So what's the real story on this? The contamination of cod liver oil and fish oil supplements with toxic chemicals is a legitimate threat, and it's not just flame retardants that consumers should be worried about either: mercury and other heavy metals have been found in alarming levels in farm-raised salmon, too. Of course, fish oil pills are popular dietary supplements these days, thanks to the widespread knowledge of the health benefits of consuming omega 3 fatty acids -- healthy oils that are very high in fish oil products.
What's a consumer to do? If taking fish oil supplements is good for cardiovascular health thanks to the healthy oils, but if those supplements are contaminated with heavy metals and flame retardants, then is the supplement doing more harm than good?
My take on this is simple: there are many sources of healthy oils, including flax oil, chia seeds, olive oil and of course extra virgin unrefined coconut oil. I am currently advising close friends to avoid high doses of fish oil supplements due to the risk of toxicity. Instead, they should be getting their healthy oils from plant sources. Nuts, seeds and grain germ products (like wheat germ) are also good sources of healthy oils.
The fact that we have to be careful of cod liver oil and other fish oil supplements is sad, indeed. It's an indication of just how large the global pollution problem really is. When our oceans are contaminated with heavy metals, and new moms are producing human breast milk with detectable levels of flame retardants, you know something's wrong. And what's wrong is that as a global community, we produce and distribute toxic chemicals in alarming quantities. These toxic chemicals are not just used in industrial processes, either: they end up in your home, on your body and in your food.
For example, flame retardants are commonly sprayed on mattresses, creating a highly toxic offgassing effect that greatly impacts indoor air quality in homes. Personal care products are typically loaded with toxic chemicals, too: deodorants contain aluminum, toothpaste is made with fluorosilicic acid and formaldehyde, and antibacterial soaps are laced with potent nerve agent chemicals used to kill bacteria. Perfumes contain chemicals known to damage the liver, laundry detergent is made with artificial chemical fragrances, and most household cleaning products contain liver damaging chemical solvents.
When it comes to food, the picture is no better: practically all packaged meat products are purposely contaminated with cancer-causing sodium nitrite as a preservative. Diet soft drinks contain aspartame, which breaks down into formaldehyde in the body -- a potent nerve toxin. Most canned soups, salad dressings and frozen foods contain high levels of an excitotoxin well documented to damage the endocrine system, leading to obesity disorders, headaches and potentially long-term nerve damage. The list of metabolic disruptors found in food and drinks goes on and on.
Sadly, humanity has created a highly toxic environment in which to live. Every refrigerator, every home, and every city is loaded with toxic chemicals, and every human being on the planet is in one way or another exposed to them. The fact that flame retardants have been found in cod liver oil is just one warning sign of a gigantic problem: the poisoning of planet Earth by human beings.
Now this growing list can be expanded to include dietary supplements
based on cod liver oil, according to a new study.
For example, researchers have found that farm-raised salmon contain
more contaminants than wild salmon, which they attribute partly to the
fish oils used to supplement salmon feed.
"We analyzed 21 commercially available fish and vegetable oil dietary
supplements for selected contaminants," says Miriam Jacobs, Ph.D., who
lectures in food safety and toxicology at the University of Surrey in
Guildford, U.K, and was one of the authors of the latest study involving
cod liver oil.
Jacobs and her coworkers measured levels of persistent organic
pollutants in the supplements, including pesticides, polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which are
used widely as flame retardants.