Review of Twinlab Norwegian Cod Liver Oil

Twinlab Norwegian cod liver oil is a fish oil produced by one of the largest nutritional supplement companies in North America.

Twinlab has a huge line of supplements, ranging from amino acids, vitamin/herbal formulas and sports nutrition.

While there are many different brands of cod liver oil available, you may be wondering how this particular brand of fish oil stacks up against the others.

You can get Twinlab cod liver oil in both soft gel and the traditional liquid oils. The unique thing about Twinlab's cod liver oils is they come in two different formulas:

1. TwinLab Emulsified Cod Liver Oil

2. Twinlab Regular Unflavored Cod Liver Oil

So what's the difference between Emulsified and Regular Cod Liver Oils?

Information from the Twinlab company website provides the following info on their emulsifed cod liver oil:

• A blend of lecithin and apple pectin is used to mechanically reduce and disperse (emulisfy) the oil globules of cod liver oil into really tiny droplets.

• Twinlab claims this process makes the ingredients in their cod liver oil more easily digestible.

Twinlab cod liver oil

You may not have seen very many emulsified fish oils available. The most popular type of fish oils are produced by a method called molecular distillation which uses a vacuum and low temperatures to separate the fatty acids from contaminants.

Now before you write off emulsified oils as some kind of marketing scheme, you should know about a study published in the Jan. 2007 Issue of Nutrition Journal looking at the benefits of emulsified fish oils.

This study showed subjects taking an emulsified omega 3 fatty acid solution displayed faster absorption and higher omega 3 fatty acids in their blood, compared to subjects who took an un-emulsified solution.

So it appears that emulsified fish oils are a convenient way to increase how your body absorbs the essential healthy fats found in fish oil supplements.

Comparison of Ingredients in Twinlab Cod Liver Oil

Based on the above study, it seems the emulsified cod liver oil would be more easily absorbed than the regular version available from Twinlabs. But for the sake of argument, let's take a closer look at what you really get in these two types of cod liver oil.

Here's what you get in a one tablespoon dose of the two different kinds of Twinlab cod liver oil:

You can see that the ingredient amounts are pretty equal for both types of oil.

The emulsified cod liver oil contains filtered water, glycerin, sorbitol, soy lecithin, cellulose, lemon flavors, tragacanth (Astragalus) gum resin, apple pectin, alpha tocopherol, ascorbyl and palmitate.

The Twinlab website says their cod liver oils are neither bleached or deodorized and come unfortified in its natural state. Some fish oil manufacturers will 'bump up' or fortify their cod liver oil by adding extra Vitamins A or D. I think Twinlab doesn't do this so their oil is as natural as possible.

Twinlab also flushes the bottles with nitrogen to seal out the air. This prevents the oils from going rancid and stops oxidation of the fatty acids.

How Much does Twinlab Cod Liver Oil Cost?

Suggested retail prices for a 12 oz. bottle of Twinlab cod liver oil is $11.49; however, you can find it at a variety of prices at many online retailers.

Online prices can range as low as $5.97 to about $15.00 per bottle.

You may be able to find Twinlab Norwegian Cod Liver Oil at your local health food store, Walmart, CVS Pharmacy, and Walgreens.