A Realization

This is about health, and it's about my budget challenge. Specifically, I need to tell you a story about MY health...and fermented cod liver oil.

Here's the thing. I have had horrible chronic respiratory infections for YEARS. They've gradually gotten less severe as I've improved my diet these past several years, but I could feel it coming on a few months ago. I managed to keep it at bay for about three months. Then I had a week or two that were busier & more stressful than usual, and I felt it starting to settle in my lungs, I started getting a sore throat, etc. I got quite a bit better after a weekend of rest, but it isn't completely gone. I finally realized that I had been forgetting to take my fermented cod liver oil (FCLO). This stuff is the real deal: made the old-fashioned way and therefore high in natural pre-formed vitamin A (which is needed for immune function and protects the body against respiratory infections, among other things). I started this blog & budget challenge right about that same time, and I had decided to take a much-smaller-than-usual dose of the FCLO for the sake of my budget, considering it part of the food budget since it is an old-fashioned whole food rather than an isolated supplement or medication. I've changed my mind, and here's why:

If I can get well by taking higher doses of naural, healthy, body- & brain-nourishing FCLO and have it save me a trip to the doctor and time missing work, as well as the cost of possible medications, and then paying for probiotic supplements or something else to deal with the side effects of said medications...well, you get the point. Copays alone would probably not be much different than the cost of the FCLO, and since I don't have insurance, the price difference is a no-brainer. So I'm going to take as much FCLO as I want, and it's coming from my healthcare budget now instead of counting as food. I've realized that FCLO is always worth the price. It comes out just under $1 per teaspoon, which I think is the amount I've heard recommended (by the Weston A. Price Foundation - or WAPF) for adults. I usually try to take that amount daily, but I may take more if I'm sick, or sometimes I'll take extra to catch up on missing doses. I highly recommend this food for everyone, but I have to say that the cinnamon tingle flavor is the only one that covers up the unpleasant taste of it. If you're here in Utah, you can buy FCLO at Real Foods Market. Check out their website at www.realfoodsmarket.com - They have stores in Heber City, Saint George & Orem and will be opening a store in Sugarhouse in August. Otherwise, you can order it from www.greenpasture.org - enjoy! The WAPF website also says that it is important to eat other fats in your diet if you're taking FCLO, to balance the types of fatty acids. They say that eating eggs with the yolks, real butter, meat fats, etc. will provide the balance needed. No problem here - we love our good fats!

Have you ever taken FCLO? If so, what was your experience with it?