Pre Pregnancy Prep: Fermented Cod Liver Oil

For a great summary on why you should take F-CLO, read this.

After reading the Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Childcare, it was clear I had to take fermented cod liver oil (I'll refer to it as F-CLO from here on in).  I conceived quicker than expected and was pregnant before the first shipment had arrived from Green Pasture, so I ended up taking it almost daily from five weeks through birth.  But for the next one, I will definitely start much earlier, since most likely I will be finishing breastfeeding when I start trying for baby #2, and I plan to take F-CLO throughout nursing.
Although others have said it, I would be the first to admit that it was not easy.

My parents tell me that when they were growing up, cod liver oil was still a staple for every child in a family that could afford it.  My mom hated even the capsules, while her sister would bite them open before swallowing because she loved it so much.  When he was a kid, my dad started by drinking teaspoons of it, then moved to drinking it right from the bottle because he found it so delicious.  But I never came into contact with the stuff until my pregnancy.  It's a shame that so many traditional foods that have been valued over the years seemed to have drifted to the wayside starting in the mid-20th century and almost dissapeared by the 80s, when I was growing up.  But it's nice to see that some people are still using them and that some of them, like kombucha, kefir, and beet kvass, are actually making a big comeback in places.

So I thought, how bad could it be?

Pretty bad.

If you are considering getting pregnant and thinking about taking F-CLO, start before you even try to conceive.  Get used to it before morning sickness sets in.  I was constantly nauseous from about week 7 through week 14 of my pregnancy.  I could barely keep down my usual foods, like eggs, ground beef, and even some cheeses.  So the burp-inducing, aftertaste-heavy, viscous stuff was a daily torture; my husband apologized every time he gave it to me and helplessly watched me suffer.  I'm really selling it, aren't I?

But here are a few tips I found to make it better:

Use an oral syringe.  F-CLO has a very strong smell that you might not find appealing.  The idea of putting a spoonful in my mouth, and therefore passing it under my nose, was just not going to happen.  So we found a large oral syringe that could hold 2 teaspoons, the recommended dose from Nourishing Traditions.  Most syringes only hold half of that; I suggest getting one that can deliver your dosage in one shot; you may not want to refill it after you've had one.  I found that putting the syringe as far back into my mouth without gagging limited the amount I tasted; please, don't try this if you are prone to choking!

Try different flavors.  I didn't like the mint flavor; the orange flavor was better for me.  Maybe plain would be the best, but we haven't had a chance to order it yet.  Figure out what works for you and don't write off the whole thing after one taste.  Maybe your significant other or family members will like the flavors you don't, like my husband and the mint.

Take with food.  If your stomach is full or at least not empty, you will burp less and therefore have less repeated tastes.  Try taking the F-CLO while eating something you like, but not something you love; I found that it temporarily ruined some dishes for me.

What you drink before and after affects the taste and aftertaste.  I thought at first that something with a strong flavor (like tea or decaf coffee) to wash it down would be great, but for me, it made it all the worse.  The best way I found was to take a big gulp of cold water before the F-CLO, to cleanse my mouth of any food particles so that the F-CLO wouldn't get absorbed into them and make the taste linger.  Then I shot back the F-CLO and immediately drink more cold water.  Have the glass of water ready and in front of you so you can do it quickly.  After the water was finished, I found that a glass of watered-down pineapple juice, with all its fancy enzymes, made the burping less unpleasant.  And I like pineapple juice, so it was a bit of a reward!

The burping subsides.  At first, you may have a lot of belching after your F-CLO, so much so that it tastes like multiple doses throughout the day.  But as your body gets used to digesting it, the repeating stops.  I've lapsed in taking my daily F-CLO for the last few months, mostly from the forgetfulness that comes with a newborn, but even now I can take my dose and not have it come back to haunt me.  Give it some time!

Other techniques that I did not try, but you may want to experiment with, include mixing the F-CLO into water or juice; taking smaller doses multiple times in the day; mixing Swedish bitters with water and drinking it in the same meal; or taking capsules (all ideas from Nourishing Traditions book).