Fish Oil and Cod Liver oil

I just read the posting on fish oil, and I have a quick question for you guys. Does anyone know of a good quality brand or brands that have the mercury toxin removed? I’ve been hearing a lot of bad stuff about the mercury content of fish and fish oil and was hoping to get some info on brands that were clean.

I heard most of the big brands that make alot of different suppliments dont test very well for toxins. I only trust brands that make only fish oil or maybe a few others. This is a hard subject and i would allso love to see more info on this topic. It scares me sometimes cause of how many fish oil pills i take that i might be exposeing my self to alot of toxins that cause alot od problems!

Stay clear of cod liver oil as a source of EPA/DHA; it’s high in vitamin A which is toxic in large doses.

Most fish oil supplements are pretty good. The ones I take have most heavy elements removed (via some kind of filtration/separation process I guess).

We’ve been over the vitamin A toxicity discussion before, check out this thread:
Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION forum.1/threads/thread.1953941471.html
(Remove the space after javaforum/) And read Debo’s post.

Cod liver oil is perfectly OK. Please read the link King protein posted.

I use seven seas cod liver oil, but I don’t think it’s available in the USA.

I agree with much of what was posted. Cod Liver oil contains high amounts of vitamin A. It is better to get vitamin A as beta-carotene, which the body can convert into vitamin A, because beta-carotene doesn’t have the toxicity that cod liver oil does.
In terms of mercury, I read several articles that said that mercury in fish oil supps probably wasn’t a danger, but I am also concerned about that issue. Personally, I use a brand called Country Life, which is supposed to be good. I am sure there are other good ones out there.

Mercola highly recommneds Carlson’s fish and cod liver oil. It’s sold at tons of health food stores, but you can find it on the web too. One place I saw it was at vitaminlady.com. Personally, I think this Vit A toxicity is way overblown. Besides, cod liver oil is a great source of Vit D as well, and for those of us that don’t see the sun year round, it’s a necessary supplement.

Don’t worry about mercury so much, read info detonation part 2. As far as cod oil, I personally think it tastes horriable and isn’t anymore effective or less-expensive than the fish oil caps I buy. I mean, 25 fish oil caps is really no prob., for me, but 7.5 tablespoons of cod oil! I’ll take the caps, thanks.

Mayfield, if you’re concerned about mercury, DDT and PCBs, purchase fish oil that is molecularly distilled. Molecular distillation is the gold standard. Unfortunately, when cod liver oil or fish oil is concentrated (to increase EPA/DHA levels) without the toxic chemicals being removed, those toxic chemicals are concentrated as well.



I tend to avoid liver and liver products (i.e., cod liver oil, in this case) because it is an organ responsible for detoxification. I don’t eat chicken skin for the same reason.



If you’re looking for high-dose EPA/DHA supplementation and are looking for a product that is cost effective and that tastes a heckuva lot better than cod liver oil, take a look at Ultra Omega-3 by Health for the Sun. The best price I found was on iHerb.com @ 6.50 a bottle (236 ml). I add 1 1/2 tablespoons to my salmon or tuna, which gives me just over 6 grams of EPA/DHA. Its lemon-lime flavor has come to be a delightful extra. I even find myself adding another half teaspoon or so of lemon juice. The little bit of tartness is refreshing.

Xander, please get your facts straight. There are no documented cases of toxic levels of vitamin A being ingested by means of cod liver oil comsumption. Just because you go above the RDA doesn’t mean your getting into dangerous grounds. That ideia is pretty much foclore. Cod liver oil doesn’t deserve the bad reputation some try to give it.

And also, for however mentioned that, there are some deodorised CLO’s out there that don’t taste like crap.

I’ve been using it for a long time now and never had any problems. It is also a lot cheaper than salmon.

I use Norweigan Cod Liver Oil. I pay $5 for 94 teaspoons (16 OZ). Each Tsp has 500 mg EPA and 500 mg DHA and 90% RDA of A. I don’t think I am going to get toxic levels of A, even over extended periods of use, using 5 tsp a day of this product. Label says nothing abaout filtering. Does anyone think they can beat this product for price??? Also is toxicity a concern with unfiltered CLO??

I’ve read that fish oils that haven’t been trough the molecular distillation process have some cholesterol in their composition and this has to be stated in the label. Apparently the same process that filters the heavy metals will also filter the cholesterol. I’m not sure if this is true or not though. I trust the source, but never heard or read it anywere else.