Scientists believe the need for an adequate intake of EPA
and DHA begins before conception. Women need omega 3 oils to produce healthy
eggs and men need them for the
production, energy and mobility of their
sperm. (Just think of how strong salmon needs to be to swim upstream for
spawning.)
EPA and DHA are also essential for optimum growth and
development of a baby’s brain and nervous system. They make up nearly 70% of a
newborn baby’s brain, retina and nervous system. A deficiency is also linked to
the risk of premature births and abnormally low birth weights.
And the only way the fetus can get EPA and DHA is from the
mother. In fact, the amount that’s passed on to her baby’s brain and nervous
system during the last trimester of pregnancy is entirely dependent upon how
much high quality fish oil mom is getting in her daily diet.
A lack of these essential oils can also put the mother at
risk for both pre-eclampsia (pregnancy-related high blood pressure) and
post-partum depression. A pregnant woman, for example, may lose as much as 3% of
her own brain mass when she’s transferring EPA and DHA to her baby over the last
three months of pregnancy. Many scientists now consider this brain loss to be a
major cause of post-partum depression. Women with post-partum depression have
also been found to have very low levels of omega 3 fatty acids in their mother’s
milk and red blood cells.
To be as healthy as possible and to have optimally healthy
children, women either need to eat lots of fatty fish such as salmon or
supplement their diets daily with high quality
fish oil containing balanced EPA
and DHA. It helps to prevent pre-eclampsia and post-partum depression, while at
the same time insuring that baby gets what’s necessary to go full term, to
maintain a good body weight and to have a healthy, well developed brain and
nervous system.
