DHA is a lifelong nutrient, do you really understand it?

What is DHA?

DHA is a long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid, commonly known as "brain gold."

Where is DHA mainly distributed in the human body?

DHA in the human body is mainly distributed in the retina and cerebral cortex, with proportions of 50% and 20% respectively. In addition, breast milk (if the mother consumes sufficient DHA) also contains sufficient DHA.

What is the relationship between DHA and maternal health?

Supplementing an appropriate amount of DHA during early pregnancy can reduce the risk of early premature birth and promote fetal growth and development. In addition, research suggests that DHA supplementation can improve symptoms of postpartum depression.

What is the relationship between DHA and infant health?

DHA is closely related to infant and young child development. Mainly manifested in:

DHA has positive significance for the neurological development of infants and young children. Promote infant brain development and improve cognitive, language, memory and other abilities.

DHA helps improve the level of visual function development in infants. For example, improving the visual acuity of infants and young children.

DHA has immunomodulatory effects. Studies have shown that DHA supplementation can reduce the incidence of food allergies in infants.

DHA has the potential to improve infant sleep. Supplementing DHA during pregnancy can significantly reduce the number of newborns waking up.

How much DHA should mothers and babies consume?

It is recommended that pregnant women and nursing mothers consume no less than 200 mg of DHA per day; FAO and WHO recommend 20 mg per kilogram of body weight per day for full-term infants; and 40 mg per kilogram of body weight for premature infants per day.

Therefore, whether it is necessary for the baby to supplement DHA depends on whether the mother's dietary arrangements during pregnancy and lactation are reasonable or whether she has supplemented DHA.

Which foods are rich in DHA?

Foods rich in DHA are mainly seafood fish. Such as: seaweed, salmon, eel, cuttlefish, sardine, tuna, cod. However, fish in some areas are contaminated by heavy metals such as mercury, lead, or harmful substances such as arsenic, and their safety is low. Moreover, the content of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) in fish oil is too high, which can make the proportion of DHA too low, which is quite different from breast milk and does not fully meet physiological requirements.

What happens if you don’t consume enough DHA?

If infants and young children lack DHA during their growth stage, it will cause the infant and retinal development process to be delayed or blocked, resulting in mental retardation and visual impairment; children's learning ability will be reduced, and they will also be more likely to suffer from neurological diseases. At this time, you should actively adjust your diet and take DHA supplements.

Which DHA supplement is better for mothers and babies?

Common DHA supplements include algae oil and fish oil. Algal oil is extracted from marine single-cell algae. Seaweed does not go through the food chain, is relatively less susceptible to pollution, is safer, and can be preferred.

At the same time, algae oil DHA has high purity, strong antioxidant capacity, is not easy to become fishy, ​​is easy to absorb, and is more suitable for pregnant women, nursing mothers, infants and young children.

child development DHA long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid

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