Taking Fish Oil Supplements While Pregnant Increases Brainpower in Children
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The online journal Archives of Disease in Childhood published a recent study, conducted by the University of Western Australia, showing that women who take high doses of fish oil supplements in the trimester part of their pregnancy give birth to babies who will demonstrate superior coordination and increased brainpower later in life. The study involved 98 pregnant women who did not smoke and ate fish no more than twice a week. The researchers gave one group of women a daily dosage of 4g of fish oil supplements to take beginning at 20 weeks of pregnancy, whereas the second group of women was given 4g of olive oil supplements starting at 20 weeks. The researchers then tracked the children after birth. When the women’s children turned two and a half years old, the researchers ran growth and development tests on them. They discovered that the scores of the children of the mothers who had taken the fish oil supplements were a great deal higher in the areas of hand-eye coordination, comprehension, phrase length and vocabulary, than the children of the mothers who had taken the olive oil supplements. Even though there were certain things the researchers took into account, like the age of the mother and breastfeeding, they still found that the children of mothers who had taken the fish oil supplements were more highly developed in coordination, development, and brainpower. According to the lead researcher, Professor Susan Prescott, these findings indicate that taking a high dose supplement of fish oil during the last 20 weeks of pregnancy is not only harmless but may be very beneficial for the child. This, said Prescott, would need to be investigated more. The researchers believe that the most crucial time for pregnant women to take fish oil supplements ( http://buydominica.com/vitalsource ) is the last three months of pregnancy. The reason is because during that time the baby’s brain experiences a growth spurt, which lasts until the first few months of his/her life. The high omega-3 fatty acid content in the fish oil plays a major part in whether the child’s central nervous system is able to develop properly or not. Not only does the child benefit from omega 3, but other studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acid can also help the mother lower high blood pressure during her pregnancy, and relieve postpartum depression that can occur after pregnancy.
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