Large doses of Liver Cod Oil dangerous

Everywhere I look online it says high doses of Liver Cod Oil are very dangerous. So whats the deal with the high dose recommendation?

Why not just use Fish oil?

jasonshadow - Just before this forum was added, the older version of this forum we covered this pretty well.

The main advantage to Cod Liver Oil is the vitamin D content and also the potentially small levels of vitamin K2 as well.

Some sites will caution about high vitamin A or D levels, but these are warnings that confuse with other forms of vitamin D and not within the context of new knowledge about vitamin D and the optimal levels.

Vitamin A is naturally balanced with vitamin D.

Cod Liver oil is not as important during the summer time however, assuming one lives in the lower latitudes.
During the summer I will take a break from it as I live in So. California, but will be take it again in early fall. Many places around the world are plagued with vitamin D deficits.

Immortal do you stop taking it because you believe it could cause side effects or is it simply unnecessary? I live on the east coast of Australia and get plenty of sun exposure in summer but I keep taking cod liver oil.

Socceroo - What I do during the summer is just rely on Krill oil or another source of Omega-3.

Last year I took cod liver all the way through, but later realized it's not necessary if I'm getting plenty of sun light.

But there's a lot of us who in the summer won't get much sun because of working indoors.

There was a recent study posted on Mercola that showed even 2500iu per day by oral means is only enough to maintain Vitamin D levels an amount many people would be afraid of. 5000iu+ was needed to actually improve Vitamin D levels. Carlson CLO probally the most respected CLO contains 400iu per teaspoon and before these studies came out many people were scared of it but with this new information we know that 400iu is a drop in the ocean. That being said though I would get my levels tested before deciding on what to use.

I actually purchased those Carlson Vitamin D tabs--they're incredibly small and convenient. Depending on how much sun exposure that I know that I will be getting during the day, I'll adjust how many I take. Like today--working in the office then the gym then working on helmets at home--4 tabs (8000 IU).

The way I see it Cod liver oil is fish oil, since Cod is a fish. Makes sense to me anyway The thing is that since it's derived from liver it is also high in vitamins D and A. I wouldn't be too worried about vitamin D (it's been proven to have many benefits including reducing colon and breast cancer rates - Vitamin D Appears to Cut Cancer Risk), it's vitamin A that's the problem.

As a fat soluble vitamin it can accumulate in the body and high doses of it have been shown to be teratogenic and even carcinogenic. A fairly recent study (2006) of vitamins A, C and E as the antioxidative vitamins in prevention of strokes and heart disease, also found vitamin A very slightly increased these events as opposed to slight decrease seen with Vits C and E (a combo of C and E actually statistically significantly reduced those events).

It's also very important if you take CLO in a form of a liquid or in capsule form. You're obviously getting a whole lot more of vitamins A and D if you're consuming it in table spoonful quantities. If you're after Omega-3s I'd prefer to use a high quality fish oil and get a separate vitamin D supplement. I don't know what brands are available in your area, but make sure it's from a reputable company and that it's derived from fish from cleaner northern oceans and properly cleaned and preserved. A very popular brand here in Ireland is Eskimo-3.

Whether using Carlsons or Krill oil or any other fish oil, how much should be taken in terms of mg of Omega 3 Fatty Acids? or should one calibrate in terms of EPA, DHA, ALA, DPA?

Carlsons CLO has 240mg of Omega 3 so 8 of these would be 1920mg.

Taken from the Weston A. Price foundation:

"Many health conscious individuals avoid cod liver oil and other foods rich in vitamin A because of concerns about vitamin A toxicity. Yet, according to the Merck Manual, vitamin A poisoning is rare. In adults, vitamin A toxicity has been reported in Arctic explorers who developed drowsiness, irritability, headaches and vomiting, with subsequent peeling of the skin, within a few hours of ingesting several million units of vitamin A from polar bear or seal liver. These symptoms cleared up with discontinuation of the vitamin A rich food. Other than this unusual example, however, only vitamin A from "megavitamin tablets containing vitamin A. . . when taken for a long time" has induced acute toxicity, that is, 100,000 IU synthetic vitamin A per day taken for many months. Unless you are an Arctic explorer, it is very difficult to develop vitamin A toxicity from food. The putative toxic dose of 100,000 IU per day would be contained in 3 tablespoons of high vitamin cod liver oil, 6 tablespoons of regular cod liver oil, two-and-one-half 100-gram servings of duck liver, 150 grams of beef liver, seven pounds of butter or 309 egg yolks. Bodybuilders undergoing strenuous exercise can consume even higher amounts without adverse effects."

Ever since I've been recommending cod liver oil for years, I get the vitamin A toxicity questions several times a year.
Personally, I've consumed very large quantities of cod liver oil and have had no symptoms.

Of course, there's also Krill oil, which is probably the absolute best source of Omega-3 due to the phospholipids contained and the astaxanthin in it.

The CLO that I take which is a super high quality called Moellers Tran, has only 250 mcg vitamin A per teaspoon, which is very little.

Caustic is spot on. Concerns of vitamin A toxicity are definitely overblown. The more I learn about vitamin A, the more I realize how critical it is. In my opinion, it comes in at a close second behind D in its importance.

I use the Green Pasture's brand CLO which is produced in Nebraska, of all places. They recently released a fermented type which has significantly more Vitamin K2, as I understand it. I am trying this type now. It is far more expensive, but has no taste whatsoever, which was surprising for a fermented fish oil. The taste of regular CLO never bothered me anyway, but may family used to complain about the smell when I'd open a bottle up. No complaints now.

EIC - That's the total Crème de la Crème of CLO, nice to have that extra K2 in there.

According to Weston Price, Cod Liver Oil improves the assimilation of minerals.

Anyway I totally agree wit EIC, vitamin A toxicity is exaggerated on a lot of sites.

What I find incredible is that most over the counter medications are incredibly toxic and it doesn't get mentioned
except for some alternative health venues. Ibuprofen, acetaminophen and aspirin for example.

Like EIC I have been using Green Pastures products and for the last 2 months their Fermented CLO which was actually the cod liver oil they used in Ancient times. One more thing that is stated on the W.Price site is that not only are the A & D fears overblown people can run in to trouble when the A & D levels in CLO are tinkered with for example Nordic naturals CLO contains moderate amounts of vitamin and no vitamin D they say this can lead to difficulties as they are designed to balance each other out (vits A & D) and I have since stop using these unbalanced CL oils.

CausticSymmetry wrote:EIC - That's the total Crème de la Crème of CLO, nice to have that extra K2 in there.

According to Weston Price, Cod Liver Oil improves the assimilation of minerals.

Anyway I totally agree wit EIC, vitamin A toxicity is exaggerated on a lot of sites.

What I find incredible is that most over the counter medications are incredibly toxic and it doesn't get mentioned
except for some alternative health venues. Ibuprofen, acetaminophen and aspirin for example.

Exactly. I find that, as a general matter, it is hard to OD on natural substances. It appears that the body has various feedback mechanisms to deal with excessive amounts of a vitamin or mineral. But pharmaceuticals are so potent that even a little bit over the line can have tremendous effects. Plus, they often damage the body's ability to detoxify! A terrible combination.

EIC - Great point. I find in most medical circles and lay people it is very hard to shake the belief system that drugs are almost the safe as food.

I going to quote from something I wrote a long time ago, to add emphasis to what EIC said.

"Health is not the central underlying issue with the current business infrastructure of our western medicines. As long as the drugs are not clearly toxic, carcinogenic, or death provoking, side effects are not only acceptable, but are the rule in drug-oriented medical practice.

The powerful influence that drug makers have is quite enormous in our medical community today. Powerful enough in fact to determine the direction that medicine has become, and the courses taught to medical students. Nutritional education has become minimal and reduced to ineffectual generalities. Physicians today by and large are more familiar with drug interactions, drug research, and toxic behaviors than health promoting effects of food and nutrition.

Drug companies and the profits generated from patented drugs are the force that natural methods and industry have to reckon with. Unfortunately, our awareness of health is driven by what the pharmaceutical industry feeds us. The politics of health lean towards drug-oriented medicine. As long as current conditions exist in our medical community, natural remedies will continue to be overshadowed in the face of drug profits.

Compounds found in herbs have drug-like effects and are often without negative side effects like their drug counterparts. Most drugs are created using components of herbs or plants. The difference between drugs and herbs are the removal and strength of individual constituents. Plants contain many beneficial substances; some examples are flavonoids, fatty acids, saponins, alkaloids, phytochemicals, sterols, etc. While herbs or plants are whole, drugs are only a part removed from the plant and then concentrated for potency.

The problems are many, for drugs lack the synergy or balance that whole herbs contain. Inasmuch as a component is removed from its composite, it cannot function properly. This is part of the reason why side effects occur are a given when a drug is introduced."

I don't found where I listened that vitamin can drop the very high level of vitamin A (who are dangerous in high level), but cod liver oil contain also vitamin A... For the Krill oil it's the same problem withless vitamin D... they are so much vit A and E and it's not that I want. It's a problem

Tyler Durden - Krill oil contains usually between 50 to 200 IU of Vitamin a per serving. This is an extremely minuscule amount. Nothing to be worried about.

CausticSymmetry wrote:Tyler Durden - Krill oil contains usually between 50 to 200 IU of Vitamin a per serving. This is an extremely minuscule amount. Nothing to be worried about.

Ok, I said I listened on your website that vitamin D can drop high level of vitamin A.. but there are only in Cod liver oil where I can found this vitamin natural?

Tyler Durden - If you're asking where can one find a natural source of Vitamin A, green foods are usually loaded with it. In particular the algae foods, such as Chlorella and Spirulina.