Revealing the value of “brain gold” DHA

DHA, commonly known as "brain gold", is an essential fatty acid for the human body. DHA is a main component for the growth and maintenance of nervous system cells. It is an important component of the brain and retina, and its content in the human cerebral cortex is as high as 20%. It accounts for the largest proportion in the retina of the eye, accounting for approximately 50%.

In addition, especially during pregnancy and early growth of the baby, DHA is crucial for the baby's neurological development and brain maturation. It has a profound impact on the child's behavior, memory, cognition, psychology and learning ability. Therefore, DHA It is widely used in maternal and infant nutrition products.

1.DHA fish oil VS algae DHA

Public information shows that studies have proven that DHA and EPA have anti-atherosclerotic effects and can significantly reduce blood lipids; they can inhibit platelet aggregation and reduce thrombosis; DHA can also increase the development and function of brain neurons.

Up to now, there are two main types of DHA supplement products on the market, one is algae oil DHA, and the other is fish oil DHA. However, consumers may have doubts about choosing DHA, or what are the differences between the two? not very clear.

First of all, from the perspective of source, fish oil is of animal origin, mainly from deep-sea fish. Fish feed on seaweed that is rich in DHA, and their bodies are enriched with DHA. Generally, fish oil is mainly extracted from tuna. During its growth process, there is a risk of industrial toxins and contamination passing through the food chain, and the fish oil fishing and extraction process is prone to oxidation and has a strong fishy smell.

Algae oil is a pure plant-based DHA raw material, and its main source of ingredients is seaweed. These seaweeds are either artificially cultivated or sourced from the deep sea. Because seaweed is at the lower end of the food chain and has not been widely spread, there is less heavy metal pollution and is relatively safer and more stable. The algae oil has advanced antioxidant formula, the production process is oxygen-proof and light-proof, and the transportation process is full cold chain, so it is not easy to smell fishy. .

Secondly, in terms of ingredients, the ingredients of fish oil are relatively complex, containing not only DHA but also EPA. Some fish oils also add other nutrients to enhance their effects. For example, By-Health Fish Oil Taurine Soft Capsules add taurine and zinc. However, the composition of algal oil is relatively simple, mainly DHA.

Finally, in terms of suitable people, the special ingredients of fish oil allow it to show different effects according to the formula and process of each product. Some fish oils are suitable for middle-aged and elderly people to reduce blood fat and cholesterol, and some such as Tomson By-Health Fish Oil Taurine Soft Capsules are suitable for children.

If you want to choose a fish oil product suitable for children, choose one with relatively low EPA content. The DHA in algae oil is safe and stable, with basically no EPA, making it more suitable for pregnant women, infants and students. Long-term supplementation is beneficial to improving the baby's immunity and reducing the incidence of respiratory diseases.

2.DHA intake and supplementation

Although DHA has many benefits, you should not supplement it randomly when supplementing DHA for your baby. It should be quantitatively supplemented according to the actual situation. It needs to be scientific and reasonable. It does not mean that the more supplements, the better. However, until now, there are still some problems. The phenomenon of babies taking supplements at random.

Pregnant and lactating mothers are recommended to consume 200-400 mg of DHA per day. For ordinary adults, it is recommended to consume a total of 200 mg of DHA per day.

Excessive intake of DHA will increase the digestive burden on infants, and in severe cases may lead to adverse consequences such as low immunity and difficulty in coagulation.

Breast milk is the main source of DHA nutrition for infants. Breastfeeding should be advocated and encouraged. Breastfed full-term infants do not need to supplement DHA. If breastfeeding is impossible or breast milk is insufficient, formula powder containing DHA can be used.

What cannot be ignored is that when supplementing your baby with DHA, you must not choose DHA that contains a large amount of EPA. It is reported that EPA is a competitive inhibitor of AA. When the concentration of EPA in the body is high, it preferentially enters the cellular phospholipid synthesis pathway. Inhibits the synthesis of phospholipids starting from AA, thus reducing the chance of synthesizing eicosanoids containing AA. This phenomenon has a retarding effect on the growth of newborns.

Therefore, while consumers pay attention to supplementing nutrition for their babies, they should also combine their own actual conditions to ensure balanced nutrition, pay attention to scientific combination, properly supplement their babies, and choose DHA products suitable for their babies.

ARA EPA fish oil

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