COD LIVER OIL SERIES
Part 1 – Cod liver oil: why do we need it?
Part 3 – Cod liver oil: what to buy, where to buy it, and how much to take
This is Part 2 – Cod liver oil: tips for getting it down – easier than you think!
(Or see the complete index of posts about CLO)
SEE MY UPDATE at this Fermented Cod Liver Oil post – I did it! I actually took the liquid! I never would’ve believed I could do it! (The Fermented liquid is MUCH cheaper than the capsules, and Fermented CLO is even MORE of a superfood than the regular, and costs the same!)
First of all, don’t worry, if you’re like me and just don’t think you can get the liquid cod liver oil down, it does also come in capsules!
Also, people often ask how we get our kids to take it – here’s the answer: the older kids take the capsules like us, and the younger kids (who can’t swallow a big pill) take the liquid. When we give it to them, we take the advice from my friend, Anne: “It’s all in the presentation.” If you get it out of the fridge and shout, “Time for blue bottle medicine!” in a happy excited voice, they’ll come running…I was skeptical until I tried it, but it works! Don’t forget to cheer after they take it. 
When they don’t want it…
Granted, some kids may go through “streaks” where they’ll not want it for a while (mine do anyway), so I use my own tried and true methods for getting through those times:
- Don’t push it. Just say in a relaxed voice, “You don’t want any tonight? OK.” Soon they’ll take it again with no problem. (However, if you push it on them or hold them down, they’ll NEVER take it again.)
- My other tactic? I’ll bribe them with something! Sometimes I’ll give them a couple chocolate chips (generous, I know) and that’s all it takes.
The point is, just begin to make it a daily habit!
Read the other parts of the series below to find out more…
- Part 1 – Cod liver oil: do we really need to take it?
- Part 3 – Cod liver oil: what to buy and where to buy it and how much to take
- Are supplements necessary?
- Where is the truth on health and nutrition?
- Information on the correct amount of cod liver oil needed daily for adults, children, and pregnant or nursing moms.
- Book suggestions on nutrition and more
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Julie 03.17.08 at 5:59 am
I am new to taking cod liver oil. Right now I have capsules, but when I run out of these, I am thinking to switch to a good liquid. I have heard that with liquid there is less fishy burpyness. I also recently read that to reap the best benefits from cod liver oil your diet needs the right fats in it. I have been taking my capsules with a teaspoon of coconut oil. I think this is a smooth way to get capsules down, and who couldn’t use a little extra coconut oil in their diet?
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Kelly 03.17.08 at 10:48 am
Julie,
Wow, that’s great – I wish I could just swallow oil, but I can’t! I’ve taken the cod liver oil capsules for years and only get one burp afterward, I hardly notice it anymore. When you buy more oil or capsules, be sure to check out part 3 in this cod liver oil series for info on the best kinds to buy.
Kelly
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Anonymous 04.07.08 at 4:50 am
I take them right before I start eating a meal and the food seems to help settle it down. Literally, after I’ve served my food I gulp 4 capsules down (4 at breakfast, 4 at dinner per dr. recommendation) and then immediately start my meal.
Another thing that was recommended to me to help avoid “cat breath” is to freeze them. I keep them in the freezer – I hope that’s okay!
Regarding it helping with inflammation… if I miss a few days then the first day I get back to it it acts like a diuretic for a few hours. Amazing.
Beth
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Kelly the Kitchen Kop 04.07.08 at 5:11 am
Hi Beth,
Very interesting, a doctor told you to take 8 caps a day?! Of the brand I recommend or regular fish oil? Just curious. Most docs are concerned about the higher levels of vitamin A – but I address that in part 1 – there are big differences between synthetic & natural vitamin A.
As far as freezing the caps, I would think it would be OK, but might be worth a call to the manufacturer just to be sure.
Thanks for commenting, Beth!
Kelly
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Anonymous 04.07.08 at 10:50 am
Kelly,
Thanks for your comment. I just reread your cod liver oil posts and pulled mine out to compare. Wouldn’t you know it, mine doesn’t have A/D, just E added. I’m changing drs and will take it up with the new one since this is in-lieu of statin drugs for cholesterol. She just said 8 caps a day and at the time I didn’t know enough to ask the right questions
. Mine is just regular fish oil (herring, anchovies, mackerel. sardine, salmon). But if I’m getting A/D from my other supplements, wouldn’t that be okay? I noticed that some of the Carlson products were cod liver oil and others plain fish oil.
I’m looking into switching over to your recommended type/brand but I think I should talk to my dr about the A/D amounts – good point!
Beth
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Kelly the Kitchen Kop 04.07.08 at 11:31 am
Hi Beth,
Unfortunately, the A&D you’re getting in your other supplements are likely synthetic and in much lower amounts.
It’s always good to check with your doctor before making big changes, but before you see him/her, be sure to also read (and print out?) the links on the part 1 post, too. (Under “related sites.”) They explain why the amounts of A & D found naturally in cod liver oil are safe and very beneficial.
I’ll be curious to hear what they say – hopefully they’ll do some research first before just telling you not to take them.
Also, you could ask them about taking 4 of your regular fish oil caps and 4 of the better cod liver oil caps each day? Then you’d be getting plenty of omega-3’s from both of them, along with lots of good A & D from the Carlson brand, but not as much A & D as you’d get in 8 caps a day… just thinking as I type.
Again, I’m not a doctor and I’m glad you’re checking with him/her, but remember they can’t be trained in everything and know specifics about every single topic out there. So sometimes we have to gather all the information we can find and then use common sense to make the best decisions we can.
That’s not always easy! See my post on that here (you’ll have to cut and paste it into your web browser, since I don’t know how to get a link to show up in the comment section):
http://www.kellythekitchenkop.com/2007/12/where-is-truth-on-health-and-nutrition_30.html
Kelly
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Julie 08.14.08 at 4:17 am
Hi Kelly,
I have been reading your cod liver posts again, along with Chris Masterjohns research in the Weston Price organization website. Also have been looking into ordering the Blue Ice brand liquid cod liver oil this time. I notice they have a type that is blended with high vitamin butter oil. I know that Dr. Price did extensive research on this, that combining it with cod liver oil is a great idea. Thoughts on this?
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Kelly the Kitchen Kop 08.14.08 at 4:26 am
Hi Julie,
I bought a bottle once that I would pull out to give to the kids when they were sick as an extra immune system boost, and they’d either not take it or throw up. (Thankfully, they’re rarely sick!) Surprising when these are the same kids who take the CLO no problem.
However, I’d say that if you can afford it, this would probably be a good thing to do. However, I know it is very expensive.
We drink raw milk with plenty of raw cream and eat a LOT of butter around here (organic), and even though it is pasteurized, it is grassfed (Organic Valley), so I’m hoping we’re still getting some of the similar benefits.
Great question!
Kelly
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Anonymous 09.04.08 at 1:01 pm
We’ve been taking 3 cod liver capsules a day and have noticed a lot of stomack distress(gas). any suggestions?
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Kelly the Kitchen Kop 09.04.08 at 5:50 pm
Hi Anonymous,
2 suggestions:
1. Be sure you are taking one of the recommended brands in part 3.
2. Also be sure to take them WITH meals. We take between 4 and 6 caps/day with meals and never have any gas issues. (Thankfully!)
Hope that helps,
Kelly
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Anonymous 09.26.08 at 3:23 pm
Kelly,
I just bought the Carlson capsules from iherb (thanks for the discount tip). I appreciate you doing the legwork to find the best deal. I wondered if you gave your youngest cod liver oil as an infant and how you did it.??? I have a 5 1/2 month old that I will be starting on solids soon and want to follow the Nourishing Traditions diet.
Christine
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Kelly the Kitchen Kop 09.27.08 at 4:05 am
Hi Christine,
Great question! The Weston A. Price says that starting at 3 months, you can give babies "a dose of cod liver oil that provides about 5000 IU vitamin A daily."
What a healthy baby you must have (& maybe no braces someday/no ADHD issues/no learning troubles, etc!) since you're feeding him/her a NT diet!
Kelly
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Cat 01.25.09 at 6:11 am
We are ovo-lacto vegetarians, so taking cod liver oil is even more difficult for us since we are not used to the taste of fish, etc. The absolute only way I can get it down, is by taking it before bed, holding my nose, then drinking a whole glass of something afterward (still holding my nose during the first half of the glass). Raw cold milk works really well, or cold bilberry tea (bilberry fruit, not leaf). The milk or bilberry washes the taste of the cod liver oil out of my mouth and seems to buffer my stomach and reduces/elminates burping and indigestion. Hope this helps someone!
Regarding regular cod liver oil brands: I have several bottles of carlsons clo on hand. I see that it is not one of the brands recommended brands on the WAPF website. Do you think it does more harm than good to finish them before switching to fermented clo? I know I really notice the difference without clo for even one day…
Thanks for your time
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Kelly 01.25.09 at 1:29 pm
Hi Cat,
Check this out about Carlson’s CLO: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/08/why-isnt-carlson-brand-cod-liver-oil-on.html
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joyce 02.15.09 at 2:40 pm
hi there, I am taking Carlson cod liver oil wit lemon and it is great, no taste at all and in oj it’s great. My question is can I take 1000mg just once a day instead of 1 tsp 2xqd? I alway seem to forget the second dose .
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Kelly 02.15.09 at 10:02 pm
Hi Joyce,
Yes, you can take one dose a day.
But have you seen the post about which brands of CLO are good and which should be avoided? You may want to take a look: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/10/cod-liver-oil-capsules-important-update.html
Kelly
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Mona 10.29.09 at 3:43 pm
Hi Kelly,
Is there a big difference between Carlsons CLO and Blue Ice? Also, if I decide on the fermented CLO, do I need to take a multi-vitamin. Most Multi’s have 5000IU of vitamin A and 200IU of vit. D. My 3rd question. is it OK to give my children fermented clo and high vit. butter oil?
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KitchenKop 10.29.09 at 4:09 pm
Hi Mona,
1. To answer your 1st question, see this post: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/10/cod-liver-oil-capsules-important-update.html
2. A multi-vitamin? It’s up to you. We take one as an “insurance policy”, but I’m not convinced it’s necessary. Other things are more important, the CLO being a huge one.
3. YES! It’s super beneficial for kids, too!!
Scroll through the posts here for more detailed info: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/category/cod-liver-oil-complete-list
Kelly
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Sharon 01.16.10 at 5:34 pm
Help! I just bought several varieties of the FCLO from Green Pastures and I cannot take it! It literally makes me ill— the smell alone makes my stomach quiver. I bought 2 bottles of the chocolate cream since it was being sold for a discounted price since they are discontinuing it. I couldn’t even bring myself to try it after watching my husband suffer through a dose. (He has since discovered a way to take it that is bearable and is faithfully taking his every day.) We sold one bottle of the chocolate cream to my husband’s good friend and workout buddy. I got the liquid cinnamon tingle for me since I love cinnamon flavoring in most things. Well, not this stuff! I did it for 5 days and it was about a 15 minute ordeal each time. On the fifth day I vomited after taking it and haven’t been able to take it since then. Lastly, I purchased the gummy fish for our daughter (8 yrs). After my wretched experience with my cinnamon tingle, I thought, well, I’ll just take the gummy fish. I opened the package, smelled the now all too familiar fishy smell and couldn’t even bring one to my lips. My husband tried one and didn’t care for them— he’d rather just swallow it and get it over with rather than chewing them and letting the flavor touch his taste buds. We thought we could trick our daughter with them, but apparently not. We were super enthusiastic in our approach, too. “Hey, sweetie, look what I got for you? Yummy gummy fish vitamins. You want one?” She bought in, took one and began chewing. We looked on, saying things like, “good, huh?” Well, her first response was, “I like them”. As she continued chewing (they take a while to chew up) she was not as impressed with them. She was a trooper though and ate the whole thing. Daddy has volunteered to take them with her until they are all gone and we’ve promised a spoonful of peanut butter as a chaser.
My husband says that he can seriously notice a difference in his concentration since taking it (about 10 days). I really want to be able to take it, but I don’t think liquid, gels, gummies will work. It’s such a powerhouse of nutrition and I’m discouraged I can’t tolerate it. I do tend to be highly sensitive with all of my sense, so it doesn’t surprise me that the smell alone throws me off (my friends call me “the nose”). I’m a little fearful of ordering the capsules and not being able to tolerate them either. Are they fishy smelling? Are they big? I don’t do well with big pills. Do they break down quickly? Fishy aftertaste? I am open to suggestions because I really want to benefit from taking it. Thanks for any, and all, tips! Oh, by the way, Kelly, I love your site! I knew the moment I encountered trouble taking it that I was going to consult you since you’re so down-to-earth and resourceful! Sharon
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KitchenKop 01.17.10 at 4:53 pm
Hi Sharon,
Sorry, but your comment cracked me up! OK, I’m going to ask my husband about the caps, because thankfully I’m able to take the oil. (I hate swallowing pills, and I honestly don’t think the liquid is so bad, especially the new formula that has a little Stevia in it. I take the cinnamon and shoot it to the back of my throat, then eat or drink something.)
The caps are fishy smelling if you stick your nose in the bottle, but Kent says, “I take it with milk, throw ‘em down the shoot, and I don’t taste anything.” He also said he doesn’t think they have a fishy aftertaste. He doesn’t even have a fish burp later. (Too much info? LOL!)
They’re not huge, just an average size capsule I’d say. OK, I’ll measure it to tell you exactly… they are 3/4″ long.
Hope all that helps!
Kelly
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