The importance of taking cod liver oil for your best health cannot be underestimated. In Dr. Weston A. Price’s book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, a study of school girls in New Zealand found a daily supplement of high vitamin cod liver oil each day reduced cavities by nearly 42%.
In the following video, I will show you the best brand on the market today for cod liver oil as well as how much to take based on the research of Dr. Weston A. Price and the Weston A. Price Foundation.
The proper dosage of cod liver oil is 1 tsp (5 ml) per day and depending on the size of the spoons in your kitchen, you may or may not be taking the right dose.
The size of spoons varies quite a bit around the world, so be sure to measure the spoon you are using to take your cod liver oil as sometimes what people think is a full teaspoon is actually only a half!
Remember to always take your cod liver oil with high vitamin butter oil. If this supplement is not available where you live, you may substitute (homemade) grassfed ghee instead. For those with dairy allergies, use emu oil.
Another dairy-free option is a natural K2 supplement derived from natto.
Taking these healthy fats together synergistically boosts the absorption of nutrients as noted in the detailed research of Dr. Weston Price.
Cod Liver Oil Basics
The video below shows you the basics of taking cod liver oil. If you are interested in cod liver oil for babies, the linked article provides more information.
If gagging is an issue with strong tasting foods like cod liver oil, this article plus video on how to stop the gag reflex for about 20-30 seconds with a simple acupressure technique may prove helpful.
Wondering what brands are best? I personally take this brand of virgin cod liver oil, which is sourced from some of the cleanest waters on earth. Note that my currently preferred brand differs from the recommendation in the video, which was filmed some years ago. The suggested manner of taking it and the reasons why remain the same, however.
Note that cod liver oil is a better choice than both krill oil and plain fish oil. This is because CLO contains natural fat-soluble vitamins as well as important omega-3 fatty acids.
Love your blog Sarah! I just got my order of green pastures in the mail, we got the liquid, and the gummies because they were on sale. I was wondering if you could tell me what you would recommend as the MINIMUM amount to take for babies,children, and adults. We are a family of five and I know it is an important supplement but with it being so expensive we cant afford to take that much every day. Any suggestions?
Good point, Elizabeth. Anyone getting ready from surgery or recovering from surgery should take a brief hiatus from the FCLO as it does thin the blood. On the positive side, folks taking blood thinners can frequently get off those nasty meds in favor of FCLO alone.
I wanted to bring something to your attention. I've been taking 1tsp to 1 1/4 tsp each day of the Green pastures liquid FCLO. I recently had some blood draws, which showed my platelet count to be low- this is the clotting agent in the blood. My holistic MD (who recommends CLO), said I should either take a break from it, or reduce the amount i'm taking, because it's affecting the clotting platelets in my blood. So, just remember, that too much of a good thing, can be too much. If you are ever having surgery- or trying to heal from an injury, you need to reduce CLO to allow proper healing. I'm going to have to eat extra liver while I take less CLO and try to get my platelets up.
-Elizabeth from NourishingCreations.com
I just saw on Mercola today that 5000 IU is now recommended daily vitamin D for adults. It was 4000 IU last time he wrote on this from what I remember. So, this would be 1 2/3 tsp of Green Pastures FCLO. I give my kids a full tsp a day.
Hi Sarah~ Thanks for your help with this. I have been taking the liquid for a while but just can't get the family on board – guess we'll have to try again! Just to confirm – the adults need to be taking at least 1 tsp/day (actually just a little over) and our early teens (~100#) need to be taking just under that?? Again – I appreciate everything you do!!
That's exactly how one of my kids takes it!
We have been taking the fermented CLO since it came out, but I know we haven't been taking enough. We have a family of 6 and my husband asked if they are coming out with the gallon size version 😉
I just started taking the CLO/Butter oil gel and I take it like a pill. It is firm enough to just chug it down with water.
That is so interesting to me when I read about other people not being able to stomach CLO. I do not have any problems whatsoever with drinking it or fish oil or anything else as a matter of fact. Bring it on baby! Unfortunately my husband cannot stomach it either. He puts it in a green smoothie he makes in the morning. Although I am wondering if the high speed of the blender (Blendtec) does not damage the oil.
Hi Elaine, there is no doubt that the liquid is the way to go as it takes way to many caps to get a decent dose. You DO get used to taking it off the spoon after awhile. Just persist. The health results are so worth the effort. I use the caps for traveling. Just take the FCLO however it suits you. Empty stomach or with a meal is all fine from my understanding.
Hi Sarah~ As a visual person I have enjoyed your video blogs very much – thanks for taking the time to put these together!
I wanted to let you know that I accepted your challenge and went directly to the kitchen to measure my spoons. I used a medicine dropper just like you've got and amazingly enough my smaller "teaspoon" is 5ml or 1 tsp. Apparently, not all flatware is created equal. I'm actually very thankful that you pointed that out so I can be sure of correct dosing.
A month or two ago I ordered the FCLO/butter oil capsules (partly out of desperation – the family just wouldn't take the liquid) but I've wondered about correct dosing … the label says 2 caps/day is the "recommended serving" and they provide 427 IU of Vit. D and 1825 IU of Vit. A. If I'm doing my math correctly I would need to take ~18 (!!) caps/day to get the recommended Vit. D dose — right? But, I was also wondering if that would put me over the recommended Vit. A?? This has been very confusing to me. However, if taking this many caps/day is the correct thing to do then I now understand why it is much more economical to take the liquid! I was basing my per dose cost on the recommended 2 caps/day.
Last question – can you provide any insight about foods that might (or might not) be beneficial to take with the FCLO so that the maximum benefit is seen? I've read and heard about eating certain things with other things for the maximum benefit and wondered if there was anything that would good to know about this. Thanks so much!!