T Nation

Cod Liver Oil

Bodybuilding
#1

I recently bought some cod liver oil capsules, which contained around 500mg of cod liver oil. The packet recommended taking one capsule a day.

Previously I had bought capsules that contained around 1g of cod liver oil, and on the packet it also said to take one a day, and no more.

I also have a bottle of “Pure Cod Liver Oil” in the kitchen which recommends taking 2 teaspoons of it once a day. That works out to be 9.2g of cod liver oil. However, it tastes absolutely horrible and so I switched to capsules.

I am now pretty confused as to how much cod liver oil I should be having a day. There is a huge difference between 0.5g and 9.2g, and although I would like to protect my joints, I don’t want any dodgy side effects that may occur from having too much cod liver oil.

Thanks,

km02

#2

Are any of the oils processed or concentrated?

Anyway, I’d go do some research on how much you need to take for the effects you are looking for. What are the active ingredients that you want it for, for example?

#3

[quote]vroom wrote:
Are any of the oils processed or concentrated?[/quote]

On the packaging it doesn’t state whether the oils are concentrated or processed/

[quote]vroom wrote:
Anyway, I’d go do some research on how much you need to take for the effects you are looking for. What are the active ingredients that you want it for, for example?[/quote]

I want to take cod liver oil to help my joints whilst training, and also for any other benefits it has for the skin, eyes and hair. However, I am not too sure about the active ingrediants from oil.

The packaging for the 500mg capsules says:

EPA 34mg
DHA 49mg

The packaging for the oil in the bottle says:

EPA 828mg
DHA 736mg

per 9.2g serving

#4

Hmm, if you are looking for EPA/DHA, then you might find you get higher doses from a fish oil instead of cod liver oil.

There are plenty of concentrated fish oil products or even FLAMEOUT available on this site.

From a web site…

The main difference between cod liver oil and fish oil is that cod liver oil is high in vitamin D.

There are discussions around here somewhere (either articles or threads) that talk about dosing. Generally, you find that around here people are comfortable taking quite a bit of EPA/DHA.

I’m not sure you can easily get too much of them, but some vitamins, such as vitamin D or others that are fat soluble, can be overdone.