Another new product and today it is FISH OIL.
Now, personally, I drink raw milk and eat meat both from cows feed grass as a base for my omega 3 intake of EPA/DHA.
Plus oily fish occasionally, ideally from wild sardines, or occasionally wild salmon.
Once upon a time, I fell into the trap of believing your omega 3-6 ratio was the only thing driving your inflammation.
And thus dished out huge doses of liquid omega 3 to improve the ratio.
However, this really had little to no effect on the vast majority of patients.
It can also cause issues as discussed before:
https://www.academyofchiropracticnutrition.com/fish-oil-gives-your-heart-atrial-fibrillation/
There are however, a few subgroups where it does become more important to consider it.
Plus, I recognise that not everyone has access to grass fed raw milk and meat.
One key group is pregnant women, who are busy making brains.
Their demands are higher and this is a window for future health and brain power the unborn child that will close, so it is important to get it right.
The concern for pregnant women is that fish do contain some mercury and that developing fetuses’ brains are especially sensitive to toxins.
Thus, we do want to avoid large fish, like tuna, during pregnancy (plus it has no significant amounts of EPA/DHA).
We talked about that here:
https://www.academyofchiropracticnutrition.com/why-mercury-toxicity-matters-tuna-on-trial/
But personally, I would encourage pregnant women to eat 1-2 portions of small oily fish or wild salmon a week.
Yes, it has EPA/DHA but also other nutrients too. But, the demand for EPA/DHA goes up in pregnancy, and we have solid research to back up fish oil supplements.
Nine RCT’s using DHA found:
And for childhood outcomes:
Now, note outcomes for DHA in brain outcomes for kids is a bit mixed.
The key thing IMO is to ensure they are not deficient.
Whether taking it a bit higher makes them extra smart is another matter.
Plus, of course, ensuring the mother is optimal in the other key nutrients, from B vitamins, to calcium, to magnesium and iron.
And that is why we have the OPTIMAL MULTIVITAMIN for PREGNANCY.
Plus the CHOLINE, which only 5% of pregnant women are getting enough of (only found in significant amounts in eggs and liver).
Remember CHOLINE is needed to make PHOSPHATIDYLCHOLINE which is 50% of every cell membrane and needed to make MYELIN.
Now that is important for babies’ brains.
Together they make the OPTIMAL PREGNANCY TRIO.
As we age, DHA becomes very important in maintaining brain structure, which is why people over 65 years old might also benefit from fish oil supplementation.
For pregnant and breastfeeding women, we recommend x2 capsules daily.