A study supervised by Université Laval researchers Gina Muckle and Éric Dewailly reveals that omega-3 intake during the last months of pregnancy boosts an infant’s sensory, cognitive, and motor development. The details of this finding are published in a recent edition of the Journal of Pediatrics.
To come to this conclusion, researchers first measured docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) concentration—a type of omega-3 fatty acid involved in the development of neurons and retinas—in the umbilical cord blood of 109 infants. “DHA concentration in the umbilical cord is a good indicator of intra-uterine exposure to omega-3s during the last trimester of pregnancy, a crucial period for the development of retinal photoreceptors and neurons,” explains Dr. Dewailly.
Tests conducted on these infants at 6 and 11 months revealed that their visual acuity as well as their cognitive and motor development were closely linked to DHA concentration in the umbilical cord blood at the time of their birth. However, there was very little relation between test results and DHA concentration in a mother’s milk among infants who were breast-fed. “These results highlight the crucial importance of prenatal exposure to omega-3s in a child’s development,” points out Dr. Muckle.
Researchers observed that DHA concentration in the umbilical cord blood was in direct relation with the concentration found in a mother’s blood, a reminder of the importance of a mother’s diet in providing omega-3 fatty acids for the fetus. They also noted that DHA concentration was higher in the fetus’s blood than in the mother’s. “While developing its nervous system, a fetus needs great quantities of DHA. It can even transform other types of omega-3s into DHA in order to develop its brain,” explains Dr. Dewailly.
For the members of the research team, there is no doubt that all pregnant women should be encouraged to get sufficient amounts of omega-3s. “A diet rich in omega-3s during pregnancy can’t be expected to solve everything, but our results show that such a diet has positive effects on a child’s sensory, cognitive, and motor development. Benefits from eating fish with low contaminant levels and high omega-3 contents, such as trout, salmon, and sardines, far outweigh potential risks even during pregnancy,” conclude the researchers.
Is this another beta-carotene bandwagon?
Time will tell (~ 9 months)…….
re flaxseed as a source of omega-3, unfortunately not for all types of omega-3. In particular it has no DHA, which is the subject of this article. While the body can convert other forms of omega-3 into DHA, it’s done very inefficiently. You’d need enormous amounts of flaxseed to get significant DHA benefit.
Anon – there is little doubt that the great majority of folk get way too much omega-6 (n-6) in their diet already. n-3 and n-6 have competitive metabolic pathways, meaning too much n-6 means you can’t process n-3 properly. Getting a combined n-3 n-6 supplement is most likely a waste of money and quite possible even *bad* for you. These combined omega-3 omega-6 (and even worse plus omega-9) supplements are nothing but marketing gone wild.
Anutra, a superfood from the Salvia Hispanica seed containing about 25% more nutrient than flax seed, provides 3,000 mg of Omega 3, in balance with 1,000 mg of Omega 6 per 2 Tbsp. You may explore this source at http://www.anutra.com. I am in no way affiliated with the company.
2 tbsp of mixed nuts and seeds per day or two tbsp of flaxseed oil per day meets the standard recommended dose for omega-3, and doesn’t involve the kind of contamination you find in fish. Flaxseed stores well, and the omega-3s in it seem to be very stable when baking (http://www.flaxhealth.com/storage.htm). Plus, flaxseed’s great for the soil and makes fab compost.