omegas?

[butternut]

I need some info here: can someone explain the need for DHA / omega 3 and 6 during pregnancy? Is a supplement really necessary? I am a longtime vegetarian and do not fish. I do eat a lot of different kinds of nuts. Is a flaxseed oil supplement safe during pregnancy? Is it even good? I cannot stomach flaxseed oil straight and it gives me so much gas!
I checked Dr. Sears site on this but it seemed to me that all the info was about formulas needing omegas. I breastfed before and will so so again.
This is not my first pregnancy but I seemed to have missed all this with my others. Still, I have bright kids!:)

[thundersweet]

Not sure about the absolute *need* for them. I do take Omega RX from Dr Sears (not William Sears, Barry Sears) and he is the leading authority on the use of Omega's in the diet. I read (on his website) that Omega's are important for everybody but especially in pregnany women. I am going to the doctor this morning again and I am going to take the Omega RX with me and she what she says. I know that probablly didnt help you but I will see if I can find some links to what he says about them. I will post back later when I have some time.

[bebe luna]

I do believe they are necessarry, not only for pregnant and nursing mamas, but for toddlers, kids, and adults...
Omega fats nourish our brains, nerves, joints, and cells...
They are very beneficial, especially in the 3rd trimester, for helping develop healthy brains, nerves, and tissues in the fetus.

About flax oils, I believe there is some controversy about taking flax in the 1st and 2nd trimester...
If you are vegetarian and do not want to take fish oils, I would recommend hemp oil, or a mix of other omega fats such as borage, black walnut, evening primrose, etc.
Eating foods high in omega fats can be helpful as well~ walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, avocadoes, almond butter, eggs, olive oil, grapeseed oil, etc.

Regarding stomaching the oils, there is always the option of taking capsules instead of the straight oil.

[butternut]

Thanks to both of you--it helps a lot to get a little more info.
Jaze- I do eat all of the things you listed on your suggested food items. From what you have heard, is it enough to get the omegas from food? I was taking flaxseed oil capsules but will stop now. I also put a little flaxseed oil in my smoothies. Maybe I should stop that as well??

Sandy- I would love to get any valuable websites you know of. What is in the OmegasRx? Is it from fish oil?

Thanks again!

[thundersweet]

Hi there! I buy my omegas from the Dr Sears website. They are expensive but if you get on the autoship its alot cheaper. Here is a link https://www.zonelabsinc.com/servlet/coresysconfig.ZoneLabsComController I hope that works. If you do a search online for omegas and pregnancy you will uncover so much information. I give it to my dd as well. I give her a product called Coromega and she LOVES it. I used to give flax oil and that was very difficuly trying to hide it. lol The coromega http://www.coromega.com/ comes in a little packet. Tastes like a baby aspirin really. My dd (2 1/2) alwlays asks for it. I really think omegas are an important nutrient that everyone should take just as bebe luna said.

Oh wait I just realized you said you were a vegetarian. What I take is fish oil. I am sorry I must have missed that in your post. I am not sure about the flax oil in pregnancy. Maybe ask your doctor or do a search online.

[starrynight]

Hey butternut I recognize your name from September 2004 mommies. I'm the other vegetarian that posted there. I also don't eat fish.

When I was pregnant with my son I drank flax oil smoothies occasionally, but not all the time. I think had heard that too much flax can cause an estrogenic effect (something like that.) I did eat a lot of nuts (esp. walnuts) and I made a point of eating omega 3 eggs. During my last trimester I ordered DHA capsules and took one of those a day.

Having said that, I think I am going to do things a little differently this time. I had a hemmhorage after I gave birth to my son and since then have read that extra DHA/omega's (including fish oil) can cause blood thinning. I don't know if the DHA I was consumming contributed to the hemorhage (I doubt it, I think it was the four hours of pushing that exhausted my uterus.) But to be on the safe side I'm going wait until after the baby is born and then take the DHA to enhance my breast milk.


wishing you well.....

Andréa

[Caring Touch]

Taking OMG 3 oils is essential to the diet and the baby's developing brain. It's brain nutrition and anti-inflammatory, unlike most of the oils the average American eats.

I get my oils from www.nordicnaturals.com. They have a better price and are filtered from the metals and PCB's. Most fish oils are bought from one main company in Norway and then different manufactures package it and/or filter it differently. I like Nordic the best of all the ones I've tried.

Caring Touch

[cjr]

You could also just try eating omega enriched foods. There is alot of them out there. I eat the omega 3 eggs and found a great cereal that is full of omega and other graining good things and it tastes great (I can't remember the name off hand). I do know that the omegas are very important, pregnant or not.

Cindy

[butternut]

Thanks for the links. I will definitely check them out as well as do a search.
Andréa--was your DHA supplement a a fish oil supplement? I think I may be leaning toward doing like you do--eating omega rich foods (which I always have anyway, just without much thought to them being omega-rich), maybe the omega eggs and then taking the supplements while breastfeeding. Or maybe I will change my mind after my search!

Thanks again. I think sometimes it can be hard with every new thing which comes up in nutrition and especially when one is pregnant, to know which things I need to pay more attention to and whcih things may be more marketing than true need. Thanks for solid info, everyone!

[Tanibani]

My DH :hat grounds his own Flax seed oil and puts it in OJ every am. It's supposed to help lower cholesterol levels.

I've been too lazy to do it (until recently) and have taken 1 Tbsp of oil (store bought) every other day for months.

:book But then I read the following from A Natural Guide to Pregnancy and Postpartum Health (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1583331387/qid=1073484962//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-3118650-6212157?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Dean Raffelock. It's a great book and needs to be widely read by Pg women.

We do not recommend that you supplement your diet with a lot of flaxseed oil to supply your diet with ALA. Flaxseed oil is one of the least stable oils known. In other words, it spoils easily and goes rancid. If you eat rancid oil, you are ingesting toxic free radicals that have to be soaked up by your antioxidant stores, :eek leaving fewer antioxidants to control the rest of the free radicals that are constantly forming throughout the body. Walnuts and pumpkin seeds are good sources of ALA.

Apparently, the baby takes whatever stores of DHA & EPA the mom has... and moms who have low stores during pg are at higher risk for post-partum depression. He also notes that pg mothers with the lowest levels of DHA and EPA (another important essential fatty acid) in their red blood cells are nearly 8 times as likely to develop preeclampsia. (p. 97)

Anyway, every other day, I do ground up Flax seed and put it in OJ or my cereal. :thumb

BEE - read the book. It should help you sort it all out. It's not perfect, but very good... for example, he does recommend deep water fish, but I have greatly limited my intake of fish due to mercury concerns.

:OT my son used to love drinking his oil... but I've fallen off the wagon lately... and I need to include the ground seed anyway, rather than the oil.

[bebe luna]

Well, there is a difference in DHA and vegetarian omega fats... the DHA does much more for a developing brain and nervous system.
Luckily there is a vegetarian source of DHA. It is by Natures Way, called Neuromins. It is derived from algea. The algea is actually what the fish obtain their supply of DHA from, then store it in their fat.
Hereare 2 links:
http://www.royal-health.com/dha.htm

http://www.herbsmd.com/shop/xq/asp/pid.7414/qx/productdetail.htm

Starrynight~ I highly doubt any of the omega 3 consumption contributed to your bleeding. I do know Vitamin E can thin blood and cause bleeding after birth or surgery, but that is not the case w/ the omega oils.

Also, one conbtroversy w/ flax is that it causes babies to have larger than normal heads. Who knows...
I prefer hemp over flax anyways.

It is a good idea to eat omega-rich eggs, nuts, hemp, avocadoes, etc. But I also think that we should all supplement w/ DHA in the 3rd trimester and while nursing. It is also recommended to give kids 1 y.o. and up DHA supplements (adminster 1/2 tsp per 25 lbs of body weight). I give my son cod liver oil from Carlsons brand. Carlsons, like Nordic Naturals, is very high quality from Norway and carefully screened. They also offer lemon flavored oil which my son loves.

Here's a good article on omega 3's and their importance... at the bottom of the page is a link about omega 3's protecting premature deliveries:
http://www.mercola.com/article/omega3.htm

Here is another good article on the importance of omega 3's for the fetus:
http://www.wellnesswallcharts.com/pgomega3article.html

[butternut]

Thanks, both of you. Especially for the more specific info on the downsindes of flaxseed oil. I will definitely not be continuing with that.
The book sounds interesting as well as the veg source of DHA.
I will check them out!

[Tanibani]

bump
:D

[Rebecca]

Omega 3 and 6 are considered essential fatty acids, meaning that the body cannot produce them itself. It must consume them. We get plenty of 6 in vegeteble oils we eat anyway, but 3 is more difficult. Yes, omega 3 eggs, fatty fish, fish oil, flaxseed and black walnuts are fantastic sources and it's a good idea to have some (not megaloads!!) each day as part of a healthy diet. Your baby will only get the benefits of these oils if you consume them, unlike antibodies for example, that you produce anyway.

And I have never heard of any negative side effects from flaxseed oil if used as a food, not a supplement (like a drizzle on salad with vinegar, or a teaspoon or two added to a smoothie).

[Caring Touch]

I really LOVE the Omg 3's I take. I buy from Nordic Naturals from whole foods. They filter out the metals like mercury and lead, plus they add some lemon so you don't taste the fish. Plus they are affordable. I think their website is www.nordicnaturals.com if you were to buy online. I have done a lot of research on the issue and Sears and all the others actually buy from the same Nordic manufacture/producer of fish oils and then they filter it and package it differently at different grades. So it's mostly from the same source as all the others....what's important to look for is a 'pharmacutical grade' filtering process which Nordic Naturals has. I have been prone to stretch marks in my life but with the pregnancy I am now 9 months and having taken the oils, I have not gotten a single new stretch mark at all. That said a lot to me because I am hydrated properly on the inside of my body. Plus it great for memory and brain growth for my baby.

Good luck.
Caring Touch