As you probably know, breast milk contains particularly important ingredients for the child’s health. But do you know that the Omega-3 supplements can have positive effects on the development of the brain and the sight of the baby?
The original Möller’s Omega-3 cod liver oil is safe and recommended to use for pregnant women and nursing mothers in order to bring in the necessary essential fatty acids Omega-3 and vitamins A, D and E in the body:
- Omega-3 essential fatty acids are very important for the optimal development of the brain and nervous system.
- Vitamin D is vital for the proper development of bones, teeth and regulating the use of calcium in the cells. The efficiency of Omega-3 fatty acids is proven by over 15 000 scientific articles. In particular, the cod liver oil can be safely used during pregnancy, breast-feeding and in infants. The Norwegian National Nutrition Council recommends daily intake of cod liver oil from the 4th week from birth to advanced age. According to the Macedonian regulation, Möller’s cod liver oil is recommended for use from the first year of birth to the advanced age.
In CONSENSUS STATEMENT published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2007, it is recommended that fatty acids should be administered during pregnancy and breastfeeding, preferably a DHA dose of min.200 mg / day (clinical trials used daily doses from 1g / day or 2-7g / day Omega-3 fatty acids, with no side effects).
According to the recommendations of the World Association for Perinatal Medicine, the US Academy of Nutrition and the Children’s Health Foundation, supplementation with at least 200 mg of DHA daily is recommended during the last 3 months of pregnancy and lactation. Providing these recommended levels of omega-3 fatty acids brings benefits to the child such as higher intelligence, better communication ability and social communication skills, less occurrence of behavioral problems, reduced risk of slowing psychomotor development, reduced risk of autism ADHD and Cerebral Palsy (Strikland AD, Med Htpotheses, 2014; Judge MP, Am J Clin Nutr, 2007).
In the intrauterine period (the period from the formation of a fertilized egg to the birth of a fully formed fetus), the pre-established DHA in the mother’s body is in significant quantities entered into the fetal nervous system with accelerated accumulation of the fetus in the last trimester of pregnancy (30-45 mg / day), which requires a minimum intake of 200 mg of DHA/day for the mother. After birth, the transplacental transfer of DHA to the mother and fetus is supplemented with the exogenous breast milk supply, which provides an amount of 0.1-1g/100 ml, equivalent to 10-15mg / kg / day. Breast milk contains more than 200 fatty acids with varying degrees of desaturation, representing about 98/100 g of total fat. Observation and interventional studies emphasize that the secretion of DHA in breast milk is closely related to the mother’s diet.
Intake of essential fatty acids during pregnancy has great benefits for the development of the fetus:
- DHA level affects the fetal development of the fetus 1, 2, 3
- It reduces the risk of premature birth before week 34 by 31% in normal pregnancy and 61% at risky pregnancies.
- Usefull effects in the development of visual acuity, cognitive function and attention, sleep quality, spontaneous motor activity, increased immunity 1
- Enriches breast milk with essential fatty acids 3
- In a clinical trial conducted by a team of physicians at the University of Oslo, published in PEDIATRICS4, it was found that taking cod liver oil 10 ml/day from week 17 of pregnancy and during the first 12 weeks of breastfeeding, there was 4.1 IQ points increase in children by the age of 4 years. The conclusion of the study is that the maternal diet, appropriately supplemented with the cod liver oil, affects the further mental development of the child *.
1 Koletzko, Berthold et al (2007) CONSENSUS STATEMENT – Dietary fat intakes for pregnant and lactating women, Perinatal Lipid Intake Working Group. British Journal of Nutrition
2 Krauss – Etschmann, Susanne et al (2007) Effects of fish-oil and folate supplementation of pregnant women on maternal and fetal plasma Concentrations of DHA and EPA: a European multicentre randomized trial. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
3 Henriksen, Christine et al (2008) Improved Cognitive Development Among Preterm Infants Attributable to Early Supplementation of Human Milk With DHA and AA. Pediatrics 121 (6)
*Helland, Ingrid B. et al (2003) Maternal Supplementation With Very-Long-Chain n-3 Fatty Acids During Pregnancy and Lactation Augments Children’s IQ at 4 Years of Age. Pediatrics 111(1), p.39-44