How to get your kids to eat fish oil?
Well…seriously I don’t really want to subject any kid to eat/drink fish oil. The interesting aspect of fish oil is the omega 3 acids it contains. The brain is made up of 60 percent fat and the omega-3 fatty acids (also called EPA+DHA) are the kind of fat that helps the brain develop and grow. According to several studies, omega-3 fatty acids have been linked to the following benefits:
- Helps with mood disorders, including ADD & ADHD
- Improves focus thus helping kids suffering from learning difficulties, such as dyslexia
- Protects the heart and reduce the pain of arthritis.
- Help adults with conditions as schizophrenia and depression
While these benefits are wonderful the reality is that there is a big lack of omega-3 in Western diets. This miracle food can be found in fish, Flaxseeds, Walnuts and Soybeans. As you can imagine those are not really part of the common American lunch or dinner. Fish has been slowly been pushed out of the average American meals for decades and the trend does not seem to be slowing down. To make matters worse concerns about high doses of heavy metals found in fish make it even less likely that fish consumption is going to pick up.
So does your kid, or yourself for that matter, receive enough omega 3 – fatty acids?
A traditional approach is to take cod liver oil as a natural supplement. However, as most parents know, children don’t like it and the oil is not particularly rich in EPA and DHA. Talk about a bad deal!
Fortunately there are some good news. Several manufacturers offer nutritional supplements, in the form of a pill or candy, that allow you to get the right amount of EPA and DHA. Those products actually taste good…well good might be pushing it. Let’s say they taste OK which is a hundred times better than what liver oil does. They do not have any of the risks associated with the heavy metal found in some fishes either.
The only issue with the nutritional supplements is to find the ones that give you enough of what you need (EPA+DHA). Typically the daily recommended dose of both elements combined is around 500-600mg (250-300mg of each). If you have to take several supplements to get the right amount you have to be careful that you are not getting other nutriments. For example vitamins A or D can be bad for you if you get too much of them.
As usual consult your doctor before taking any action.
Filed under Health, kids, omega 3 | Comments (4)4 Responses to “How to get your kids to eat fish oil?”
Leave a Reply
Fish oil is the best food in keeping the mind fresh and active and also nutritional supplements are in need keeping the body out of dangerous with blood pressure.
Fortunately my 8 year old daughter can swallow pill, but prior we did go with the orange flavored fish oil. Still tasted horrible, but she was a trooper. I’d jokingly test her afterwards on a simple math problem and state how her brain is expanding as we speak
I put the fish oil capsule in my son’s mouth and rub his throat until he swallows it. Just kidding…I plan on giving it to him in the near future and the capsules seem like the way to go. Thanks!
I came across your blog, i think your blog is awsome, keep us posting.