Extensive
research also shows that DHA supports:
- Heart
health
- infant
brain development
- Infant
visual function.
It's
an essential nutrient that all pregnant and nursing mothers
need. In fact, any woman even thinking about becoming pregnant
should take an LCP supplement containing DHA. It's that
important for healthy fetal development.
Sadly,
most Americans no longer get sufficient DHA in the foods
that they eat. Here's why.
DHA–THE MISSING LINK
There
are three main reasons why Americans are deficient in omega–3
LCPs. It's because of three major changes that have occurred
during the 20th century in:
- Food
manufacturing processes
- Eating
habits
- Breast–feeding.
Food
manufacturing
The introduction
of hydrogenation, which turns liquid vegetable oil into
solid margarine or cooking fats and improves the shelf
life and flavor of products, has had a significant negative
impact. The trans fatty acids formed by hydrogenation have
not only been implicated in an increased risk of cardiovascular
disease, diabetes and possibly cancer, but they also impair
the conversion of shorter chain fatty acids into the much–needed
long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPs).
Dietary
habits
The richest
sources of DHA are fatty cold–water fish such as tuna,
salmon and mackerel, and organ meat. But we are eating
fewer foods containing the "ready–formed" DHA
and instead are choosing more foods laden with trans fatty
acids–French fries, doughnuts, potato chips, and a
whole cornucopia of snacks, convenience foods, and baked
goods–which inhibit the production of the DHA. According
to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics, among Americans
who don't eat fish the consumption of DHA dropped from
100 milligrams a day in 1950 to a mere 34 milligrams a
day in 1994. The daily intake for fish–eaters dropped
from 168 milligrams to 92 milligrams–still nowhere
near enough.
Breast–feeding
Babies
need DHA for brain and visual development. It's absolutely
critical. That's why it's an essential element of mother's
milk. Nature does know best. But, to make matters worse
there has been a dramatic decline in the numbers of mothers
breast–feeding their babies. Some 38 percent of American
mothers never even try breast–feeding. And only 25
percent nurse their babies for at least a year in spite
of strong recommendations from the American Academy of
Pediatrics and the American Dietetic Association that they
should do so. It's one of the lowest rates in the world.
The
double whammy
So, even
the best intentioned of mothers dutifully breast–feeding
for a year are still probably not providing their babies
with enough DHA because of their own eating habits–they're
eating the foods containing trans fatty acids and not eating
the foods containing the LCPs. Of greatest significance:
some individuals are not able to convert shorter–chain
essential fatty acids into the LCPs. For them, the result
may well be a breakdown in signals between brain cells
and the development of learning disorders such as ADHD,
Dyslexia and Dyspraxia.
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