EPA/DHA

Description

EPA/DHA™ promotes a healthy cardiovascular system, inhibits platelet aggregation and promotes improved circulation, lowers serum triglycerides, aides in normalizing heart rhythm, suppresses cancer cell proliferation, promotes cancer cell apoptosis, suppresses cancer cell metastasis, is an important nutritional factor for normal neurodevelopment, visual acuity and behavior, encourages normal brain development and cognitive function, enhances a healthy balance of Dopamine and serotonin, encourages normal insulin action, promotes normal glucose metabolism, and reduces proinflammatory eicosanoids, cytokines, interleukin 1b, and tumor necrosis factor.

Microscopic image of DHA

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acidis important throughout pregnancy and lactation for the health of both the motherand her fetus/infant. A recent National Institutes of Health (NIH) workshop offatty acid experts, recognizing the importance of maternal DHA intake,recommended 300mg/day of DHA as Adequate Intake (AI) for pregnant andlactating women.1 Some of the research prompting this recommendation includes:

• Maternal DHA levels decline significantly in the last trimester, the period during which much of the fetus’ brain, eye and nervous system development occurs. Significant amounts of maternal DHA are transferred to the fetus in order to support this development,2,3

• Low maternal and newborn DHA levels have been reported in closely spaced pregnancies (compared to first pregnancies)4 and multiple births (compared to singleton births),5

• In preterm infants, DHA levels in the umbilical artery wall, which reflect the long-term fetal DHA status, have been positively correlated to newborn head circumference, weight and length,6

• Newborn DHA status has a strong positive correlation to maternal DHA statusand dietary intake,7

• In a dietary study of 112 pregnant or lactating women in the United States,the average intake of DHA was 54mg/day, only 18% of that recommended by experts. Less than 2% of these women met the recommended DHA AI,8

• Increasing maternal DHA intake during pregnancy, through diet orsupplements, increases maternal9-11 and newborn10,11 DHA levels,

• DHA was cited as the likely component of breast milk affectingsignificantly higher cognitive outcomes of breast-fed infants compared to formula (not supplemented with DHA and ARA) fed infants through the first eighteen years of life,12

• Even up to two years of age, breast-fed infants (not supplemented with DHA and ARA) have higher skeletal muscle DHA and lower blood glucose levels than formula-fed infants,13

• At 6 weeks postpartum, maternal DHA levels remain lower than levels of non pregnant women,14 • Reported DHA levels in breast milk of American women15-26 are lower than what is recommended for formula-fed infants by a joint expert committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),27

• Breast-fed infants of mothers who supplemented with DHA during 4 months of nursing had significantly improved psychomoter development (eye-hand coordination) at 2.5 years of age compared to breast-fed infants of mothers who received placebo,28

• During lactation, increasing maternal intake of DHA with dietary supplements improves maternal, breast milk29,30 and infant DHA levels,29,31

 • In a study of pregnant women, those receiving 133mg of DHA per day (from DHA enriched eggs) during the third trimester increased their length of gestation by 6 days,33

• Infants who were breastfed for the first 4-6 months of life and then weaned to formula supplemented with DHA and ARA demonstrated more mature visual acuity than those breast-fed infants weaned to non-supplemented formula.34