Flaxseed vs Cod Liver Oil

In a previous posts I have compared flaxseed oil vs fish oil. In this post I will be doing a similar comparison, except this post is about flaxseed vs cod liver oil.  Cod liver is very similar to flax seed and fish oil. Its key ingredient is omega-3 fatty acids.  Cod liver is also very high in vitamin A and vitamin D. This post contains benefits of flax seed and benefits of cod liver. It also contains side effects, risks, or dangers of cod liver and flax seed.


Some of the information posted earlier will be used and note that this is for your convenience.  It will be much easier for me to post some of the same information twice instead of you having to click on link after link..


Benefits of Cod Liver:


-prevent rickets
-reduces joint pain
-helpful in improving arthritis
-helps strengthen bones
-strengthens immune system
-helps the body to process fatty acids
-all the benefits that come with omega-3 fatty acids (listed below)


Flaxseed oil benefits :

- Helps lower blood pressure

- Helps lower cholesterol
- Reduces the risk of cancer
- Protects against heart disease
- Aids the growth of hair and nails
- Promotes healthy skin 

- Helps relieve constipation 

- Reduces acne 

Both share the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids:


Omega-3 essential fatty acids- "good" fats that have been shown to benefit your heart. These fatty acids found in flaxseed oil benefits your body and are important in helping it to function, but they cannot be produced by the body. For this reason it is important to have a good source of omega-3 acids which flaxseed oil provides. In some animal studies this Omega-3 has been shown to inhibit tumor growth. It is also suggested that Omega-3 fatty acids aide your cardiovascular system.


The side effects for both cod liver oil and flaxseed oil are basically the same. Both of their side effects result from omega-3 fatty acids. Some of these shared side effects include:


-reducing your blood's ability to clot
-bruising and bleeding that can be very difficult to stop

-headaches

-diarrhea

-slowing down in the absorption of medicine

-allergic reactions

Some risks specific to cod liver oil are:


-birth defects due to excess vitamin A
-cod liver oil can also be very high in toxins which can be very dangerous.




With all of this taken into account I would prefer flaxseed over cod liver oil.  I feel like the benefits of both are about equal and cod liver oil has a few more possible side effects.  In the battle of flaxseed vs cod liver oil, I think benefits of flaxseed win.


You can visit this post for information on flaxseed vitamins.

Thanks for reading about flaxseed vs cod liver oil!