Cod liver oil has a number of potential health benefits. The oil serves as a source of healthy fats, as well as fat-soluble dietary vitamins, which can benefit a number of tissues throughout your body. The nutrients in cod liver oil can affect your muscle tissue, and might benefit your muscle health.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Cod liver oil contains omega-3 fatty acids, which can benefit your muscle health, and might contribute to proper muscle growth. Your muscles constantly undergo new protein synthesis and older protein breakdown, and the relative rates of these two processes control overall changes in muscle mass. A study published in "Clinical Science" in 2011 found that consuming omega-3 fatty acids from cod liver oil promotes new protein synthesis within muscle tissue, leading to muscle growth in healthy individuals. Through its positive effect on muscle growth, omega-3 fatty acids might help to fight the muscle loss that can occur as you age.
Vitamin D
Cod liver oil also contains vitamin D, which can benefit your muscular health. Each muscle fiber contains several protein scaffolds that expand and contract during muscle movement, a process that relies on calcium. By regulating the levels and location of calcium in your body, vitamin D supports muscle contraction. Consuming cod liver oil can boost your vitamin D intake and prevent the muscle weakness that occurs due to vitamin D deficiency.
Vitamin A
Cod liver oil contains a rich source of vitamin A, and this vitamin A intake might benefit your muscular health. Your muscle cells develop from satellite cells -- a specialized type of adult stem cell. Maintaining a population of these stem cells within your muscle tissue proves key to your muscle health, as these cells can develop into mature muscle cells to aid in muscle repair. A 2009 study published in "BMC Biology" found that vitamin A can increase the numbers of muscle stem cells, helping to maintain your overall satellite cell numbers. As a result, consuming vitamin A via cod liver oil might help maintain your muscles' capacity for tissue repair.
Considerations
While the nutrients in cod liver oil can support muscle health, your body requires a number of other nutrients to maintain healthy muscle. Proper protein consumption supports new muscle growth, and the consumption of other vitamins, such as the B-vitamins, also contributes to muscle health. If you suffer from a muscle-related disorder or develop muscle weakness, do not attempt to treat the condition yourself with cod liver oil. In addition, do not take cod liver oil for muscle health without medical supervision, as overdoses on the oil can potentially lead to fatal vitamin toxicities.
References
- "Clinical Science"; Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Augment the Muscle Protein Anabolic Response to Hyperinsulinaemia-Hyperaminoacidaemia in Healthy Young and Middle-Aged Men and Women; Smith et al.; 2011
- "Osteoporosis International"; Vitamin D and Muscle Function; Pfeifer et al.; 2002
- "BMC Biology"; Retinoic Acid Enhances Skeletal Muscle Progenitor Formation and Bypasses Inhibition by Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4 but not Dominant Negative Beta-Catenin; Kennedy et al.; 2009
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