Cod Liver oil in TTC? Mega confused 🫤

[Daisy-Delilah]

Hey!

Sooo this is probably really random, but after my last failure and trying to recover from hysteroscopy I’ve been looking at what supplements to take generally and also to improve my lining.

One thing that came up was fish oil. I used to take a cod liver oil supplement up until last year when I became pregnant and read that you shouldn’t take it because it contains vitamin a which is bad for baby. However I’ve read that it is good for fertility. So now I’m mega confused… should I take cod liver oil while TTC and then stop at transfer or not take it at all!?!

Any advice on this or other supplements welcome!

Thank you! Xxx

[soccerkt6]

Hey lovely,

I would definitely re-start your cod liver oil as it's really good for fertility. As an aside, the whole thing around vitamin A causing birth defects in babies was based on a single 1995 study that had several weaknesses in its methodology. There's a great article on it here: westonaprice.org/health-top...

For what it's worth, I took cod liver oil, an organ supplement (that contained liver and other organ meats high in vitamin A), AND a multi with a decent amount of vitamin A throughout my entire pregnancy and my baby turned out healthy as can be. I know anecdotes aren't the same as scientific evidence, but I say that just so you're not terrified of a bit of cod liver oil.

I hope this helps but let me know if you have any other questions. I did sooooo much reading on nutrition and supplements when were going through infertility and IVF. xx

[Daisy-Delilah in reply to soccerkt6]

Thank you for your help! X

[Looom in reply to soccerkt6]

Hello, I wondered if you could recommend the brand of pre natal vitamins you took once pregnant? I've just had ET and researching what vitamins to take, the vitamin A information is very confusing!

[soccerkt6 in reply to Looom]

Hey lovely, I took the Bio-Avail Multi (and the Bio-Avail Organ) from Adapt Naturals (adaptnaturals.com ). The Multi isn't marketed as a prenatal but I compared the ingredients with some high-quality prenatals and it pretty much matched what's recommended. The one thing that it didn't contain that I supplemented separately was iron (because my levels came back low when they checked in the second trimester). It also doesn't contain calcium or iodine but I ate plenty of full fat dairy so that wasn't a problem. And organ meats naturally contain iodine so that was covered by the Organ supplement.

The confusion around the vitamin A thing is indeed frustrating. Ultimately, after reading everything I came to the conclusion that 20,000-25,000 IU/ day is what I wanted to aim for. I got this through a combination of the Multi, Organ supplement, cod liver oil and regular diet. But it's a very personal decision and I know that it can be uncomfortable doing something other than the standard recommendation. Good luck with the ET! xx

[EjHack]

Fish oil Omega 3 not Cod liver oil!!

Liver = increased Vit A and risk of listeria. If you need evidence based advice - get Cochran reviews - gold standard of advice.

cochrane.org/news/new-resea...

Xx

[Daisy-Delilah in reply to EjHack]

This is super helpful thank you! X