Should You Be Using DHA Infant Formula For Your Baby Or Not?
More and more as science discovers the benefits of omega 3 essential fatty acids to health and to the development of the growing fetus we will see a continuation of the recent trend towards DHA supplementation of foods. Now it is quite possible to buy DHA infant formula as well is many other DHA are supplemented baby foods including baby cereal with DHA.
DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is one of the essential omega 3 fatty acids and is now considered to be the most important to our health. EPA is also important and is another omega 3 fatty acid but DHA is essential to a whole range of health benefits to both our brain and heart and also becoming clear that the developing fetus or baby also requires an adequate supply of DHA.
But it’s another matter to decide whether using DHA Infant Formula is a good idea or not. But we can get a clue from a recent event. This event was a lecture given to doctors and nutritionists by a representative of baby food manufacturer who make a DHA baby formula. This event was one staged by representative of a manufacturer of a DHA baby formula and was a lecture. The lecture included some interesting information, particularly that residents of the US and Canada have some of the lowest levels of DHA of any country in the world. That’s because of our very low levels of fish intake.
Also of interest was the statement made that established benefits to infants and babies from an adequate supply of DHA included better. “cognitive development, improved visual acuity, memory retention and ability to communicate and solve problems as well as psychomotor development”. So you can see there are powerful reasons to ensure that the fetus or baby has an adequate supply of DHA available.
However there is another powerful reason to be sceptical about the benefits of DHA Baby Formula. It has always been accepted for a number of reasons that breastfeeding is better than using infant formula. If there is a sufficient supply of DHA to the mother in her diet then this is also available to the baby through her milk.
This relies of course on the diet of the mother having an adequate intake of DHA
It isn’t clear yet what benefits there are to using DHA in baby formula. And in fact the representative of the infant formula company noted that “No infant formula can ever substitute breast milk. It will take years before anybody can tell us how to add the hormones in breast milk to infant formula”.
It is pretty clear that it is way too early to decide to use DHA infant formula to feed our babies. Provided the mother gets enough DHA in her diet the baby will get sufficient DHA in the milk.
It is quite possible, by eating more oily fish, to increase our intake of DHA. But sadly fish is contaminated with a range of toxins such as Mercury.
The best DHA supplements are entirely clean and are a very cost-effective way of getting an adequate daily supply of DHA. But not all DHA supplements are good.
Visit my website to find out where to source the best DHA Supplements so that you too can get an adequate supply of DHA to your baby through your milk.
Want to know more about the health benefits of DHA Supplements? Or more about the pros and cons of DHA Infant Formula? Visit Peter’s Website Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oil.
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