What does cod liver oil supplement?

We all know that newborn babies need to use cod liver oil to supplement calcium, vitamins, etc., which is beneficial to the baby's growth and development. As the name suggests, cod liver oil is the oil, or fat, taken from the liver of fish. It is very beneficial to the human body, but you should pay attention to the dosage of cod liver oil intake, as excessive intake may cause poisoning. So what does cod liver oil supplement? Let’s take a look at it together below!

1. Since cod liver oil and vitamin AD preparations contain both vitamin D and vitamin A, if you only want to supplement vitamin D, cod liver oil with too much vitamin A is not as good as pure vitamin D preparations. On the other hand, national data shows that about 11% of children are vitamin A deficient, less than 5% in large cities, and 15% in remote areas. In some areas, even half of the children are vitamin A deficient, and a larger proportion of children are in a state of subclinical vitamin A deficiency. For this type of nutritionally unbalanced people, it is necessary to supplement vitamin A through methods such as cod liver oil and golden rice.

2. Vitamin D helps ensure that the body absorbs and stores calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to rickets, osteomalacia, etc. However, due to insufficient outdoor activities, haze, sun protection, and lack of fortified foods, vitamin D deficiency is very common in China. There are very few foods that contain vitamin D naturally. Fatty fish and cod liver oil are the best food sources of vitamin D.

3. Vitamin A is very helpful for maintaining normal visual function, immune system and reproductive system health. It can be obtained through animal liver, green, yellow and orange vegetables, fish such as salmon, fruits such as mango, and dairy products. In theory, it is not easy to be deficient except for premature infants, children and pregnant women in underdeveloped areas. However, chronic diarrhea may cause loss of vitamin A, leading to symptoms such as dry eyes, night blindness and anemia. The vitamin A deficiency rate among children in my country can reach more than 10% in some areas, and the proportion of subclinical vitamin A is even higher, which can reduce children's body resistance and cause a high incidence of infectious diseases such as respiratory and digestive tract diseases.