While in bed last night I suddenly thought about cod liver oil. Tomorrow I'll take it I told to myself. I bought a pot perhaps even two to get myself through the Winter. As I ordered it online -most likely because I suddenly bumped into it- I remembered how my grandmother gave me a spoon of it before bedtime.
I still see myself standing in her bedroom. I never understood when and why cod liver oil lost its popularity but in a way it did or perhaps my grandmother no longer cared about my health? At home we never used it. Can be my parents disliked it since vitamins C 25mg and 'Davitomon 10' was a common 'treat' as soon as the "r" was in the month (from September on).
I never had specific feelings about this oil. It was mouth open and the spoon was shoved in. No need to keep my nose closed. There are worse tastes than cod liver oil soap for example. My mother who cursed like a sailor herself loved to wash my mouth with it if I used a word she couldn't appreciate or just spoke. That word wasn't a curse but could be any word she didn't like to hear. Of course, I already as a young child knew it wasn't about the word but showing she ruled and her word was law. If you think Thatcher was the iron lady you never met my mother. Next to soap pills do not taste great either. It's true most are bitter and even if I swallow them with a bottle of water I still taste it the next day. Some say dirty pills work the best but I have strong doubts if that's true, doubts if it comes to the benefit and the taste. Today many dirty tablets are covered with a layer, some colourful sugar coating and at times they look like Smarties. Interesting enough for children to consume the entire pot unless they bite on the first and keep chewing.
Before I decided to search for the pot with cod liver oil pills I decided to read a bit more about it on the internet. I read an article about the Vikings, how they prepared it and now I know why we call it 'levertraan' (liver tear). Above a pot of boiling (steaming) water the liver was placed on branches and started dripping (tearing). Apparently, that oil didn't smell and either we're you. To be honest I cannot remember people taking this oil smelled but it can be it depends on the oil they bought, its quality. I assume we'll never know if it's true.
As I searched for the benefits of cod liver oil each hit told me nearly the same. It's good for your health, contains vitamin A and D and Omega 3 (fat fish provides you with it). I read an article about the first time the benefits of the oil were published (at least in Europe) about a case of a woman with reuma and she was free of pain after some weeks (about 300 years ago). Apparently, cod liver oil fights inflammation and is clearly worth trying. One article stated the oil can make the skin very dry. It made me think since arthritis is common with older people and dryer skin is a result of ageing too. This remark didn't make sense to me. Can be it depends on the type of fish/oil used but it was good enough to search on.
Once I searched for 'cod liver oil' and 'skin' totally different articles showed up. Each one of them stated how good it fights dry skin. Since the bottle I bought doesn't tell which fish's liver is used I will give it a try. The pot I bought is good for four months. That should be long enough to figure out if anything has changed if it comes to my immune system. For now, I don't count on it -indeed I am sceptical and the chance of being allergic is present- but it's worth the try.
With all honesty cod liver oil haven't cross my path, that is the only vitamins that my mother never introduce to us maybe because as I remembered it was expensive or she preferred the herbs. My friend told me how awful the smell but she loves it, leaving me wondering what benefit it gives. Until today even others says how good it is, I am not into it.