may not be a good idea.
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Peter of Hyperlipid thinks that the vitamin A and D3 in cod liver oil may offset any problems from excess omega 3 polyunsaturated fats (which is probably only a potential problem anyway if your omega 6 intake is low in comparison--which is true for some of us here). None of the studies and claims of problems with fish oil investigated raw cod liver oil.
In general, it's more important to focus on nutrient balance than on whether a nutrient like omega 3s or omega 6s is inherently "good" or "bad." Most Americans have very high levels of omega 6s and very low levels of omega 3s in their diet, which explains why so many people (including myself in the past) experience benefits when they increase their omega 3 intake and decrease their omega 6 intake (thus restoring the natural balance that exists among all hunter gatherers). The potential problems with fish oil appear to have more to do with excessive imbalance vs. omega 6s and processing techniques than with inherent problems in fish oil. Some of the alternative foods that were recommended by fish oil critics are far, far worse--neither raw nor Paleo (whereas Blue Ice CLO is essentially both, although whole raw fatty fish--including the livers--would be even more Paleo)--so those "experts" who have criticized fish oil and offered non-RPD foods as alternatives lack credibility since they obviously have little inkling as to which foods are actually healthy or why. Of course, those experts would disagree with us, because they don't believe that RPD is the optimal type of diet.
No offense, Diana, but you've been asking a lot of questions that have been thoroughly answered in the past in this forum, so I highly recommend that you search the forum and read as much of the past posts as possible. Tyler has posted answers on fish oil and Lex has posted tons of stuff on his all-meat/fat/organ diet, bone density, problems with vegan diets, etc. I have posted stuff on vitamins A, D3 and K2, including a thread devoted to it. After you read what we've posted, I'd be happy to answer any questions you still have.
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Paleophil,
Sorry for bothering you with obviously too many questions. Before I ever posted a question I had always thoroughly searched the internet and used the search function of this forum to find specific answers to specific questions. Like with this one about cod liver oil, I did see the thread on the fish oil, but no one ever mentioned the cod liver oil, and that was precisely what I wanted to know about.
Anyway, I am extremely grateful to all of you for your replies, which means that I now feel more confident about changing our path. It is just a pity that we did not know all this before, it could have prevented much trouble.
Thank you for your elaboration on the fish oil, I tried to down load the video, but failed, so was very disappointed, and wary of asking more questions.
Thanks all of you for your invaluable help.
Diana
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Think less, trust in life, smile, and enjoy your food.
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Thanks for trying, Diana. Did you try putting a quotation mark in front of the search term to focus the results?
By searching with a quotation mark on
"cod liver oil
I got this...
From the 3rd hit:
Lex's Journal
http://www.rawpaleoforum.com/journals/lex%27s-journal/msg21381/#msg21381
"I started looking a vitamin D and the best way to get it based on what I’ve been reading on Dr Harris PaNu blog, Peter’s Hyperlipid blog, and the Health Scan blog. The case seemed pretty strong that we are very vit D deficient and since I didn’t want to take supplements I decided to throw caution to the wind and get real sun exposure."
the 5th hit:
Considering dental health options: vitamins A, D3, K2 (my thread)
http://www.rawpaleoforum.com/health/considering-dental-health-options-vitamins-a-d3-k2/
6th:
Krill oil (by TylerDurden)
http://www.rawpaleoforum.com/off-topic/krill-oil/
Hope that helps. I also recommend reading Lex's entire journal. I found it very helpful when I first joined this forum and I think it should be required reading before anyone is allowed to start posting, because it answers numerous frequently-asked questions. I think that even those who don't agree with Lex's views or follow a different dietary approach can learn a lot from it.
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Paleophil,
No I did not know about the quotation mark! Thanks for the hint!
Diana