A few centuries ago, Nordic people used cod liver oil to protect themselves from the cold. In 1930, scientists discovered that cod liver oil was helpful in preventing rickets, so they began to apply to diseases caused by a lack of vitamin D and became a necessary health care product.
Do you know cod liver oil benefits and side effects?
Table of Contents
- What is cod liver oil? How is it different from fish oil
- What are the benefits of cod liver oil?
- Are there any side effects of cod liver oil?
- Safety precautions
- Where to buy cod liver oil health products recommended by most people?
What is cod liver oil? How is it different from fish oil
Cod liver oil is fat extracted from the liver of Atlantic cod. The main difference from fish oil is that, in addition to Omega-3 fatty acids, cod liver oil is rich in vitamin A and vitamin D
Today, a large number of documents have also found that the health benefits of cod liver oil are not limited to rheumatism and rickets.
Vitamin A is essential for the immune system, bone growth, night vision, cell growth, testicular and ovarian function.
Not only does vitamin D prevent rickets, but low vitamin D levels are also associated with increased risk of type 1 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, cognitive decline, depression, pregnancy complications, autoimmunity, allergies, and even weakness.
What are the benefits of cod liver oil?
1. Beneficial rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease with unknown etiology, chronic, destructive, debilitating, and other characteristics, accounting for about 1% of the adult population.
Epidemiological studies point out that in addition to genetic inheritance, the factors that affect the disease include cigarette smoke, use of exogenous hormones, female reproductive factors (irregular menstrual cycle, early menarche, breastfeeding), occupational silica dust exposure, and mineral oil. factor.
A double-blind placebo-controlled randomized study (9 months, 97 patients with rheumatoid arthritis) pointed out that the use of cod liver oil (daily dose of 10 g) can help reduce the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics (NSAID) ( But there is no obvious difference for clinical indicators).
*Conclusion: For patients with rheumatoid arthritis, cod liver oil can help reduce the number of anti-inflammatory analgesics, but it is limited to a small number of samples, and more research is needed to corroborate
2. Reduce the incidence of type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous disease characterized by the destruction of pancreatic cells, which ultimately leads to absolute insulin deficiency. Most cases are caused by autoimmune-mediated cell destruction, and a few cases are caused by idiopathic factors, accounting for about 5-10% of global diabetes cases.
Although type 1 diabetes can occur at any age, it is one of the most common chronic diseases in children and peaks between 5-7 years or near puberty.
A population-based case-control study (85 patients with diabetes and 1071 controls) found that when mothers took cod liver oil during pregnancy, their offspring had a lower risk of developing diabetes (up to 70% reduction).
This shows that vitamin D or n-3 fatty acids can protect type 1 diabetes in cod liver oil.
*Conclusion: The supplementation of cod liver oil in the mother during pregnancy can help reduce the chance of type 1 diabetes in the offspring, but due to the lack of randomized control verification, further confirmation is needed.
3. Good for depression symptoms
Depression is the main public health problem affecting patients and society. The clinical symptom is called unipolar depression, which manifests as low mood, hopelessness, helplessness, strong guilt, sadness, inferiority, self-mutilation, and suicidal thoughts.
Statistically, the prevalence of depression among women is higher than that of men. The global prevalence rate is 5.5% and 3.2% respectively, and the incidence rate of women is 1.7 times that of men.
A population-based cross-sectional study (including 21,835 participants) indicated that subjects who took cod liver oil by mouth were much less likely to experience depression than non-users (and after adjusting for multiple possible confounders This is so, such as age, gender, smoking habits, coffee consumption, drinking, physical activity, and education).
*Conclusion: Population observation found that the use of cod liver oil is negatively correlated with depression symptoms, but randomized controlled experiments are still required to verify its causality.
4. Good for glaucoma
Glaucoma is a kind of optic neuropathy, which is characterized by the progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells, affecting more than 70 million people worldwide, and causing bilateral blindness in 10% of the population, which is the main cause of irreversible blindness in the world.
The primary cause of glaucoma is common, with major risk factors such as high intraocular pressure, vascular insufficiency, glutamate-mediated toxicity, excessive production of nitric oxide, and oxidative stress.
Secondary glaucoma may be due to trauma, drugs such as corticosteroids, inflammation, tumor or pigment dispersion, or pseudo-exfoliation.
Cod liver oil is rich in vitamin A and Omega-3, so it is considered to be a health product for eye health.
Among them, vitamin A is important for maintaining normal vision. It can prevent oxidative damage (the cause of glaucoma); it is also a key factor in maintaining the integrity of the conjunctiva and corneal surface and can prevent eye epithelial damage caused by local anti-glaucoma drugs.
Omega-3 fatty acids are beneficial for glaucoma patients to reduce intraocular pressure, increase eye blood flow, and improve visual nerve protection.
*Conclusion: Cod liver oil is beneficial to glaucoma, but it has not been confirmed by randomized controlled trials in humans, and still needs to be verified.
5. Reduce the mortality of coronary heart disease
Coronary artery disease is the myocardial tissue hypoxia and ischemia caused by the stenosis of the main large blood vessels of the heart (atherosclerosis) and the subsequent changes in heart function.
Possible symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, and palpitations. If the coronary arteries are suddenly completely blocked, it can lead to a heart attack (such as heart failure, myocardial infarction).
A prospective generational study (tracing period of up to 22 years, 22 035 participants) found that the use of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplements (mainly cod liver oil) helped reduce coronary arterial compared to those without supplementation The death rate from heart disease (up to 26%), especially with low fish consumption, is most pronounced among ethnic groups with an average age of approximately 60 years.
*Conclusion: Population observations found that daily intake of cod liver oil may help reduce coronary heart disease mortality, but considering the possible interfering factors, more research is still needed to corroborate.
Are there any side effects of cod liver oil?
For most healthy adults and children, it is safe to use cod liver oil in appropriate doses, and side effects or adverse reactions that have been reported include oral odor, hiccups, bad breath, heartburn, loose stools and nausea (recommended to take with meals Can reduce these side effects).
Without medical supervision, please do not take more than the recommended dosage of the product label.
Excessive vitamin A may cause nausea, headache, fatigue, loss of appetite, dizziness, dry skin, peeling, cerebral edema, and other symptoms. The maximum tolerable intake is 10,000 IU or 3,000 mcg RAE (retinol activity equivalents) per day.
Excessive vitamin D may cause bone loss, kidney stones, and calcification of the heart and kidneys. The maximum tolerable intake is 4,000 IU or 100 mcg per day.
Safety Precautions
1. Pregnant women or breastfeeding women, please use with caution (if you take other forms of vitamin supplements at the same time, you must avoid overdose).
2. Do not use with blood pressure-lowering drugs (cod liver oil may have a blood-pressure-lowering effect), related drugs are captopril, enalapril, losartan, valsartan, diltiazem, Amlodipine, hydrochlorothiazide, furosemide.
3. Please stop using it two weeks before the operation and do not use it in combination with anticoagulant drugs (because cod liver oil may have an anticoagulant effect, it may increase the chance of bruising and bleeding).
Where to buy cod liver oil health products recommended by most people?
In recent years, food safety problems in various countries have exploded, and it is not healthy but black-hearted products that everyone spends on. Therefore, European and American products with relatively strict quality control have become popular products.
And iHerb.com is a large-scale medical cosmetics e-commerce company in the United States. It has a high satisfaction rate of 97% in the evaluation of Google customers. It provides global home delivery so that you can buy it without risking buying fakes through purchasing high-quality health products.
