Blue Ice Fermented Cod Liver Oil Question

[Coatue]

Do you take CLO on an empty stomach or with food? Can you mix it with water and drink it?

[Josh]

I take it on an empty stomach. I think it may not digest well mixed with things. I take it straight...got used to the taste very quickly. I quite like it.

[Haai]

I often spread/pour it on fish. It's nice with tuna.

[CitrusHigh]

I try to take it with food, but not with too much fiber, I don't want it being bound with anything and carried out. Still I think if your digestive system is in pretty good order it should be absorbed pretty well. Plus you should feel it working. If you're like me you notice tolerance to certain naughty foods increases when I'm getting enough of the FCLO/or FSLO.

[PaleoPhil]

I take it on an empty stomach. I think it may not digest well mixed with things. I take it straight...got used to the taste very quickly. I quite like it.

Which flavor?

If you're like me you notice tolerance to certain naughty foods increases when I'm getting enough of the FCLO/or FSLO.

Yup, same here, though it's a pretty subtle effect for me.

[Josh]

It's the original unflavoured Phil.

[PaleoPhil]

Wow, impressive, Josh. I'm on my first bottle of the unflavored. At first it smelled and tasted like a rotted dead fish that has been lying on the beach in the sun for a week, but I figured I'd probably get used to it and kept at it. Sure enough, it's pretty mild now. My mouth seems to have gotten used to it, but in my throat it still tastes a bit rotten. With the mint-flavored kind I eventually came to like the taste and I figure that will happen with the unflavored too.

[CitrusHigh]

when I take the stuff drink it straight from the bottle, the unflavored antioxidant free variety, and what I found is that you taste this oil up in the front of the tongue so if you cup your tongue a bit and let the oil roll out on to the center of it then swallow, there is little taste and only a slight scratchy in the throat.

I go with the flavor and antioxidant free because I don't know what effect those essential oils have on the target oil. Except for when I get the Fermented Skate Liver oil which only comes in spicy orange. That, I actually quite enjoy.

They're potent oils, that is for sure, plenty of lifeforce within!

[PaleoPhil]

I also get a bit of the strong rotted fish taste once it reaches the throat. Very strange. I did not think there were any taste receptors back there.

[Coatue]

Does the CLO need to be refrigerated?

[Josh]

It says it does...but obviously sent through the post to me unrefrigerated. Maybe it would keep outside, but it might complete it's fermentation or something and change state somehow.

[RawZi]

Does the CLO need to be refrigerated?

    Yes I think so. I bought some. It came cold. I've had this bottle in the refrigerator about a year.

[CitrusHigh]

I also get a bit of the strong rotted fish taste once it reaches the throat. Very strange. I did not think there were any taste receptors back there.

The last couple days I've been drinking the stuff and it is so close to enjoyable I can hardly believe it. Today there was no itchyness in the back of my through and I allowed the stuff to cover my whole tongue front to back. At this rate I will be thoroughly enjoying it in a few days and the days of my thinking the is repulsive will be a thing of the past. You have to control your mind though, most of the yuck factor is in your head.

[laterade]

I have a bottle of carlson's cod liver oil.
No refrigeration, still good after three months

[CitrusHigh]

haha yeah, that's because that crap is highly refined CLO with the vitamins sucked out and then synthetic vitamins added in to it. In other words, you're essentially paying for a denatured oil and a synthetic vitamin..and that is a bummer!

[PaleoPhil]

You have to control your mind though, most of the yuck factor is in your head.

Well, my mind apparently changed then, because I don't have any yuck factor any more and it didn't take long. It's funny, though, I don't remember changing my mind about anything. I actually expected the taste to get better with time and I don't have any trouble believing it, because that was my experience with high meat and other healthy foods that tasted bad or strong at first, though it is amazing that something that tastes so horrible at first only takes days to get used to. I think I know what you mean, though. My father refuses to even try cod liver oil, because he didn't like it as a kid. I wonder why the old timers I've heard say they took it as a kid don't report that they got used to the taste? Maybe they didn't take the raw fermented form and maybe that form is easier to get used to? Kind of like the way thoroughly cooked liver always tastes nasty to a lot of kids regardless of how many times their parents make them eat it and raw liver is less bitter and easier to get used to?

[CitrusHigh]

Well, my mind apparently changed then, because I don't have any yuck factor any more and it didn't take long. It's funny, though, I don't remember changing my mind about anything. I actually expected the taste to get better with time and I don't have any trouble believing it, because that was my experience with high meat and other healthy foods that tasted bad or strong at first, though it is amazing that something that tastes so horrible at first only takes days to get used to. I think I know what you mean, though. My father refuses to even try cod liver oil, because he didn't like it as a kid. I wonder why the old timers I've heard say they took it as a kid don't report that they got used to the taste? Maybe they didn't take the raw fermented form and maybe that form is easier to get used to? Kind of like the way thoroughly cooked liver always tastes nasty to a lot of kids regardless of how many times their parents make them eat it and raw liver is less bitter and easier to get used to?

if You're eating high meat then i'd imagine FCLO would be a walk in the park! haha But I was referring to your comment about the rotten fish taste and scratchiness in the back of your throat, those two have disappeared for me. But aside from yourself, I don't know anyone else who swills the FCLO unflavored! So good on ya!

[PaleoPhil]

if You're eating high meat then i'd imagine FCLO would be a walk in the park! haha

Actually, the unflavored RFCLO tasted a lot lousier to me at first than high meat, the degree to which was something of a surprise to me, because I actually slightly liked the taste of mint RFCLO the first time I tried it, even though I could hardly taste the mint at first, and I had come to like the mint flavored a lot by the time I tried the RFCLO.

But I was referring to your comment about the rotten fish taste and scratchiness in the back of your throat

Hmmm, I don't remember talking about scratchiness in this thread, maybe you mean another thread? I did get that, though, when I first tried the mint flavored and I actually liked the feeling for some reason, but it gradually went away. I got it again a little when I tried the unflavored for the first time, but again I liked it.

those two have disappeared for me. But aside from yourself, I don't know anyone else who swills the FCLO unflavored! So good on ya!

Thanks, and good on Josh too!

[Ali]

I tried the butter oil/fermented cod oil first but did not like the pasty consistency. It only comes with a gel and I did not notice when I ordered and it also has silica added to give it the gel form and I suppose to blend the oils better. When I contacted Dave at Green Pastures about the source of the silica, he replied in full: "it's inert, like sand."

I think it's better to order the butter oil (if you're going to take it; it's supposed to increase the effect of the cod oil) separately from the fermented cod liver oil and make your own mixture. That way, you're not getting the silica additive. I get mine from Renewed Health Supply. You get a small discount and no-cost shipping even if you order only one bottle. I'm not connected to them other than as a satisfied customer. At the price of this stuff, I like to save a little where I can.

[van]

In college I went to school one winter in Northern Mi. where there was no sun.  My shins ached so bad when I would walk to my classes.  I read up and tried Cod liver oil according to Adelle Davis.  Worked like a charm inside of a day or two.  I'd stop taking it, and the pain would come back.  I had three separate experiences with this sequence totally convincing me of the powers of cod liver oil.  A few years ago,  I tried fermented oil, and felt I needed to respect the burn in the back of my mouth and throat.  I associate this with oxidized pufa's and threw it out.  My thoughts are that it most likely has great Vit D offerings but at the risk of highly oxidized oil.  Any fish oil will go rancid very quickly if not completely kept away from oxygen, heat, and light.  I am curious as to the chemistry of oil fermenting in the first place.  What is the mechanism going on.  When I was in Norway on one of the islands for  a week, I would occasionally tried the drying cod being dried all over the place.  It had the same incredible burn in the back of my mouth.  So yes, they have survived on the stuff as a staple through hard times. But at what expense.  Even highly saturated beef back fat in my fridge will go rancid or oxidize in a month or so. 
   I would love to have some feedback should you like, for if I'm wrong, I'd consider it again.  I could also add I spent months researching and calling all over the world for cold processed fish oils.  Each sample sent to me, presumably only weeks after processing, had that same bite in the back of the mouth, and my body was telling me NO.  I never get that bit with the fresh raw fatty oils from eating fresh fatty salmon or herring ect.  Again, I understand omega three pufa's to be highly perishable.   

[CitrusHigh]

You are a cool guy Van! I feel you, and I've wondered lately after checking in to the ratfish oil link Ty posted a lil while back, if damage isn't being done to the oil during fermentation. Ive tried to source frozen cod livers for this exact reason. Sadly to no avail thus far. Have you tried the ratfish oil? Supposedly it is very fresh, but who knows!

[Duke]

Why not take Krill oil instead. It has astaxanthin as well, a very potent anti-oxidant. You reap the benefits of two powerful substances. That's what I am taking right now, unless someone can point me to a better direction.

[CitrusHigh]

Isn't Krill oil typically chemically extracted with something like acetone? I researched it a while back when Mercola was on a rant again about how CLO isn't the right ratio or some bullshit but his Krill oil was supposed to be the bees knees. Then after a little research into processing it was not pretty.

[van]

No haven't tried the ratfish oil.  As to the Krill,  I don't think it has Vit D. Although not sure.  let me know if you do try it.  To add to me take on Ice blue...  In the winter in Norway and other northern countries there's obviously little if any sunlight, hence to their credit, someone found a way to get the Vit D. rich oils out of the livers.  Back then no one knew of oxidized omega threes.  And my guess is that it would have hard to simply press the livers to extract the oil.  I spoke at length to a salmon oil processor in Alaska.  He swore that you'd not get any real oil out of the salmon carcasses they buy if one didn't add heat.  He claimed to got to 130 F.  Not that early peoples could not have added heat, but probably found it much easier to simple throw the livers in a wooden barrel and let the proteins become denatured by rotting, and my guess is that the oil will then float to the surface or can be strained from the broken down fleshy proteins.  It was described to me by the owner of Ice blue that this fermented process was a time honor method that has been used for centuries but of course is only used by a few remaining peoples and how time or labor intensive it is.  Also when I was in Norway I wanted to find a raw cod liver and eat it.  But the one caught by the friend I made at the hotel with boat launch, was full of what looked to be cancerous lesions, or something that you wouldn't want to eat.  So I never got to bite into an oily rich cod liver.  Oh well. 

[Duke]

Isn't Krill oil typically chemically extracted with something like acetone? I researched it a while back when Mercola was on a rant again about how CLO isn't the right ratio or some bullshit but his Krill oil was supposed to be the bees knees. Then after a little research in to processing it was not pretty.

As far as I know Mercola says: "Quality is of the essence when selecting any supplement and krill oil is no exception. The only kind of krill oil I recommend is genuine  processed krill.

Krill is collected in pristine deep-water seas far from industrial areas, and is harvested in compliance with international conservation standards. It’s also processed through a cold extraction method that preserves the biological benefits of the krill, and creates an oil that is free of heavy metals, PCBs, dioxins and other contaminants."

So avoid any brand that only has "krill" oil and look for one that you are certain contains krill oil."



What did your research tell you? Mercola is very particular about the integrity of his products again as far as i know. So that's new to me...Can you tell me what did you find out that wasnt pretty about his krill oil?