Why I Take Fermented Cod Liver Oil (this will surprise you)

****Update 2-25-2016   We are no longer purchasing from Green Pasture.  Information has surfaced that the FCLO is actually toxic.  Google it....there's a ton of info.  Cheeseslave has a lot to say about it too here. Wonderful, right?!  How long did we take this?!  I am now using doTERRA's Life Long Vitality and the kids are taking doTERRA's IQ Mega.*****



My current passion has been studying Fermented Cod Liver Oil (FCLO).  Sounds fishy doesn't?  Sorry, couldn't resist.  Lol

Remember back when everyone was talking about fish oil and how you should be taking it?  Well we listened, sorta.  I just donated 1 very large bottle of our fish oil capsules to our local soup kitchen.  We took the fish oil capsules, sorta, for a while.  Then stopped.  Didn't really feel a difference so we stopped.  The reason we didn't feel a difference?  The stuff we were taking was crap.

Now that there is so much noise about FCLO I had to buy some, start taking it and start doing some heavy research on the subject.  So, here is what I found.

Why should you take FCLO?
-decreases bad cholesterol
-increases good cholesterol
-can heal cavities (When taken with butter oil.  I will go further into detail later on)
-can prevent cavities
-can prevent illness (colds, flu)
-can boost your immune system
-can decrease the healing time from a cold by at least 1/2 (I know from experience)
-give you more energy (definitely agree with this!)
-when given to young children, can prevent or decrease the future need for glasses and braces
-very nutrient dense
-great source of Vitamins A, E, K and D
-fermented (good for your gut)
-decreases inflammation
-full of omega 3's (EPA and DHA)
-can fight infections
-it has never been heated, which retains all the vitamins and nutrients available
-consistent testing occurs to insure the FCLO is mercury free
-cod are wild caught
-helps fill in the holes (if I don't eat our healthy foods at home every day I know I am still covered)
-can help with infertility issues
-if taken before you get pregnant can increase health in your baby exponentially!
-it does not taste bad at all, trust me here me and my 2 kids take the liquid form no problem.  I have heard that the fermented tastes better than the old formula which was very fishy.

Where do you want to buy your FCLO and butter oil?  Once place...Green Pasture.  And Radiant Life carries Green Pasture products for a little less money and shipping (and right now they are offering 10% off!).  Just make sure the bottle reads Green Pasture.

Why do I need to buy Fermented cod liver oil?  Why can't I just buy cod liver oil?  There is a real difference here.  Fermenting the fish and fish livers is an ancient practice.  The resulting oils were considered sacred.  "Many great cultures had one sacred food in common which they relied upon to ensure strong mind, body and spirit of their people.  The Mighty Roman Soldier consumed a daily ration of fermented fish oil.  The Stoic Scandinavian Viking kept a drum of fermenting cod livers outside he door of his home.  Even Grandma had the wisdom to keep a bottle of cod liver oil in her cupboard."(1)  
Fermenting is a natural procedure that takes months.  Cod liver oil that is not fermented and from Green Pastures has been heated to speed up the process of acquiring the end result, cod liver oil.  Heating kills and destroys the nutrients and vitamins your body needs.  So, in a nutshell but fermented, don't waste your money on cod liver oil that has been heated. 

Dosing-recommended to take first thing in the morning
Adults
1-1 1/2 tsp each day
plus
1/2 tsp butter oil each day

Kids
1/2-1 tsp each day
plus
1/2 tsp butter oil each day

The first bottles we bought from Green Pasture was their Blue Ice Arctic Mint Liquid Fermented Cod Liver Oil and their Blue Ice non-gelatin capsules.  And believe it or not but myself and my 2 kids take the liquid without a problem.  The liquid comes with a syringe.  I have the kids open their mouth, tilt their head back, stick their tongue out and I squirt the FCLO at the very back of their tongue.  Then they take a drink of raw milk.  No problem at all.  Makes me very proud of them.  Hubby didn't think he wanted to try the liquid so we got him the capsules, no prob.  :-)

I do not recommend you take the FCLO without the Butter Oil.  The butter oil helps the body absorb as much of the FCLO that your body can.  Without the butter oil, you are getting benefits from the FCLO but not like you do with it.

If you don't want to spend the money on the butter oil, make your own.  It will not be as "perfect" as the butter oil is from Green Pasture's but it will be close.

Here is how you make you own butter oil or ghee (this will be up tomorrow).  Thank you Sarah Pope at The Healthy Home Economist.

*Information gathered from the following resources...
-Sarah Pope's ebook "Get your fats straight."
-Green Pasture website
-Radiant Life website
-Wise Traditions The Cod Liver Oil Debate by Chris Masterjohn
-The Healthy Home Economist website
-And of course my own personal experience
-Even though I have not finished reading it yet, Dr. Weston A Price's book titled "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration" is the foundation to all of this information.  I did find a website that was offering his book to read for free as an ebook, click here.  
(1)-Quoted from Green Pasture

For a little cod liver oil humor, click here.

And if you would like to hear the cod liver oil songs, click here. 

Keep trying to live green. :-)

Does Having a Cold Mean Sinus Problems to You?

Well, then do I have some wonderful news for you!  

Picture of an actual Netti Pot.

For many years I have heard people talk about the Neti Pot.  What's a neti pot?  Wikipedia describes a neti pot as a device that is used for irrigating the nasal passages.  They are used to flush out the nasal cavities by using gravity to draw the flow of saline.


I have always been intrigued about the neti pot and when I get a cold it usually goes into my sinuses.


So, months ago my father-in-law gave me a sinus rinse bottle.  It looks like this...

And since I have taught the kids to share so well (ha ha) my youngest has shared his wonderful little cold with me.  When I woke up the first morning with that head congested, sore throat, I am getting a cold feeling, for some reason the first thought that came into my head was the neti pot in the cubbard.  So, that is where I headed.


It came with little packets of sinus rinse.  The sinus rinse packets have 2 ingredients...
1.  Sodium chloride-common table salt
2.  Sodium bicarbonate-baking soda


You pour the package into the squeeze bottle and fill with bottled or filtered water to the fill line.  Shake well.  Stand over a sink with mouth open and gently squeeze the bottle into one nostril.  It is a weird feeling, that I can best describe as you think you are drowning, but once you learn to calm down and breath through your mouth you are fine.  You squeeze the bottle continuously until you use between 1/4-1/2 of the filled bottle.  The liquid comes out the opposite nostril you are squeezing the liquid into.  Then you blow your nose.  And repeat with the other nostril. 


I am NOT going to post pictures of this. Lol.  But I will tell you that it was amazing what came out when I did blow my nose (no more details than that lol).  And I felt amazing!!  The directions say to do this 2 times per day.  I did it 2 times per day when I felt really bad and now I am just doing it first thing when I wake in the morning.


I still have a tiny bit of a scratchy throat.  But hey I can handle that!!  At least I am not getting worse and I do not have the head congested sinus pressure that I usually get with a cold. 


So, in summary....I AM SOLD on this!!  I suggest buying the squeeze bottle type, is so easy to use.  Keep it in your bathroom so you are prepared when a cold/sinus problem hits.  


Plus keep pushing foods high in vitamin C in this weather!


Let me know what you think!




Note:  After using this for a few consecutive days, I did notice my nose was dried out and would bleed a little when I would blow my nose.  So, if you seem to have a sensitivity, every day use is not recommended.  Try every other day or every 2 days.


New note!!!!!  ONLY use filtered or RO water!!!!!!!  NEVER use tap water!!!  Please read this article.  People have died from using tap water in their neti pot!