Journey to Clear Skin (Part 2): A Review of Cod Liver Oil Supplement To Fight Acne (with before & after photos)

This is my second post about my journey to clear skin. If you haven't read my first post, click here.

I stumbled across Cod Liver Oil only quite recently but it's been around for a long time as a supplement for acne. A lot of people swore by it any of course, many others who discourage taking it. I did my research and read many articles about it online and finally decided to give it a try. There are many brands of cod liver oil out there but the popular ones such as Garden of Life’s Icelandic Cod Liver Oil and Green Pasture’s Fermented Cod Liver Oil are unfortunately not available in my country. By the way, Green Pasture had a controversy about their cod liver oil being rancid. You can read about it here.

Moving on, I looked around and found other brands of cod liver oil. Most of them are quite expensive for my taste but luckily, I found Holland & Barrett Pure Cod Liver Oil, which only costs about $10.

I decided to take half a teaspoon or 2.5ml, which is the recommended dosage by the brand, every after dinner and after I update my food journal. I do not want to overdose on Vitamin A that can cause liver damage and bone degradation and I'm pretty sure you don't want these problems too.

The first time I took cod liver oil, I expected the taste to be really bad as what others warned but it turns out I can take fishy taste. When I woke up the next day, I was really dizzy for the whole morning until afternoon. I took another half teaspoon that night and the dizziness returned but only for a couple of minutes. After that night, I never felt dizzy again.

I've been taking cod liver oil for more than 2 weeks and indeed, I've seen great results. You can already see the difference from my photos below.

My face started clearing up just after a couple of days taking cod liver oil. However, it still doesn't prevent new acne from showing up.

How does Cod Liver Oil clear acne?

Rich in Vitamin A

You've probably heard of the prescription drug called Accutane (Isotretinoin) and how it is an effective acne treatment that has a 90% success rate. Why did I randomly bring this up? Well, Accutane has loads of synthetic metabolite of Vitamin A.

A deficiency in Vitamin A is often the reason behind acne. Having a higher level of this vitamin in the body can lower skin pH and sebum content thus, helping reduce acne. It also helps your body absorb other vitamins such as vitamin D, which also regulates cell growth and differentiation.

The recommended dosage of Vitamin A for a healthy adult is 10,000 IU per day. 1 teaspoon of Cod Liver Oil contains approximately 4,500 IUs of Vitamin A. Like what I've mentioned earlier, I only take half a teaspoon of the cod liver oil and it is actually already enough for me to see effects on my skin. Sometimes I do take 1 teaspoon but only when I wasn't able to step outside and get sunlight the whole day. Again, you should not overdose on this because Vitamin A toxicity is very real. Also if you take medications for diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disorder, ask your doctor if you can take this oil because Vitamin A can interact with some medications.

Contains Vitamin D

Vitamin D, like Vitamin A, can also reduce sebum production and skin irritation. Yes, it helps reduce acne inflammation.

Cod Liver Oil also has a fair amount of Vitamin D. The recommended dosage of Vitamin D is 4,000 IU per day. 1 teaspoon of Cod Liver Oil contains approximately 500 IUs of Vitamin D. So if you get very little amount of sunlight, especially during winter, or if you're like me who stays indoors most of the time, Cod Liver Oil will be a good supplement for you to give your body this essential Vitamin D.

Contains Omega-3 fatty acids

Intake of Omega-3 fatty acids can help decrease acne inflammation. Since Cod Liver Oil contains DHA and EPA that are both omega-3s, it is an great supplement to fight acne.

As you've seen from my before and after-taking-cod-liver-oil photos, Cod Liver Oil doesn't only clear my skin but it also helps fade blemishes and marks left by old acne.

I am still going to keep taking half a teaspoon of Cod Liver Oil every night and let's see how my face will turn out in the next few weeks. I will keep you updated!

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