Originally published April 10 2015
73% of pregnant women are deficient in essential omega-3s, but Big Pharma says they are only deficient in vaccines
by David Gutierrez, staff writer
(NaturalNews) Seventy-three percent of pregnant women are failing to meet the daily recommended intake of long-chain omega-3s, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary and published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. This could deprive their babies of nutrients required for healthy brain development.
The omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids include alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Of these, the latter three are referred to as long-chain fatty acid, or omega-3 LCPUFA. These fatty acids in particular have been shown to be important for development of the placenta and the fetal brain, and increased maternal intake of omega-3 LCPUFA has been associated with improved health for mothers, babies and children.
The American Dietetic Association and the Dietitians of Canada recommend that all adults (not just pregnant women) consume 500 mg/day of omega-3 LCPUFA. In addition, the European Commission and the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids recommend that pregnant and lactating women consume at least 200 mg/day of DHA in particular.
Rates even worse among breastfeeding women
The study was conducted as part of the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) study, a large study designed to examine how maternal nutrition during pregnancy affects maternal health and child health and development. The researchers analyzed data collected on the first 600 women to join the study during and immediately following their pregnancies. All participants lived in Edmonton or Calgary.
The researchers found that only 27 percent of participants met the European Union's DHA recommendations during pregnancy, and 25 percent after pregnancy. The drop following pregnancy was because fewer women took omega-3 supplements after their pregnancies ended. Seventy-nine percent of the omega-3 LCPUFA in the women's diets came from seafood and seaweed products, primarily salmon. The researchers noted that salmon was among the most available year-round sources of omega-3s for the participants, who were mostly middle to high income.
Taking an omega-3 supplement containing DHA made a woman between 10.6 and 11.1 times more likely to meet the recommendations. This suggests that few women were meeting the Health Canada recommendation to eat one to two servings of omega-3-rich fish per week, which would also be enough to meet the DHA intake goal.
The findings suggest that pregnant women could benefit from more education about the importance of taking an omega-3 LCPUFA supplement during pregnancy and breastfeeding, the researchers wrote.
Although the study only looked at DHA, recent studies have suggested that DPA in particular may provide unique health benefits, including for the heart and nervous system. It remains unknown just how important DPA intake is for pregnant women.
Big Pharma pushes unsafe vaccines instead
In spite of the clear health benefits of omega-3s, you won't hear pharmaceutical companies urging these essential nutrients for pregnant women. Instead, you'll hear them (and the government agencies they have lobbied) encouraging women to get vaccines that have not been proven safe for their unborn babies.
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, has written, "What people need -- even in third world countries -- is nutrition, not chemicals. If they had better nutrition and sanitation, infectious disease would largely disappear even without vaccines! (But the drug industry doesn't believe in nutrition... vitamins are a threat to their vaccine profits.)"
Among the vaccines officially promoted for by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for injection into pregnant women are the flu shot and the Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) shot. But according to the FDA, which is actually responsible for regulating drugs (and not just making public health recommendations), neither of these vaccines has been proven safe for pregnant or lactating women.
Sources for this article include:
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com
http://www.cdc.gov
http://www.fda.gov[PDF]
http://www.drugs.com[PDF]
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