The following Short History is an excerpt from “Cod Liver Oil, Our Number One Superfood” published by The Weston A. Price Foundation.
A Short History
“Cultures ranging from the South Seas, the Eskimos, the Scandinavians and the ancient Romans valued fish liver oils for their health-giving properties. Hippocrates first recorded the medicinal use of fish oils, and the first century naturalist, Pliny the Elder, recorded the use of dolphin liver oil as a remedy for chronic skin eruptions.l In 1848, the British physician John Hughes Bennett observed that cod liver oil had been used from time immemorial by the northern fishing populations for its general medicinal and strengthening properties. For centuries before producing the oil itself, the British used the blackish residue left behind by barreled cod livers as a balm. In 1766, the Manchester Infirmary began prescribing ingestion of cod liver oil for rheumatism after a patient cured herself of the disease on two occasions by ingesting her topical treatment. The infirmary thereafter used 50-60 gallons of cod liver oil per year, and after comparing its use to that of a placebo in a number of individual patients, the physician Percival added it the the British pharmacopoeia in 1771.
“Physicians used cod liver oil to treat the vitamin D deficiency disease rickets at least as far back as 1799, and by the 1820s use of cod liver oil for this purpose was widespread in Germany, Holland, and the Netherlands. During the same century, its use expanded to include the treatment of eye diseases and tuberculosis. Research between 1920 and 1940 further expanded the use of cod liver oil to prevent or treat measles, industrial absenteeism, and puerperal fever, a fatal infection occurring in women just after giving birth. The advent of sulfa antibiotics and later penicillin mostly eliminated medical interest in cod liver oil as an anti-infective agent, but a number of trials conducted before 1940 provided solid evidence of its efficacy. In clinical trials, cod liver oil reduced measles mortality by more than one-half and reduced industrial absenteeism by up to two-thirds.
“Today the medical establishment frowns upon cod liver oil, but many health conscious consumers are rediscovering its health-building properties.”
Cod liver oil is a great source of Vitamins A, D, K2, and E, as well has DHA. Fermentation is the traditional way of extractionl which increases the nutrient value of the cod liver oil.
Dr. Weston Price found that by giving his patients cod liver oil with high-vitamin butter oil he was able to control dental cavities and in many cases open cavities with exposed dentin took on a hard glassy finish.
Fermented Cod Liver Oil
Green Pasture Products is a family owned business started by Dave and Barb Wetzel in 2000. Their business focus is to provide high-quality sacred-food oils just as they were made prior to the industrialized food and farming revolution.
High-Vitamin Butter Oil is their foundation product that all their work has blossomed through. Dr. Weston Price discovered High-Vitamin Butter Oil back in the 1930’s but the pinnacle of his discovery was when he combined Cod Liver Oil with High-Vitamin Butter Oil.
Today they produce the High-Vitamin Butter Oil, and they ferment the historically sacred cod and skate liver oils.
Fermenting the livers of fish to extract the oil is an old world practice that may go back as far as biblical times. During the 1850s was the beginning of the industrial food revolution and the first time cod liver oil manufacturing changed from its historical sacred roots to an industrialized food.
They’ve turned back the clock and restored these sacred foods to their roots. They are proud to offer these historical sacred foods prepared with the same great care and concern for our generational health just as our ancestors.
Dr. Price traveled the world studying the traditional diets of many cultures. In every culture he discovered sacred foods that were carefully collected and prepared to ensure the strong mind, body, and spirit of its people.
