Cod liver oil
Briefing Cod Liver Oil
The Herald
03-26-08
GRANNY was right. Cod liver oil can help arthritis sufferers.
Q: When were its benefits discovered? A: It has been used for centuries by the fishing communities of Scotland, Iceland, Norway and Greenland to protect themselves against the cold. By the 1890s it was being used to protect children against rickets.
Q: What are its magic ingredients? A: Two omega-3 essential fatty acids: eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). It also contains high levels of vitamins A and D.
Q: What do they do? A: Answer the Eskimo Paradox.
Q: What's that? A: The fact that the Inuits in Greenland were virtually immune from heart disease despite a high-fat diet of whale and seal blubber and oily fish. The omega-3 fats have a protective quality.
Q: How is the oil produced? A: By steaming cod livers and pressing them to extract the oil.
Q: What else does it do? A: It has been clinically proven to have a positive effect on blood pressure, bone and brain, as well as helping to nourish skin, hair and nails.
Q: Any other benefits? A: It could reduce depression. Norwegian researchers found a spoonful of cod liver oil could reduce the risk of depression by as much as 30per cent, although that could be because they feel healthier as a result of the oil's other benefits.
Q: Shouldn't this superfood be available to all? A: It was given to pregnant women, nursing mothers and children up to five during the Second World War. This was immortalised in the Glasgow song The Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice.
Q: Does it have any other uses? A: In Newfoundland, cod liver oil was sometimes used as the liquid base for the red ochre paint used on fishery buildings.
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