1. What is DHA?

DHA is a long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid.

2. Where is DHA mainly found in the human body?

DHA is mainly found in the retina (50%) and cerebral cortex (20%), and breast milk is also rich in DHA.dha certification

3. Relationship between DHA and maternal health

DHA supplementation in early pregnancy can reduce the risk of early preterm labor and promote fetal growth and development. In addition, research suggests that DHA supplementation can improve postpartum depression.sialic acid market

4. Relationship between DHA and infant health

DHA is closely related to infant development. The main performance is as follows.

DHA has a positive effect on the development of neurological functions in infants. It promotes the development of the infant's brain and improves cognition, language, memory and other abilities.

DHA helps to improve the development of infant visual function. For example, it improves infants' eyesight.

DHA has autoimmune system regulating effects.food ingredients asia Some research results show that DHA supplementation can reduce the incidence of food allergies in infants by reducing the incidence of food allergies.

DHA can improve infant sleep. Supplementation with DHA during pregnancy can significantly reduce the number of awakenings in newborns.

5. How much DHA should mom and baby consume?

It is recommended that pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers should consume not less than 200mg of DHA per day; full-term infants should consume 20mg of DHA per kilogram of body weight per day; and premature infants should consume 40mg of DHA per kilogram of body weight per day.

Therefore, whether it is necessary to supplement DHA for babies depends on whether the mother's dietary arrangement during pregnancy and breastfeeding is reasonable or whether she has taken DHA supplements.

6. What kind of food is rich in DHA?

Foods rich in DHA are mainly marine fish. Such as: seaweed, salmon, eel, cuttlefish, sardines, tuna, cod, however, some areas of the fish will be contaminated by mercury, lead and other heavy metals or arsenic and other harmful substances, safety is low. Moreover, the content of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) in fish oil is too high, which can make the proportion of DHA is too low, and the difference is large with breast milk, which is not very consistent with physiological requirements.

7. What will happen if DHA intake is insufficient?

Lack of DHA in infants and young children during development will lead to delayed or impaired infant and retinal development, which will lead to intellectual disability, visual impairment and reduced learning ability of children, and increase the risk of neurological diseases.

This is the time to actively adjust the diet structure and take more DHA supplements.

8. Which DHA supplement is more suitable for mothers and babies?

Common DHA supplements are algae oil and fish oil. Algae oil is extracted from single-cell marine algae, which is relatively less susceptible to contamination and safer, so it can be prioritized.

Meanwhile, algal oil DHA is more suitable for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, infants and young children because of its high purity, strong antioxidant ability and easy absorption.