Did you know that as your baby grows, the Omega-3 fats are shuttled from the mother’s supply (primarily her brain) to the placenta. This could be one reason why women can be forgetful during pregnancy. Don’t worry there are ways to increase your Omega-3’s during pregnancy, read below to find out more!

Omega-3 fatty acids are known to benefit cardiovascular health, support a healthy brain function and mood, and to help maintain a healthy inflammatory response. Here at Rochester Chiropractic & Wellness, we often recommend them as part of an individual’s daily supplement regiment if they aren’t consuming fish on a regular basis. We will often strongly recommend a fish oil once we find out a women is pregnant. DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) and EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid) are considered “essential fatty acids” in that they cannot be synthesized by the body, and therefore must be obtained from the diet. These fatty acid chains are needed to make brain and eye tissues, as well as cell membranes for every living cell in our body, so as you are building a baby, you can see why these would be important. DHA is especially vital for development of the central nervous systems, this is why DHA is part of our favorite prenatal vitamin we offer. As the baby is growing, the Omega-3 fats are shuttled from the mother’s own supply, primarily from her brain, to the placenta. And we wonder why women have pregnancy brain? This is just one reason why it is essential to supplement, so you don’t deplete your own supply.  

While it would be best to get these fats from our diet, the current Western diet does not include a proper ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids. It should be a 1:1 ratio (omega-6 : omega-3), but in the Standard American Diet it is 20:1. Also, pregnant women are not recommended to eat large quantities of certain fish, due to the mercury risk. Foods high in omega-3’s include: salmon, tuna, spinach, flax seed, and walnuts.

The quality of fish oil you take is very important to consider. Often during the production process, the fish oil can be

heated to too high of a temperature, causing free radicals. These free radicals are known carcinogenic agents. Also, if they are exposed to sunlight or varying temperatures, they can become rancid. We are proud to say, all the fish oil we carry in the office have high production standards to guarantee the best quality. We carry brands that have DHA and EPA separately or together. In the prenatal vitamin we often recommend, DHA is part of the package. We also have a brand called Omega MonoPure from Xymogen. The MonoPure is a combination of EPA and DHA that is predigested, so your body is able to absorb it more readily.

That was a lot of information that we just covered! If you have any questions, feel free to ask one of the doctors in our office.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your’s in health and wellness,

The RCW Team

 

For more information follow these links:

Effects of maternal supplementation of fish oil

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25988553

Medical conditions omega-3s help with

http://rochestermnchiro.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/23275/2019/02/Differential-uses-of-EPA-and-DHA-Journal-Version.pdf