Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Cnn has an article today about fish oil and dha. There's apparently a lot of doubt on whether it has any effect on Alzheimer's.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/02/he ... tml?hpt=T2

That article also links to this article which suggests that dha may not improve cognitive function in young children or prevent postpartum depression (two of its most touted uses).

http://news.health.com/2010/10/19/fish- ... s/?cnn=yes

It does appear to help prevent premature childbirth though and it improves cardiovascular function.

I only take it for a cover-all, just like other vitamins. We give our daughter a bunch everyday but I am never 100% where we get it from in our diet. The same goes for omnivores, they're just more smug about it. I do feel like I benefit from it somehow, though.

I think it only "improves" children's cognitive function over those who did not get enough DHA (maybe not in infant formula? DHA is a big part of breastmilk) as neo-natals and infants. Did/do people really think if they give their kid some stinky oil that it would be that simple to improve their IQ? hah!

I read that second article in the NY times a few weeks ago and I also read the study for it. I feel like these kinds of things are a little misleading because regardless of whether or not it improves a childs cognitive function DHA is still important for development of the baby's brain, eyes, and nervous system in utero, so it's still necessary. And I'm afraid these studies are going to make it seem like no one needs them for anything.

Yeah, granted, but I'm glad that we seem to be separating the hype from the facts. There does appear to be some question as to whether flax oil might work as well as dha oil during pregnancy (at least if you're a rat - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20817424) in terms of raising fetal dha and epa levels but the weight of evidence is on the side of taking dha if you're pregnant or breastfeeding.

I'm no longer convinced that it's necessary after that though if you're getting enough ALA (and not too much LA).