When considering ways to improve health, fish oil for women may be especially beneficial. Because it provides Omega 3 fatty acids which are essential to cellular health, it plays an essential role in building brain tissue, carrying nutrients throughout the body, fighting inflammation and improving cardiac functioning.
Good health for women is often farther reaching than the good functioning of the individual woman herself. We play many roles as women: breadwinner, caregiver, wife and mother among others. We often are making decisions that affect the health of husbands, children and sometimes elderly family members.
When it comes to motherhood, we need to be aware that the nutrition that we are getting directly affects our babies before and after birth. Fish oil for baby is especially important because the EPA and to a greater extent, the DHA is essential to brain and eye development.
Good prenatal care includes vitamins, and mothers are informed of the importance of getting enough folic acid for her baby’s health. Not enough mothers are informed that fish oil during pregnancy and after delivery is also vital. This will soon change, thanks to the compelling research being published which points to the benefits of taking fish oil.
Omega 3 and pregnancy benefits include better cognitive function for the baby, and also better brain functioning for the mother. We know that brains depleted of DHA frequently have mood difficulties including depression, as well as memory problems. The fetus will take the DHA and other nutrients from the mother’s body. If there is a shortage, the mother will be deprived before the baby! You may avoid baby blues or post partum depression by having an adequate supply of DHA from fish oil supplements.
Mothers who breast feed may already know that bottle fed formulas do not contain all the nutritional benefits of breast milk. In particular, formulas are lacking in DHA. So breast fed babies may have the vision and cognitive jump on bottle fed babies.
They have also discovered that pregnant women who are deficient in Omega 3’s are 3.5 times more likely to have a pre-term delivery. While no one can say with certainty whether supplementing your diet will have a direct effect on a full-term delivery, doing so will help ensure your health as well as your baby’s.
According to the World Health Organization, DHA consumption in the US and the United Kingdom is well below recommended amounts. Australia and Canada do a little better. Yet this is not even half of the consumption of DHA in Norway and Japan, where fish is eaten regularly.
The recommended intake of DHA is 225 mg per day for healthy adults, while pregnant women and nursing mothers need 300 mg per day. Fish oil for baby is passed along through the placenta and then later through breast milk.
If you understand the importance of omega 3 and pregnancy, you can improve both your own health and that of your baby.