It's Good For You!

Cod Liver Oil

Did your spine seem to shiver, when you read those three words?

If so, then you are probably one of countless individuals, from around the globe, who had to shudder and swallow your morning dose of cod liver oil, with the parental admonition of "It’s good for you!"

Others grew up with a daily ration of halibut liver oil and still some of us had the added bonus of having it given to us in capsule form, rather than the golden liquid in a spoon. A word to the wise: no matter how much trouble you have when swallowing a capsule, do not give in to the urge to bite it.

Now-a-days, the health benefits of an omega-3 oil rich diet are well documented. It just so happens that cod liver oil is an excellent source of this nutrient. Our parents knew what they were talking about, when they said that it would keep us healthy!

Whether we consume the fish oil in the liquid or encapsulated form, we are ingesting processed oil from the fish livers. It’s a step up from what the hardy fishermen of the North Atlantic often took, while at sea.

The schooner fishermen carefully preserved the cod livers in barrels, or butts. The butts were in place amidships, on the deck of the schooners. The oil would be rendered from the livers by putting a metal "stack" deep into the butts. This stack resembled a chimney pipe and held burning hot coals. The heat caused the livers to release the oil.

During the worst of the fishing seasons, when the price of fish was exceptionally low, the fishermen would sometimes earn more money from the sale of the cod liver oil than they did for their catch of fish.

How tough were the fishermen? Many fishing trips have been described with the comments that the fishermen, when they would first come on deck in the morning, would go to the liver butts, take a scoop of raw liver oil and drink it without a blink of an eye.

The thought of it is almost enough to make us feel nostalgic for the spoons of processed oil that were offered to us!

Wishing you Smooth Sailing,

Heather