DHA is an essential fatty acid found right through your body, and in particular your brain. And it has been discovered that DHA is very important in brain development, as well as other aspects of fetal development. DHA is also a major fatty acid found in the retina of the eye, as well as other organs of the body.
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.
There’s a number of recommendations and not all agree but they average around 200 to 300 mg per day. Currently on the average American diet it’s unlikely that we get enough from diet alone.
The major source of DHA is fish oil. Fish oil is high in omega 3 fats which include DHA and are the best source. But not all experts recommend that moms take fish oil tablets.
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 is in fact a number of different international standards relating to acceptable levels of contamination. But it’s better to have no contamination, and luckily there is one company that seeks to achieve this. This company manufactures their omega 3 supplements a standard way higher than any of the international standards. This is good news for moms and soon to be moms, and for any of us, as we should all be taking Omega 3 fish oils supplements for our health.
It is now quite clear that pregnant and nursing mothers ought to all be taking Omega 3 fish oils supplements, both for their own health and the health of their babies and infants.
Fortunately there are now clean Omega 3 fish oil supplements available that eliminate the need to worry about chemical contamination. Visit my website to find out where to source these.
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