Over the past few months I have seen a lot of recommendations to take Fermented Cod Liver/Butter oil. This combination is a very bioavailable source of fat soluble vitamins A, D and K2. The Weston A. Price Foundation recommends that Cod liver/Butter Oil be taken daily. Many people around the Paleosphere, such as Diane Sanfilippo and Liz Wolfe of Balanced Bites and Chris Kresser extol the benefits of taking Fermented Cod Liver/Butter Oil on their podcasts.
Since I am on a quest to optimize my health, I decided to give it a try. The product that is most often recommended is Green Pasture Fermented Cod Liver/Butter Oil blend. I Googled it and was confronted with a plethora of choices.
I was overwhelmed. Many of them sounded ghastly. I couldn’t imagine taking Cinnamon or Chocolate flavored Butter/Cod liver Oil. I am not a fan of artificial flavors, and combining them with Cod Liver Oil seemed unwise. Since the dose recommended by the Weston A. Price Foundation is one teaspoon a day, I opted to purchase a gel form rather than capsules. I figured it would be easier to get the proper dose. The product I ended up purchasing was the non-flavored gel.
On one of the podcasts I listened to, I heard someone mention that he took his Cod Liver Oil in a bit of water. This seemed like a reasonable thing to do. A teaspoon of cod liver oil diluted in a glass of water should be fairly benign, right? WRONG! The gelatinous cod liver/butter oil did not mix into the water. It stayed in globs. As I drank the water, the globs clumped back together. I had a fail the first day and was unable to swallow the stuff.
I analyzed my options for trying to make this stuff palatable enough for me to ingest (it was pretty pricey and I didn’t want to just give up). The Mary Poppins method was out, since a spoonful of sugar is not Paleo. I came up with the theory that the reason I couldn’t get the cod liver oil to mix into the water was the temperature. The water was cold, so the cod liver oil stayed solid. I decided to try mixing it in with my first cup of coffee.
The next morning I plopped a teaspoon of the cod liver/butter oil gel into my coffee and stirred it with a spoon. It stayed pretty blobby and didn’t really mix in. I had heard some talk about Bulletproof Coffee and decided to use that method. I got out my immersion blender and whipped the cod liver/butter oil into my coffee. I got a few sips down. It was pretty foul. I tried mixing in some coconut milk. That didn’t help. Finally I decided to just chug the stuff down and get it over with. I proceeded to do so and barely managed to keep from projectile vomiting.
The following morning I could not face another attempt. I have one of those stomachs that is slow to wake up. I have a hard time eating delicious food in the morning. I just could not face the cod liver/butter oil. I decided to try after work which is a time when I can stomach more things.
That evening I decided to try the hold your nose, swallow and swig something good method. I put ½ teaspoon of the cod liver oil in my moth while holding my nose. I took a swig of my kombucha and swallowed it. The tart flavor of the kombucha actually masked the nasty aftertaste of the cod liver oil. I have since been able to get the entire teaspoon down in one swig.
Given my experience with taking a cod liver/butter oil supplement, my mind was boggled the other day while listening to a Balanced Bites podcast. Diane Sanfilippo and Liz Wolfe were talking about Paleo FX and their experiences there. One of them mentioned staying with a group of people and having two bottles of the Green Pastures Fermented Cod Liver/Butter Oil Blend in the refrigerator. She said that everyone was taking spoonfuls of it, like it was no big deal. Am I the only one who has a problem taking it?
Rancho Seabow Permaculture 