Friday, July 3, 2009

Guide to Children's Omega 3 Supplements

As most of you know by now, most of us in the western world are deficient in omega 3 fatty acids. And most children are the same. Now a young child's brain is still developing and needs large amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids. So here is a guide to children's Omega 3 supplements.

This is because our brain is comprised of some sixty per cent fat and half of that is Omega 3 DHA fatty acids. So it is very important for your child's development that they get a daily supplement of Omega 3 DHA fatty acids.

The best source of Omega 3 is fish oil. You can obtain Omega 3 from flaxseed and leafy greens like purslane, however the type of Omega 3 in these, is ALA and it needs to be converted by our body over to DHA and EPA.

Now this conversion does not always happen efficiently if you are elderly or sick. So you may not get the benefit of the Omega 3 fatty acids.

One of the things you need to be careful of, is that the oil you buy must be purified by a process called molecular distillation, to remove all of the contaminants, like mercury, lead and PCBs etc.. This process will ensure that the oil is the purest you can buy. Some call the oil processed this way pharmaceutical grade fish oil.

Here is a tip on how to use children's Omega 3 supplements. Now it may be that your child is too young to swallow a fish oil capsule even though they are soft gel capsules. Then you can do what my friend does for his children. He cuts the soft gel capsules open and puts the fish oil into yogurt or other food. The children love this as fresh fish oil has no taste.

Now not all fish are equal when it comes to the amount of Omega 3 fatty acids like DHA and EPA they have in their flesh. The fish obtain their Omega 3 fatty acids from their diet, and some fish are low in Omega 3s.

I buy the supplements that I take off a company that sources their fish from the cold, deep, pristine waters of the Southern Ocean, just off the coast of New Zealand. The fish they use are called Hoki and they are rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, because their diet consists of plankton.

If you have the time it, pays to go to the manufacturers website and check that the fish are processed close to where they are landed. This is to ensure freshness. Some companies buy their oil from other countries by the tanker load and sadly this oil is not always fresh. I hope this article on children's Omega 3 supplements has been of some use to you and your child.









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By: Gordon Hall
Source: http://www.goarticles.com
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