Osteoarthritis is the most common of all joint disorders and is one of the leading causes of disability.  Osteoarthritis increases with age from 1% in people <30 years to 10% in those <40 years to more than 50% in individuals >60 years of age

Three key ingredients in skate liver oil help reduce joint pain - chondrotin, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D.

Chondroitin appears to help restore cartilage around joints and/or prevent further damage.  Almost all studies using chondroitin for the treatment of osteoarthritis have showed that chondroitin supplementation is effective for pain relief and improvement in function.

Skate oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids.  Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to reduce pain and inflammation by reducing the production of inflammation-producing chemicals in the body.  A recent Australian study showed that fish oil reduced the use of chemical anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) by 75% in arthritic patients and reduced inflammation-causing chemicals by up to 41%.

Vitamin D is also a useful supplement for those suffering from joint pain.  Vitamin D is necessary in order to absorb calcium from foods. Without enough vitamin D, calcium will be in short supply, and your body will then take the calcium that it needs to function from your bones. This can make your bones less solid and weak.  The outer layer of your bones can also become soft and spongy.  The spongy layer may cause pain by expanding and pressing against sensitive tissues covering the bones (osteomalacia).Because vitamin D supports healthy bones, getting an adequate amount of it can help persons with many types of bone and joint pain.

Be aware that vitamin D usually doesn’t provide immediate relief from aches and pains like pain killers.  Vitamin D works on the cause of the problem rather than masking the symptoms.  It can take weeks or even months before improvement is felt.  Be patient and stick with your supplementation.

Almost all cod liver oil is sourced from Norway and Iceland.  Industrial cod liver oil manufacturing involves alkali refining, bleaching, winterization and deodorization.  These processes remove natural vitamin D from the oil.  Almost all factories either produce vitamin deficient cod liver oil (vitamin D <900 IU per teaspoon) or add synthetic vitamins back into the oil (the most common procedure eg. Nordic Naturals).  Until early 2009 we were able to source cod liver oil from a factory that added the natural vitamins back into the processed cod liver oil.  Unfortunately, this factory has now followed the cheaper more commercial path of producing synthetically enhanced cod liver oil. 

For those of you that have been using our product lines over the last few years, you will notice that our standard high-vitamin cod liver oil is now "off the menu".  Since we couldn't source a natural cod liver oil - we couldn't stock one.  The only natural cod liver oil that is high in vitamins A and D on the market is the fermented cod liver oil produced by Green Pasture that we stock.  This oil is batch brewed in Nebraska from cod livers using traditional lacto-fermentation and non-toxic methods without using heat and carbon filters that damage vitamins and omega-3 oils.  The result is a high vitamin cod liver oil containing 4000-9000 IU vitamin A and 3000-4000 IU vitamin D per teaspoon.  Super high-vitamin and exquisitely processed to preserve the natural qualities of cod liver oil.

We refuse to carry inferior products - and if you're already one of our customers we know that you've refused to use inferior products. 

A common question that we're asked is "what's the difference between taking our cod liver oil compared to other fish oils?"

Here's some of the main differences:

• Our cod liver oil contains vitamin A and D in a balanced form (see previous articles about acceptable ratios of A:D). Other fish oils have little or no vitamins - they are "hollow"
• Our cod liver oil is mercury free and every batch is tested.  Cod liver oil is made from the liver where as most fish oils are made from fish flesh. Mercury is water soluable and found in fish flesh.
• Vitamin A found in cod liver oil protects agains toxins such as dioxins found in fish oils - Vitamin A isn't present in other fish oils
• Omega-3s are notoriously hard to process.  Commercial processing of fish oils often uses heat, deodorising, pressure - all processes which damage omega-3s.  These oils often become oxidised.  Our cod liver oil is processed without any of these harsh processes.
• In 2008, Consumer investigated fish oils on the NZ market and found that 60% of the brands they tested had unnaceptable oxidation levels (over 20% oxidation). Another 17% of brands didn't contain the levels of omega-3s stated.

Omega-3s have been given amazing press over the last 5 years, and rightly so.  They do appear to be very useful for health.  Get some vitamin A and D with your omega-3s to really boost your health!

There seem to be a large number of cod liver oil suppliers taking a ride on the good name of cod liver oil and it's proven benefits.  Unfortunately the quality of most of the oil supplied is less than satisfactory.  If you can find a cod liver oil that is processed as cleanly as ours and can fulfil the criteria underneath - you should buy it!

Key things to look for in your cod liver oil:

1. Check if the oils are cleaned,deodorised and then the natural vitamins are then added back in. 

This is a very difficult process and is expensive. Unless your supplier specifically states they use this process they aren't doing it.  Likelihood is they are adding in synthetic vitamins after they removed the vitamins that were there in the first place -crazy!

2. Look at the ratio of Vitamin A : Vitamin D

An excellent cod liver oil which has not been processed to disrupt the natural levels of vitamins A:D should be 10:1 or less.

In our New Zealand competitors their ratio will be between 30:1 to 150:1.  Vitamin A and Vitamin D work together. If these ratios are disrupted the effectiveness of both vitamins will suffer and may lead to unsafe levels of vitamin A.

As with anything you put in or on your body - check your labels.

Our oil is more expensive than most other brands - but we guarantee that you'll be getting better nutrition and quality in our products. 

If you're getting a case of the winter blues with the change in weather - you're not alone.  The winter climate can bring about a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) - a condition in which a shortage of sun can provoke anything from dark moods to full-blown depression.

In warmer months, the body can create vitamin D from the skin being exposed to direct sunlight. In winter this obviously doesn't happen.  Those afflicted with SAD may are often advised to take antidepressants.

Those looking to lighten up their mood during the darker months more naturally might be interested in research which suggests that SAD may respond to a nutritional approach.  There is an increasing body of research that suggests that vitamin D has important roles to play in the brain. These basic facts have led scientists to test whether supplementing with vitamin D might help lift the symptoms of SAD.

In one such study, just five days of treatment with vitamin D (at a dose of 400 or 800 IU per day) was found to improve winter mood. In another piece of research, the mood of SAD sufferers was found to improve more in individuals treated with a single dose of 100,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D than in those treated with light therapy. Further evidence for the potential for vitamin D to alleviate SAD came from a study in which individuals were treated with either 600 or 4000 IU of vitamin D each day for at least six months. Both dosages of vitamin D led to improvements in the participants’ mood and general well-being, with those on the higher dose of vitamin D benefiting the most.

The research strongly suggests that supplementing with cod liver oil can improve your mood and treat SAD.

In the largest study yet of the association between vitamin D and respiratory infections, people with the lowest blood vitamin D levels reported having significantly more recent colds or cases of the flu. The risks were even higher for those with chronic respiratory disorders such as asthma.

This study analysed blood levels of vitamin D from almost 19,000 adult and adolescents.

Vitamin C has been used for the prevention of colds for decades, but little scientific evidence supports its effectiveness. In contrast, evidence has accumulated that vitamin D plays a key role in the immune system.

The wintertime deficiency of vitamin D, which the body produces in response to sunlight, has been implicated in the seasonal increase in colds and flu, and previous small studies have suggested an association between low blood levels of vitamin D and a higher risk of respiratory infections.

All this means that healthy adults, who typically get two colds a year, might suffer an extra one if they're vitamin D deficient. For people with asthma or COPD, who get around four or five colds annually, lack of vitamin D might tack on additional infections, but exactly how many isn’t known.

This study again highlights the importance of vitamin D in the functioning of the immune system.  In winter time, when exposure to sunlight is at an all time low supplementing with cod liver oil to boost vitamin D levels is a must!

Adit Ginde, of the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine provided some more great updates on the importance of vitamin D and illness.

Research indicates that a lack of vitamin D is associated with weaker production of an antimicrobial peptide called hCAP-18, a protein that works with immune-system cells to kill pathogens (invading bugs).

"We think that if you're exposed to a virus [and] you have sufficient vitamin D, those cells will be better equipped to fight off that organism so you don’t get an infection," says Ginde,. In people with vitamin D deficiency, it's possible that "those cells don’t work as well so you're more like to get a cold or infection or something more severe."

"It's clear that the American population needs more vitamin D overall for its effects on bone health and the growing literature on non-skeletal benefits for general health," says Ginde, who expects participants in an upcoming vitamin D trial will get the amped up levels of 1000-2000 IUs that advocates are pushing for.

If you thought your mother or grandmother thought of giving you cod liver oil for your health - you were way off the mark!

• Roman soldiers were given a daily ration of fermented fish/liver oil.
• Scandinavian vikings had a drum of fermented cod livers outside the door of their homes.
• Cod liver oil was the focus of a worldwide health initiative in the first half of the 1900s - the government, schoolsamd churches helped to drive this project
• In the war years up until the 1950s the British government issued cod liver oil to all growing children

Why has cod liver oil decreased in popularity since then?

It's a food - it can't be made in a lab and patented and monopolised by drug companies.

Mother nature has always provided us with what we need to eat.  Cod liver oil is a perfect example of vitamin A and vitamin D working in synergy.  For more information on how these two important vitamins work together follow thislink and scroll down to the article on Synergy with Vitamins A and D.

Recent research shows that vitamin D appears to reduce your risk of dying from virtually ANY disease.

Vitamin D deficiency is rampant in the Western world.  It’s thought that 85 percent of the American public is deficient in vitamin D and over 95 percent of African American or deeply pigmented individuals.  Our indoor lifestyles, sun avoidance, and processed low fat diets have lead to these deficiencies in vitamin D.

Vitamin D is not “just a vitamin,” it makes an important hormone (chemical messenger) that influences many of your body’s systems and functions.

Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with the biggest killers in the Western world - cancer and heart disease.  Other major health problems such as diabetes, obesity, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis and mental illnesses are also associated with vitamin D deficiency.

Your ability to avoid colds and flu is also related to vitamin D.  Vitamin D levels in your blood fall to their lowest point during winter due to lack of sunlight . Vitamin D is essential for the body to produce its own antibiotics so a person with a low vitamin D blood level is more vulnerable to contracting colds, influenza, and other respiratory infections.  Studies show that children with rickets, a vitamin D-deficient skeletal disorder, suffer from frequent respiratory infections, and children exposed to sunlight are less likely to get a cold. The increased number of deaths that occur in winter, largely from pneumonia and cardiovascular diseases, are most likely due to vitamin D deficiency.

Researchers have calculated that simply increasing levels of vitamin D could prevent diseases that claim nearly 1 million lives throughout the world each year!