Written by Catherine Saxelby
on Tuesday, 08 October 2013.
Tagged: fish oil, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, oil, omega-3, pregnancy, supplements
A. Fish oil and cod liver oil are two different oils even though they both come from fish and have a similar fatty acid profile.
Fish oil is extracted from the flesh of tuna, herring, cod and other deep-sea oily fish species. It’s rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as EPA and DHA but doesn’t have much vitamin A or D.
Cod liver oil comes from the liver of the cod fish. It has less omega-3s but is very rich in vitamins A and D. It was routinely spooned out to children in the 1960s as a source of vitamin D in northern Europe where sunlight is limited during their long winters. And it may return to fashion again given the increasing reports of borderline deficiency of vitamin D now appearing.
Some people take cod liver oil in winter when they spend less time outdoors so don’t make their own vitamin D from sunshine, then switch to fish oil in summer so as to not take in more vitamin D than they need.
If you like numbers, cod liver oil contains less EPA and DHA (around 8% EPA and 10% DHA) than fish oil (at 18%EPA and 12%DHA).
If you’re pregnant, too much vitamin A can potentially cause birth defects so it’s one vitamin to watch so as not to overdose. So to be on the safe side, stick to the safe upper limit of 10,000IU (3000mcg) per day – cod liver oils carry a warning about not exceeding this limit during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
The manufacturer Melrose tells me that a daily dose of 4ml (just less than a level metric teaspoon which is 5ml) of their cod liver oil contains:
So if you're pregnant, stick to their suggested 4ml teaspoon a day (or other label intakes) and you'll be fine.
Adults
700mcg for women 19 to 70+
900mcg for men 19 to 70+
800mcg for pregnant women
1100mcg during breastfeeding
Children
300mcg for children 1 to 3 years
400mcg for children 4 to 8 years
600mcg for children 9 to 13 years
700mcg for teen girls 14 to 18 years
900mcg for teen boy 14 to 18 years
mcg stands for micrograms which are one-thousandth of a milligram.
IU stands for International Units.
Use this to work out how much vitamin A is in your supplement - sometimes only one figure is given in IUs and it's impossible to know if it's high or not without these quick conversions:
700mcg = 1500IU
800mcg = 2400IU
900mcg = 3000IU
1100mcg = 3300IU
3000mcg = 10000IU
Image of fish oil capsules from jcoterhals via photopin
Catherine Saxelby has the answers! She is an accredited nutritionist, blogger and award-winning author. Her award-winning book My Nutritionary will help you cut through the jargon. Do you know your MCTs from your LCTs? How about sterols from stanols? What’s the difference between glucose and dextrose? Or probiotics and prebiotics? What additive is number 330? How safe is acesulfame K? If you find yourself confused by food labels, grab your copy of Catherine Saxelby’s comprehensive guide My Nutritionary NOW!
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