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How do I Use Cod Liver Oil for Skin Health?

Angela Crout-Mitchell
Angela Crout-Mitchell

The simplest way to use cod liver oil for skin health is in the form of dietary supplements, such as capsules or cold oil preparations found packaged in bottles. Cod liver oil capsules are typically available in 1000 mg doses, while it is recommended to take 4 teaspoons (20 mL) doses of the oil itself. This nutritional supplement provides the skin with several important nutrients as well essential fatty acids. Each of these nutrients helps to protect already health skin and can be used to heal skin disorders like eczema and psoriasis. Most health experts recommend cold water fish supplements to people who do not eat an adequate supply of these types of fish in their diet.

Cod liver oil is rich in both vitamin A and D nutrients. These nutrients are vital to skin health, and often appear in preparations for promoting and healing the skin. The vitamin A component of cod liver oil for skin health treatments is responsible for encouraging new skin cell growth on the surface of the skin and limiting old skin cells from blocking pores, creating blemishes and dry skin. Vitamin D is ideal for protecting the skin due to its anti-carcinogen and antioxidant properties.

Cod liver oil tablets.
Cod liver oil tablets.

Healthy fats, such as omega-3 fats, are necessary for both healthy skin and overall good health, and may be found in many cold water fish extracts. Treatments containing cod liver oil for skin health naturally contain two types of essential fats, docosahexacnoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid. These acids are responsible for creating prostaglandins that the body uses to control and reduce inflammation of the various tissues. When the body lacks these essential fats, skin cells often become dry, flaky, and irritated. The condition may change from simple dry skin to a more serious and chronic disease, such as eczema.

Cod liver oil is high in vitamins A and D, two nutrients that are essential for optimal skin health.
Cod liver oil is high in vitamins A and D, two nutrients that are essential for optimal skin health.

Capsules and supplements of cod liver oil for skin health are often very successful in treating eczema and psoriasis. Eczema is characterized by red, inflamed, and sometimes blistered skin that can be difficult to treat. All of the properties of cod liver oil, including the presence of vitamin A and D, as well as the omega-3 fats, lend themselves to reducing inflammation and aid in protecting the skin from further damage. Psoriasis is similar to eczema in that it creates red, itchy, painful lesion, though it manifests as thick, white layers of rapidly produced skin cells. The vitamin A found in cod liver oil prohibits the abnormally fast skin cell reproduction, and the vitamin D helps to heal the skin, promoting fewer, less severe outbreaks.

Discussion Comments

Animandel

@Drentel - Before you go out and purchase that traditional cod liver oil you were forced to take as a kid, you should check into some of the new flavored cod liver oil products. I haven't actually tasted any of them, but I have seen them advertised, and I do know there are lemon flavored and mint flavored versions of the oil. I would have to believe they couldn't help but taste better than the the original version tastes.

Of course, you could also use the cod liver oil capsules, but I have heard that some of them have a really nasty aftertaste, so they may not be a good choice if the taste bothers you as much as you say.

Drentel

@mobilian33 - Your family was not the only one that believed in the powers of cod liver oil. I can't tell you how many times I was forced to drink that awful tasting liquid when I was feeling bad. Of course, I was told this was for my own good, but that didn't help me swallow the oil. Drinking it was enough to make me sicker than I already was.

That being said, I have to admit that some of those beliefs rubbed off on me. I am having a problem with severely dry skin and I am considering taking cod liver oil to help with the condition.

mobilian33

Cod liver oil was a common stay-healthy remedy where I grew up. My grandmother and my mother were firm believers in the medicinal qualities of the stuff. I don't recall anyone ever telling me that the cod liver oil benefits included healthy skin, but it was a treatment for colds as well as many other ailments. As I said, it was a kind of miracle cure all for my family.

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    • Cod liver oil tablets.
      Cod liver oil tablets.
    • Cod liver oil is high in vitamins A and D, two nutrients that are essential for optimal skin health.
      By: Marina Karkalicheva
      Cod liver oil is high in vitamins A and D, two nutrients that are essential for optimal skin health.
    • Capsules containing pure cod liver oil can be purchased at grocery and drug stores.
      By: maron
      Capsules containing pure cod liver oil can be purchased at grocery and drug stores.
    • Cod liver oil helps reduce inflammation and protect the skin from damage.
      By: studiovespa
      Cod liver oil helps reduce inflammation and protect the skin from damage.