Fish oil capsules. Good for pregnancy?

The Journal of the American Medical Association recently published a study by the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in North Adelaide, Australia indicating that “women taking fish oil capsules during pregnancy are not more likely to stave off postpartum depression nor boost the mental development of their babies,” Reuters reports.

Fish oil, on the other hand, does reduce the chances of giving birth too early, but may result in a pregnancy going past its due date. (Which could lead to induction, which may wind up in C-section.) Does that mean DHA isn’t the miracle fatty acid we thought it was?

Nutritionists and doctors have heralded the importance of getting DHA while pregnant. Dr. Mary Harris, professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Colorado State University, says, “In research that studied maternal nutrition and how it affected babies, moms who ate the least amount of fish during pregnancy had babies with the lowest brain and eye test scores,” adding, “moms who eat three servings of fish each week have the brainiest babies; they speak earlier and have better social skills.”

But according to this new study, that’s just not true.   Continue reading »

Tweet

4

Pin It

Interest in natural foods has grown tremendously over the last decade.  The Associated Press reports that market share of organics increased “14 to 21 percent annually with sales of $24.6 billion in 2008.”  Organic baby food items like Stonyfield Farm’s YoBaby are available at mainstream retailers such as Wal*Mart, and anyone who watches Sesame Street on the regular knows Earth’s Best Organics are a ‘proud sponsor’ of the show.  But the AP says watchdogs think the National Organic Program “has not been restrictive enough in what it allows to be labeled as organic,” so in an effort to crack down on Bush administration leniency, President Obama announced this week that the additives ARA and DHA “will no longer be permitted in infant formula or baby foods certified as organic because (they) have not received legal approval for use in organic products,” according to The Washington Post.  The article goes on to say that ARA and DHA, thought to promote brain and eye development, “are present in 90 percent of organic infant formulas.”

A quick search on Amazon shows that Earth’s Best Organic and Similac Organic formulas both contain the fatty acids.  The problem is not that omega-3 and omega-6 are bad for infants; the acids themselves occur naturally in breast milk.  But these beneficial omegas are produced chemically “using a potential neurotoxin known as hexane,” then added to formula. Presumably non-organic formulas like Enfamil Premium will continue to include ARA and DHA, begging the question, if they’re not safe for organics, why should they be added at all?  Continue reading »

Tweet

0

Pin It

Parents rely on food labels to make the best nutritional choices possible for their kids and their families. That’s why it’s so frustrating when food labels market foods inaccurately.

Last month, Nestle got a sharp slap on the wrist — in the form of two different warning letters — by the FDA, who says the Swiss food maker made claims about the content of two types of beverages marketed to parents and caregivers of small children.

Continue reading »

Tweet

3

Pin It

Makers of baby formula pounced on DHA and ARA once evidence started mounting that these acids made breast-fed babies smarter.  Breastmilk is loaded with DHA and ARA, which help build neural connections in developing brains.

Whether fortifying formula with the fatty acids made for smarter babies hasn’t been shown until now. A new study in the journal Child Development offers evidence that — under the right circumstances – it works. Continue reading »

Tweet

0

Pin It