There is a fat called DHA that is found right throughout our bodies. It is called an essential fatty acid, and it is essential in fetal brain development as well as other aspects of fetal development.
Importantly it is also found in breast milk.
As a developing baby and fetus cannot produce enough of it’s own DHA it has to get it from somewhere else. That somewhere else is from mom, either through the placenta before birth or from her breast milk after birth. But as the baby gets it’s supply of DHA from mom her own supply reduces daily.
For this reason experts recommend an Omega 3 supplement to mothers to be and breast feeding mothers. Both to supplement the DHA that baby is getting, and to maintain their own supplies. There are other supplements also recommended for pregnant or nursing mothers, like folic acid, but Omega 3 fats high in DHA are now on the list.
Both for fetal brain and eye development as well as other aspects of fetal development.
Recommendations for how much DHA should be consumed by pregnant and nursing mothers varies, but are around 200 to 300 mg per day. With our modern diet it is unlikely that we get enough DHA in our diets.
Fish oil is the major, though not the only, source of DHA. Omega 3 fats found in fish are high in DHA. However there are some experts that are suggesting that moms do not take fish oil supplements high in DHA.
These experts are a little wary of fish oil supplements because fish, particularly the top end of the food chain type of fish that is high in Omega 3 can be contaminated with some nasty contaminants found in the sea, like PCBs and mercury, and others.
And unfortunate though it is some fish oil supplements do indeed contain some of these contaminants.
There are a number of different standards about the levels of contamination that are accepted in fish oils supplements. But fortunately there is one company that believes that no level of contamination is acceptable, and they use various methods to ensure that their fish oil supplements comply to a way higher standard than any of the international standards.
So there now seems to be little doubt that mothers and pregnant women ought to be taking the best Omega 3 supplements high in DHA, for both their own health and the health and development of their babies.
So it’s great news that there are now contamination free Omega 3 supplements available so we can take our Omega 3 fish oil and our DHA worry free. Find out which supplements are worry free at my website.
