Fatty Acids are Essential to Your Baby’s Brain Development

During pregnancy, the fetus experiences incredible rapid growth and development. In particular, your baby’s brain growth accelerates during the second half of pregnancy and continues through the first year of life at an accelerated rate.

During this time, many developmental milestones are reached in terms of cognitive, visual, and motor development.  It is essential that high quality nutrition be supplied to the fetus, infant, and growing young child.  This includes the omega-3, essential fatty acids, DHA and EPA commonly found in fish. Omega-3’s are essential to human health but cannot be manufactured by the human body. For this reason, omega-3 fatty acids must be obtained from food. Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in fish, such as salmon, tuna, and halibut, other marine life such as algae and krill, certain plants (including purslane), and nut oils. Also known as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), omega-3 fatty acids play a crucial role in brain function as well as normal growth and development.

What’s So Fishy about eating fish? You might think that eating more fish would be a simple, natural way to get more omega-3. However, due to increased mercury pollution caused by coal burning power plants, the levels of mercury in fish are getting dangerously high. The FDA has issued advisories that limit the amount of fish that is safe for a pregnant woman to consume. Specifically, large "predator" type fish such as swordfish, (fresh) tuna, shark, and mackerel are not considered safe for pregnant women and should not be consumed. Canned "light" tuna is OK in moderation (6-12oz/week).

Fortunately, there are now easy ways to supplement a pregnant woman's diet with this essential nutrient. A safer alternative to eating fish may be vitamin supplements containing omega-3 fatty acids. In addition to the fish oil capsules sold in health food stores, at least two brands of pre-natal vitamins contain omega-3 fatty acids.

Omega-3 fatty acids are also available in some types of infant formula. For breast-feeding mothers, supplementation would be recommended so the nutrients can pass to the baby in the breast milk

Mercury is a potent neural toxin, and may be responsible for cognitive delays and other types of brain damage. Developing babies are the most vulnerable to this type of toxin. However, research on the safety of fish consumption continues, but evidence clearly shows that EPA and DHA are vital to the development of your baby’s brain.  Consult your doctor or midwife about how much of the essential fatty acids DHA and EPA you should be getting through diet (salmon, tuna, and halibut) or supplementation (Fish Oil, Seaweed, and Krill).