کاڈ لیور آئل ·
Weak evidence
Traditional, cheap, and carrying a vitamin A ceiling that fish oil does not.
This is information, not medical advice. This page is information, not medical advice. Nothing here is a prescription, a diagnosis or a recommendation to take anything, and none of it replaces a doctor who knows your history. Supplements are not harmless because they are natural: they interact with prescription medicines, some are unsafe in pregnancy, and a few can cause real damage. Talk to a doctor or pharmacist before starting anything here, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, have a liver, kidney or heart condition, or take any regular medication. Never stop a prescribed antidepressant to try a supplement instead.
Oil from cod liver, containing omega-3 plus substantial vitamin A and vitamin D.
Population studies in northern countries have linked regular cod liver oil use with lower rates of depressive symptoms, which is association rather than trial evidence. The EPA content per spoon is lower than the doses used in depression trials.
Traditional use is a teaspoon daily. Reaching trial-level EPA this way would take in more vitamin A than is safe.
Recorded because a person who has decided to try something will find a number somewhere, and a forum's number is worse than a trial's. It is not a recommendation, and the right amount for you depends on things only a doctor who knows your history can weigh.
The vitamin A is the limit. Too much causes headaches, bone pain and liver damage, and is unsafe in pregnancy where excess vitamin A can harm the baby. Do not combine with a multivitamin containing retinol without checking the total.
Long sold here as a children's tonic. For mood specifically, a plain EPA-heavy fish oil is the safer way to get the dose.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist about everything else you take, prescription and herbal both. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, or have a liver, kidney, heart or thyroid condition, ask first. And if what brought you here is that you have been feeling low or frightened for weeks, that deserves more than a supplement — ask us anything, anonymously, or talk to us on WhatsApp.