Grandma used to give the kids cod liver oil because it helped out the immune system. It tasted bad but it worked. These days, there are a lot of toxins in fish and concentrating the oil must be done by molecular distillation to avoid concentrating the toxins along with the oil.
Before I comment further on fish oil, it is important to note that the best supplement for immune function is Transfer Factor Plus. Research shows that nothing comes close to its effectiveness and I can vouch for it personally as I take it every day. It is the only supplement I have set up a web page for because it is critical that anyone with any chronic disease be supplementing their immune system. You can order it by clicking here, and it is as safe for kids as for adults. For the little ones it will prevent or help recover from colds and flu. For adults, it could save your life.
The next most important supplement to take is pharmaceutical grade fish oil. The best brand is produced by Dr. Sears Labs and is expensive. I take it because it has significant effects on multiple facets of body function. It is particularly good at lowering the heart rate (great for runners) and reducing the risk of heart disease in general. There is an inexpensive Canadian brand of pharmaceutical grade oil sold at www.iherb.com, Rx Omega 3 Factors. Several people have sent me email asking where they can find it, so I am posting the link here.
I have thousands of supplements that I have tested in my laboratory at home and I only take four things regularly: Transfer Factor, pharmaceutical grade fish oil, a really good vitamin supplement, and Horizon Low Fat Cottage Cheese mixed with Barlean’s flax seed oil for cancer prevention (the only combination that tastes good). Vitamin supplements need to be commented on separately, as these merit a longer discussion.
Fish consumption and risk of stroke in men.
He K, Rimm EB, Merchant A, Rosner BA, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Ascherio A.
JAMA 2002 Dec 25;288(24):3130-6
Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Boston, Mass 02115, USA. [email protected]
CONTEXT: The effect of fish consumption or long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intake on risk of stroke remains uncertain.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the relation of fish consumption and long-chain omega-3 PUFA intake and risk of stroke in men.
DESIGN AND SETTING: The Health Professional Follow-up Study, a US prospective cohort study with 12 years of follow-up.
PARTICIPANTS: A total of 43671 men aged 40 to 75 years who completed a detailed and validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire and who were free of cardiovascular disease at baseline in 1986.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Relative risk (RR) of stroke by subtype based on cumulative average fish consumption or long-chain omega-3 PUFA intake, ascertained in 1986, 1990, and 1994.
RESULTS: We documented 608 strokes during the 12-year follow-up period, including 377 ischemic, 106 hemorrhagic, and 125 unclassified strokes. Compared with men who consumed fish less than once per month, the multivariate RR of ischemic stroke was significantly lower among those who ate fish 1 to 3 times per month (RR, 0.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.35-0.95). However, a higher frequency of fish intake was not associated with further risk reduction; the RR was 0.54 (95% CI, 0.31-0.94) for men who consumed fish 5 or more times per week. This lack of linearity was confirmed by spline analyses. By dichotomized fish intake, the multivariate RR for men who consumed fish at least once per month compared with those who ate fish less than once per month was 0.56 (95% CI, 0.38-0.83) for ischemic stroke and 1.36 (95% CI, 0.48-3.82) for hemorrhagic stroke. The inverse association between fish intake and risk of ischemic stroke was not materially modified by use of aspirin. No significant associations were found between fish or long-chain omega-3 PUFA intake and risk of hemorrhagic stroke.
CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that eating fish once per month or more can reduce the risk of ischemic stroke in men.