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Consideration of Ancient Wisdom in the maintenance of robust health is more important than ever today with Media Medicine seemingly dominating the wellness conversation at every turn.
Traditional cultures relied on a strong immune system rather than the crutch of antibiotics and other drugs to survive infections and epidemics. Passing this knowledge on from generation to generation was of critical importance.
With so much of this wisdom having been lost since the Industrial Revolution, it is always exciting to me when a snippet of truth is rediscovered in ancient texts and other writings.
One such text recently brought to my attention which contains such medicinal wisdom is The Book of Tobias, also known as the Book of Tobit.
While not included in the shorter Hebrew Canon, The Book of Tobias is considered canonical by the Catholic, Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches. It is also included in The Apocrypha which comprises extra texts not part of the Old Testament canon but recognized of value by many Protestant faiths. Fragments of this text were recently discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls in both Hebrew and Aramaic which has given the book additional credibility and attention.
Ancient Medicines Derived From Fish
In this book, the virtuous young Tobias is assisted by the Archangel Raphael in bringing relief from suffering and happiness to Tobit, his blind Father as well as the tormented widow, Sara.
Tobias restores his Father’s sight using medicines from the entrails of fish, including the heart, gall, and liver.
“Then the angel said to him: Take out the entrails of the fish, and lay up his heart, and his gall, and his liver for thee; for these are necessary for useful medicines.” (Book of Tobias, Chapter 6)
This text is the earliest known reference to the use of fish innards as healing and sacred remedies. The traditional use of fish liver oils throughout history since that time harkens back to the wisdom of this ancient text.
Of course, the fish liver oils used were not of an industrialized nature, meaning the oil was extracted quickly via use of high heat (400F). Rather, traditional practice in Roman and Viking times was to reserve the livers and let them ferment for a period of months until the oils were rendered naturally thereby preserving all delicate nutritional cofactors and healing elements.
Beginning about 1850, this very slow, 6 month process of rendering fish liver oils which preserved all the nutrition began to gradually be abandoned in favor of high heat processing which rendered the oils in only a day. By 1920-1940 or so, all cod liver oil on the market was basically being rendered in a modern fashion.
A resurgence of interest in the traditional manufacture of fish liver oil occurred after the turn of the millennium with the advent of Green Pasture Products’ fermented cod liver and skate liver oils. Hopefully, other companies will follow suit and abandon the modern method of processing fish oils.
How to Identify A Good Quality Fish or Cod Liver Oil
It is important to remember that fish oil or fish liver oil that is:
Clear + Colorless + Odorless + Flavorless is also Nutritionless as this indicates an industrialized manner of processing.
Fish liver oil should taste fishy – not rancid – but fishy. If it doesn’t, there is limited to no nutritional value.
The vast majority of fish and cod liver oils on the market today are processed by a handful of refiners. While the packaging and marketing varies from company to company, the fish oils are all basically the same – nutritionless and potentially even of negative health benefit due to the high temperature processing.
Could it be that the huge focus on the omega 3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, in fish and fish liver oils on the market today is because that is all that is left after the violent, industrialized processing? Fish oils processed in the traditional manner which takes months rather than hours have much much more to offer beyond omega 3 fats. Natural vitamins A, D, E, and K are all present at significant levels to heal, strengthen, and provide a firm foundation for the immune system. Moreover, vitamin D has over 3000 derivatives many of which are found in traditionally manufactured fish liver oils. Only the main vitamin D derivative is present in the industrialized fish liver oils and it is typically in synthetic form added after processing because the high heat used to render the oils destroys all the natural vitamin D!
While we can learn and wonder about ancient remedies via early writings such as the Book of Tobias, it is equally important that the manufacturing of the remedy itself be in line with traditional production methods. Nowhere is this example more evident than a comparison between the rendering of fish oils by the Vikings and Romans as compared with modern day, industrialized cod liver and fish oils.
To be considered a truly traditional and sacred remedy, both the remedy itself and the method of producing it must follow traditional principles.
How does your cod liver oil stack up?
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Source:
The History of Cod Liver Oil, David Wetzel, owner – Green Pasture Products
I would love to be able to buy some of the Green Pastures products, but is it REALLY worth the cost? I just have a hard time spending that much money on anything. We live paycheck-to-paycheck and just because something is healthy and good for me doesn’t mean that I can afford it…
I personally feel that the Green Pastures fermented cod liver oil is not something to be skipped. I would turn off cable and/or go to one car to afford it if I had to and I am serious about this. I feel that strongly about it.
The only way someone could possibly get by without it is if he/she ate lots of liver – like 2-3 times per week. I know of hardly anyone that does this, however, including me. I do go on liver binges from time to time .. eating it everyday for a week as I use up a batch of pate, but usually I don’t eat it that often so the fermented cod liver oil fills in the slack.
How much do you take per day? Thanks for your response. I know that some things are just worth the cost, but convincing my husband of that is something else entirely.
I’ve done a video on this: https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2010/09/video-cod-liver-oil-101/
Are Green Pasture’s capsules as good as the oil? Right now we use Vital Choice’s Salmon Oil capsules. Not sure I can get my family to take the straight oil, flavored or not! We also eat a lot of fish, like 4 X’s a week.
Yes, the capsules are fine. I use them myself when traveling.
Thanks! We will give them a try!
Sarah, did you have any problems transitioning your family from the “High-Vitamin” CLO to the fermented kind? We’ve been taking the liquid High-Vitamin type since 2005, and we all like the flavor. While pregnant in 2009, I bought one bottle of mint-flavored fermented CLO and found it to be absolutely abhorrent (my slight nausea due to morning sickness probably didn’t help either). I still have it in the fridge and have managed to give it to my infant a few times, but he much prefers the unfermented type (and luckily I still have a few more bottles since I stockpiled it when I found out it was going away). I’m figuring that my husband and I will switch to capsules when it comes time to move to the fermented CLO, but I am most concerned about the kids (my oldest will be 4 in March and cannot take pills yet, and of course the baby needs liquid as well). Any thoughts or suggestions?
Hi Sarah, yes it took 2-3 weeks to get used to the fermented. Now it is no big deal .. we all take it off the spoon and actually rather enjoy it now ! 🙂 Try the cinnamon flavor .. it is by far the favorite flavor of the many folks I know who take it.
I’m glad to know you all actually enjoy it now! That gives me hope for our transition.
Sarah S–how much CLO do you give your infant? I have a 15 month old and am would like to start him on some, but don’t know what to try.
I want to try the fclo but I’m concerned about mercury which is why I take the highly filtered oils that promise no mercury. Would the red (salmon) caviar be an OK alternative? The Russian food store I frequent has fresh red caviar without nasty additives.
Hi Ashley, caviar is a wonderful sacred food! If you have the luxury of having a local source without additives, then definitely make use of it. Note that the Green Pasture Products fermented cod liver oil has no mercury in it. The reason companies make such a big marketing hoo ha about “molecular distillation” is because it extends shelf life for their rancid fish and cod liver oils that have been highly processed and basically destroyed. It is not for removing mercury because there is none in the oils of fish .. mercury is stored in the tissues of the fish and so would be an issue for eating fish fillets and such, NOT for the oils.
In the end, it’s all about shelf life and profits, not really about any mercury at all.
Hi Ashleyroz,
how do you know their caviar doesn’t have any additives? Do they sell it in packages or from bulk bins? Where are you located by the way? If they do sell caviar with no additives, I would love to check out that store.
Thank you,
Olga
Hi Sarah,
thank you for posting this very informative article. I have a little bit off topic question. I know that Sally Fallon recommends caviar for pregnancy and babies. I buy red caviar but it has additives like sodium malate, sorbitol and salt (not sea salt but regular salt). Can I give this caviar to my 15 months old baby girl? I gave her a little bit to try and she absolutely loved it. Actually she was screaming for more and more. Do you know of any brand of caviar with minimum amount of additives?
Thank you very much in advance,
Olga
Olga, I would source fresh caviar at a place like Fresh Market or a fish monger. Those additives in the caviar at the supermarket are kind of nasty, so I would try finding an alternative, additive free source especially if your toddler has developed a taste for it! When you find it in season, then you can buy extra and freeze it yourself for off season use. 🙂
Thank you Sarah. I’ll try to find Fresh fish market that sells it. Right now I am buying it from a russian store, but don’t trust them anymore since I’ve seen all these additives on one of the recent packages of caviar I bought from them. Ugh, it is so time consuming to be an educated consumer. You have to have an eye of a hawk. Thank you again for informing all of us of your findings.
Olga
I just found your website this evening and I am in the process of getting the bad products out of my house. I must say your website is awesome and I look forward from learning a lot from you and others. I have a question for you and was unable to find your email address. I just read your article on adrenal glands. Do you think they have an impact on migraine headaches or could you direct to me to more information on that topic?
Hi Beth, so glad you found me! In my experience, persistent migraine headaches are related to an imbalanced gut which is allowing toxins from pathogenic strains of bacteria in the gut to spill through perforations in the gut gut wall into the bloodstream. Getting the gut in order and the migraines disappear or at least are significantly reduced. You can find more on this topic in the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome:
i still get confused on whether to take additional fish oil (eg salmon oil) which is higher in the omega 3’s in addition to the cod liver oil. i’ve read arguments on both sides within the weston price movement. what are your thoughts?
susan v.
Definitely not Susan. The cod liver oil gives you plenty of omega 3’s. Taking an additional fish oil supplement is a risk for overconsumption of omega 3’s which is just as bad as getting too few. What’s more, ALL fish oil supplements on the market are highly processed and should be avoided.
As a art history major I loved reading this post and remember clearly learning about this iconographic image.
I also take Green Pasture’s fermented CLO, however, I can only get my kids to take the orange capsules, which I know is better that nothing, but liquid would be much easier. Any Suggestions?
Hi Sarah,
love your info! I have been considering getting started on the Cod Liver Oil. I have been taking Juice Plus since May ’09 and am wondering what your take on this product is, am I wasting my money? Would I be better of investing in good quality food ad perhaps the cod liver oil? I have struggled with my health & weight for years and I am working on getting healthy. I have learned so much from your site and appreciate your imput on this matter. Also, what is your take on all the other vitamins?
Thanks!
Linda
oa.org
Hi Linda, I would have to take a look at juice plus, but I have to say that I am very skeptical of 99% of supplements and consider them a waste of money. By and large, they do not make up for deficiencies in the diet. Only food can nourish and Green Pasture Products fermented cod liver oil qualifies as food more than a supplement, technically speaking.
I don’t know the specifics righ know, but my mother in law has taken juice plus for years and has just been to the doctor with kidney or liver stones. She had some bad enzyme level and they told her to go off the juice plus. In days her enzyme levels were coming down. Apparently there are a bunch of cases of this and they are attributing it to the capsule that the supplement comes in.
Very interesting article and comments. Thanks for the research. Our family is taking the Green Pastures capsules and I hope it’s equivalent to the liquid/gel form. I love hearing old health rememdies even 100 yrs ago.