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What is DHA & Why so important for KIDS by Dr Chaney

Posted by Meyling Wednesday, June 16, 2010 0 comments

 

What is DHA?

 
Why is it important for KIDS

Some of you have been asking me: "What is this DHA stuff and why is it important for kids.
DHA stands for docosahexaenoic acid - DHA is a long chain omega-3 fatty acid that
comes from fish oil. To help you understand why it, and the other long chain omega-3 fatty acids like EPA, are important for brain function I need to tell you a little bit about how our nerves function.


You can think of each nerve as an electric wire. Each nerve has axons that carry the electrical
impulse much the same way that wires contain electricity. And, just as wires are coated with
plastic to keep the electrical current within the wire, each axon is coated with a membrane
called a myelin sheath that allows it to deliver the electrical impulse to the very end of the axon.
Those myelin sheaths have a high content of omega-3 fatty acids - and a lot of that is DHA. For
example, at birth DHA makes up 93% of the omega-3 acids in the retina and 97% of the omega-
3 fatty acids in the brain. By age 5, a child's brain is 3.5 times larger than at birth, so kids obviously require a lot of DHA for adequate brain development. Animal studies have shown that DHA is essential for both brain development and visual acuity, and these studies have been confirmed in humans. For example, one clinical trial showed that maternal supplementation with a cod liver oil enriched for DHA resulted in a higher IQ at age 4 years compared to supplementation with corn oil. Another clinical trial reported a beneficial effect of DHA supplementation on visual acuity when given to infants after weaning. But, it is not just visual acuity and brain development that are affected by DHA.


Several studies show that a low intake of omega-3 fatty acids is associated with
behavioral disorders such as ADHD. And clinical trials in England, Israel & Japan have all
shown that supplementation with DHA-rich omega-3 fatty acids significantly reduces ADHD
behavior.


So DHA is important for kids - but how much do they need? There is no official Daily Value
for DHA yet, but most experts recommend a daily intake of 125 to 150 mg.
Unfortunately, most kids age one to five are only getting 20-40 mg/day from the foods that they
eat! This is where supplementation comes in. We could feed our kids more sardines & liver, but
I doubt that they would eat them. We could feed them more tuna and salmon, but the
Environmental Protection Agency warns that those kinds of fish may be contaminated with
mercury, pesticides and dioxins, which can be harmful to young children.
Plus, supplementation works. A recently published study showed that when children aged 4-12
were given a supplement containing 100 mg of DHA per day their levels of DHA increased by
65%-70%. So DHA and other omega-3 fatty acids are brain food - but are they only important for kids?


Absolutely Not! In previous "Health Tips From The Professor" I have alerted you to studies
showing that depression in adults is associated with low intake of omega-3 fatty acids. I
have also alerted you to clinical studies showing that increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids
slowed age-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases.
Does that mean that adults should be taking a DHA supplement or focusing on DHA-rich foods?
That's not entirely clear. Most of the clinical trials in children have focused on DHA intake, while most of the clinical trials in adults have used fish or fish oil preparations in which the major omega-3 fatty acid was EPA.
So until the science changes I recommend that kids get their DHA from supplements providing
100 mg of DHA a day and adults get their omega-3 fatty acids from fish
or fish oil supplements.
To your health!
Dr. Stephen Chaney, PhD

Please contact me for more info on YOUR child's health, and to START NOW doing something about it!!

 

 

 

 

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Author Affiliations

  1. 1Department of Epidemiology, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan
  2. 2Department of Occupational Medicine ‘Luigi Devoto Work Clinic’, Section of Medical Statistics and Biometry ‘Giulio A. Maccacaro’, University of Milan, Milan
  3. 3Unit of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Aviano (PN), Italy
  1. *Correspondence to: Dr F. Bravi, Dipartimento di Epidemiologia, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, via Giuseppe La Masa 19, 20156 Milano, Italy. Tel: +39-0239014773; Fax: +39-0233200231; E-mail: francesca.bravi@marionegri.it
  • Received December 22, 2009.
  • Revision received April 15, 2010.
  • Accepted April 16, 2010.

 

Abstract

Objective: Several studies have shown an inverse relation between vegetable and fruit intake and pancreatic cancer, but no specific beneficial component of such foods has been consistently identified. We considered the role of 15 selected vitamins and carotenoids and 6 minerals on pancreatic cancer risk in an Italian case–control study.

Methods: Subjects were 326 patients with incident pancreatic cancer and 652 controls, admitted to the same hospitals as cases for acute conditions. Micronutrient computation was based on a validated and reproducible food-frequency questionnaire. We estimated the odds ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI) using conditional logistic regression models, adjusted for various confounding factors and for energy intake, according to the residual model.

Results: Comparing the highest to the lowest quintile of intake, the OR were 0.60 (95% CI 0.36–0.98) for vitamin E, 0.44 (95% CI 0.27–0.73) for vitamin C, 0.56 (95% CI 0.34–0.93) for folate, and 0.57 (95% CI 0.35–0.92) for potassium. No significant inverse associations were observed for α-carotene (OR = 0.69, 95% CI 0.43–1.12), β-carotene (OR = 0.64, 95% CI 0.39–1.06), and β-cryptoxanthin (OR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.39–1.09). No relation was found for other micronutrients considered.

Conclusion: Our findings support a favorable role of vitamins E and C, selected carotenoids, and folate on pancreatic carcinogenesis.

Dietary intake of selected micronutrients and the risk of pancreatic cancer: an Italian case–control study — Ann Oncol

 

To your Health,

Meyling Calero

www.meyling.myshaklee.com

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The Sustained Release B + C Complex in Shaklee's Vitalizer continuously releases small amounts of the B vitamins and vitamin C during the 12 hours that it takes to pass through the small intestine. Clinical studies have shown that this results in up to a 200% increase in blood levels of some B vitamins and that blood levels of vitamin B12 are equal to or greater than the same amount of B12 in an immediate release B complex.

Report from Dr. Stephen G Chantey


Dear Shaklee Member -


As we age there is perhaps nothing more frightening than the thought of losing our mind.We can cope with lots of physical infirmities, but it is our memories and our cognition that make us who we are.


So what can we do to keep our mind in tip top shape as we age?
I'm going to start by talking about the importance of one B vitamin, folic acid, in maintaining our mental acuity as we age. But, good health is seldom determined by one nutrient alone, so I'm going to end this discussion by describing a holistic approach for reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia.


Two recent articles have emphasized the importance of folic acid in preventing cognitive decline.


The first was a cross-sectional study of folate status and cognitive function in 1,033 non-demented older patients, ages 60-90 (de Lau et al, Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 86: 728-734, 2007). The researchers measured blood levels of folic acid and did extensive cognitive tests on the subjects. The results were fairly clear-cut.

Those people with the highest levels of folic acid were the least likely to suffer from loss of cognitive function or psychomotor speed (reaction time).
But, cross-sectional studies are not the gold-standard placebo controlled clinical trial, which is why the second study is so important.


In this study, 818 middle aged subjects (ages 55-70) with normal vitamin B12 levels (the importance of this will become apparent in a minute) were given either 800 ug of folic acid or a placebo daily and followed for 3 years (Durga et al, Lancet, 369: 208-216, 2007).


At the end of 3 years, the subjects receiving the folic acid supplement did significantly better than the placebo group on several measures of cognitive function.


So you might be thinking that you should rush right out and buy a folic acid supplement. Not so fast. You need to hear the rest of the story.


Vitamin B12 is also essential for cognitive function, and, with consumption of red meat declining, many older Americans are becoming deficient in B12.


B12 deficiency has two symptoms:.
The first to appear is anemia. It is what usually brings the patient to their doctors office, and at this stage the B12 deficiency is easily reversible.
However, if the B12 deficiency is left untreated, the patient will eventually develop dementia that is not reversible.

 

The problem is that folate supplementation can mask the early, easily reversible, symptoms of B12 deficiency. So that brings us to the third clinical study (Morris et al, Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 85: 193-200, 2007).

 

This study was a cross-sectional study looking at vitamin B12 status, folic acid status and cognitive function.When they looked at those subjects in the study with low vitamin B12 status the ones who also had high blood folate levels actually faired poorer on cognitive tests than those with low blood folate levels.


So now you're probably thinking that you should rush out and buy a B complex supplement providing both folic acid and vitamin B12.
Wrong again!


Some older Americans develop an inability to produce something called intrinsic factor that is required for the rapid absorption of vitamin B12 in the intestine. Those people cannot get enough vitamin B12 from theirfood, and for them a standard vitamin B12 supplement is of little use.


Knowing this, you might now feel that there is no effective way to make absolutely sure that you are getting enough B vitamins to reduce the risk of cognitive decline.

 

But, you'd be wrong again.


There is a second, intrinsic factor-independent pathway for absorbing vitamin B12 that is present throughout the entire length of the digestive tract.
So what you want to look for is a sustained release B complex that releases its B12 a little bit at a time throughout the digestive tract.


And since not all companies make their supplements according to pharmaceutical standards, you would want to make sure that this sustained release B complex had been shown in a clinical trial to deliver at least as much B12 to the blood stream as an immediate release B complex in individuals with normal levels of intrinsic factor.


Finally, now that you know what to look for in a B complex supplement, let me remind you that mental acuity is not just dependent on two B vitamins. Recent studies have shown that diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, maintaining ideal body weight and exercising regularly all help us to keep our brains functioning as they should as we age.


A holistic approach to health is always best.


To Your Health!
Meyling Calero
www.meyling.myshaklee.com


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