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Have you ever thought about how the nutrient profile of your fish oil is impacted on its journey from live fish to the supplement product you purchase? Listen in to this great interview (or read the transcript below) with Wahls Protocol Seminar Sponsor, Rosita Real Foods, as they talk about the traditional distillation process and what makes their process and product so different—in a really good way.
4 ways Rosita Extra Virgin Cod Liver Oil can support Wahls Warriors
I consider quality cod liver oil an integral part of my protocol, and has Rosita Extra Virgin Cod Liver Oil in my fridge. Here are four reasons why I recommend and uses Rosita, and how it may support Wahls Warriors like you.*
- To obtain a full spectrum of omega fatty acids (especially DHA and EPA) and vitamins A and D from real food.
Rosita Extra Virgin Cod Liver Oil naturally contains these nutrients, which are difficult to obtain from even the healthiest real food diets. Getting nutrients from food rather than synthetic supplements is the shared philosophy of Dr. Wahls and the folks at Rosita Real Foods (https://www.rositausa.com/). This family-run, Norwegian company provides wild-caught, raw and totally unprocessed cod liver oil.
- The nutrients in Rosita are supportive of brain health and may ease inflammation.*
Dr. Wahls says this is particularly relevant for those with autoimmune conditions who are embarking on a real food, healing diet.* In her revised and expanded book, “The Wahls Protocol,” Dr. Wahls states that adding a premium cod liver oil supplement (that’s not molecularly distilled) to your routine is necessary. Because even when we eat grass-fed meat and wild-caught fish, we still might not be getting enough of these powerful and rare nutrients. Says Dr. Wahls:
“Your brain needs DHA to make myelin. EPA is very helpful in lowering inflammation. You can see why anyone with MS or another autoimmune condition would benefit greatly from these compounds!… Cod liver oil (also) maximizes content of fat-soluble vitamins A, D… if you are not consuming liver, cod liver oil is an excellent way to get some retinol as well as vitamin D in your diet.”
- Rosita Extra Virgin Cod Liver Oil is sustainable.
Sustainable, fresh cod retains more nutrients! Here’s how Rosita cares about the planet in every step of their gentle process:
- According to highly regulated government quotas, the wild cod are fished from the remote Norwegian fjords to protect the long-term survival.
- While many companies purchase cod that has been frozen or comes from unsustainable sources, Rosita uses long lines to catch Atlantic cod in the wild, far from farmed fish.
- Rosita uses its own small artisan fishing boats, rather than commercial fishing boats.
- After cleaning the cod on board, they throw out the other bits to the sea birds to avoid waste.
- They create their oil in small batches in their zero-emissions production facility.
- Last but not least, Rosita Extra Virgin Cod Liver Oil is unprocessed.
Rosita is the only company that uses an ancient, natural method (https://www.rositausa.com/pages/production) to create its cod liver oil.
Unlike other fish oils, Rosita uses no heat, steam, chemical treatment or mechanical devices. Instead, they let nature do all the work shortly after harvest with a gentle temperate shift that mimics the ocean temperatures where codfish thrive. The oil is then gravity-filtered, with a drop of natural antioxidants added to maintain freshness.
This type of cod liver oil is nearly impossible to achieve with the standard process used by major brands (where heavy refining strips the oils of most of their nutrients and synthetic vitamins are added in).
The result is 100% unadulterated, nutrient-rich cod liver oil of the highest quality and freshness.
Video Transcript:
Dr. Terry Wahls:
Hi, Dan. I’m so glad that you’re here with me. Now to my tribe, this is Dan Corrigan who’s from Rosita and I am so pleased to have him with us. He is a Wahl’s partner and we are thrilled that he is part of our sponsorship program. Dan, I’ve just found it so helpful to have these interviews to tell people more about my partner companies and why I’m so impressed with you and your company. So please let’s get started. First, can you tell us briefly about yourself and your company and why you got the caliber oil going?
Dan Corrigan:
Yeah. Great. Yeah, so happy to be here, love what you do and we’re big fans. And so a little bit about myself was, in my twenties I experienced a downward decline in my health. And so I had some health challenges and like so many others we’re on a journey and we’re trying to figure things out, right? And so one of the things that bubbled up to the top was just the importance of a real food diet. And I think that’s what we were very much in alignment of trying to get nutrients through food and that through other means, food is always number one. It’s unavoidable and there’s a lot of power in the food. So anyways, so through that real food movement, I was introduced to Rosita and I’m in the US so I represent Rosita in the US. And so when I came across them, I was impressed with the company. I flew out to Norway, got to meet the founders, the fishermen, went fishing. And I was even more impressed after getting to meet with them firsthand and experienced some time in Norway with them.
Dr. Terry Wahls:
And the cod liver oil was a big part of your own healing journey, as I recall.
Dan Corrigan:
Yeah. So for me, in my case, my gut health was the biggest challenge. And so I had… Again, the diet was number one, and then it was some dietary intervention with probiotics and enzymes. And then really the icing on the cake, after I experienced some healing, was adding the cod liver oil and on top of all that. So yeah, it played a key role. And so, yeah, it’s just a fantastic product.
Dr. Terry Wahls:
And to the tribe, it’s the omega three and a little bit of retinol or vitamin a and a little bit of vitamin D. It’s that sort of that magic combination. Now, how does Rosita produce its fish oil?
Dan Corrigan:
So Rosita, like you said, the key features are the vitamin A, vitamin D and the omega three fatty acids, DHA and EPA. So how Rosita does it is, one thing that’s unique is, they control the whole process. So they catch the fish. They’re able to inspect every liver, make sure it’s healthy before they use it. And then they, instead of using, heat and chemicals, they take great care to… What’s really interesting the way they make a distinct distinction of they capture the oil so it’s not this heavy duty processing. And so they rely on this shift from temperature, from the icy Arctic Ocean to slightly below room temperature, and that triggers the release of the oil, and then they filter out any contaminants. So that meets the requirements in order for it to be a marketable product. And so then they add a little bit of a natural antioxidant to ensure the oil is as fresh when you get it as when it was bottled.
Dr. Terry Wahls:
Now are the nutrient profiles different from Rosita as compared to some of the other fish oils that you see out there on the market?
Dan Corrigan:
Yeah. So Rosita is capturing the oil unadulterated. And so, yes, in essence that other products in the market really go through a multi step, about a 10 step process. And during that process, they can be filtering out different types of nutrients or fatty acids. And so it is a different nutrient profile altogether.
Dr. Terry Wahls:
And those companies that say they’re molecularly distilled, why don’t you help our tribe understand what that term means molecularly distilled.
Dan Corrigan:
So, yeah, that’s a very common term in the official oil industry. And so what molecular distillation really refers to is really boiling the oil or heating it to a certain temperature to destroy any contaminants in the oil. And so it was very cost effective way to remove contaminants. The downside of molecular distillation is when you’re heating it to upwards of 400 degrees Fahrenheit to boil the oil, is that you are diminishing and destroying the vitamin A and D. And so some manufacturers will say, “Oh, let’s put some… Try to fortify back to…”
They call it standardized. They fortify with potentially synthetic vitamins to get it back up to the normal level. Some manufacturers will play around and say, “Hey, we want more vitamin D. So we’ll add some more vitamin D.” Or “We want more vitamin A.” And then the other thing is to consider is omega three fatty acids are fragile and most people…
Dr. Terry Wahls:
Fragile, yes. I was about to bring that up.
Dan Corrigan:
Yeah. So most people probably wouldn’t cook with flaxseed oil and boil it and fry some…
Dr. Terry Wahls:
[crosstalk 00:06:26] tell them not to do that because you damage the oil.
Dan Corrigan:
Yeah.
Dr. Terry Wahls:
And it will not be as capable of functioning properly in your own body, if that oil has been heated.
Dan Corrigan:
Yeah.
Dr. Terry Wahls:
So since this is a raw fish oil, and we hear that you’re very proud of that, how do I keep that fish oil fresh and safe once I get it, if I bought either the liquid or the capsules?
Dan Corrigan:
Yeah, so that’s the… The way that Rosita does it, is, so again, it’s fresh, wild, and raw. And when they bottle the oil… So if we look at the liquid, when they bottle the liquid, they do use… They flush out the oxygen out of the bottle with nitrogen. So when the bottle is sealed… So when you think of oxidation oils, oxidizing, that means it’s interacting with oxygen. So they remove the oxygen from the bottle when it’s bottled so it can ship safely without any concern of heat. Even if it’s warm when it’s being shipped, it doesn’t really matter because heat only accelerates oxidation and the presence of oxygen. So it is fresh when you get it.
Once you open up a bottle of the liquid, once you open that bottle, it exposes the liquid to oxygen. And so we just say, put that in your refrigerator and then consume within 60 days of opening the bottle. It’s a small bottle, plenty of time for people to consume it within that time period. And the soft gels, on the other hand, they’re completely sealed off from oxygen. So they don’t need to be refrigerated basically because since there is no exposure to oxygen, the soft gels can travel with you. They don’t need to be refrigerated, so they’re completely stable
Dr. Terry Wahls:
And I had the sense that if you put the soft gels in the refrigerator, that breaks them down a little more rapidly.
Dan Corrigan:
So the soft gels, we do say do not refrigerate the soft gels, which seems confusing. Refrigerate the liquid. Do not refrigerate those soft gels because, and it’s a small nuance, it’s just that the soft gels are made from the fish gelatin. And the fish gelatin is more stable at a room temperature. So if it is refrigerated over time, it can make the soft gel permeable, and then you would expose it to oxygen. So it probably is insignificant, but we want people to be aware that the soft gels are better just on the shelf.
Dr. Terry Wahls:
At room temperature?
Dan Corrigan:
Yeah.
Dr. Terry Wahls:
Okay. Well, everyone, I want you to know this is a lovely product. It’s a product that my wife and I use, and I have a lot of confidence in this. Food first is always a preferred strategy in my mind. Dan, thank you so very much for chatting with us today.
Dan Corrigan:
Always my pleasure.
Dr. Terry Wahls:
Now again, to my tribe, we want to hear from you, please put your comments down below. What’s the one thing that you learned today? What are you going to add? Or how will you use this information in your family’s life? Please go to terrywahls.com, check things around, please pick up our diet summary. It’s a one page cheat sheet that summarizes the Wahl’s diet. It will also enroll you in our email newsletter. The email newsletter is really wonderful. You’ll get a lot of tips. You’ll also get product updates from me because every week I go through about 200 new research papers and provide a summary of these key research updates. So again, go to terrywahls.com, pick up the one page handout. Thank you so much. And keep following us. Please stay Wahls and stay well. Take care of yourself and your family. Love to all of you.
