Omega 3 proves preventative for child allergies.

[Justforfun000]

Omega 3 Fats Active Against Child Allergies
14 Oct 2007

Omega-3 fats seem to have a protective effect on allergies in children. One year olds whose mothers had ingested fish oil during pregnancy and breastfeeding had considerably fewer allergic reactions than children whose mothers did not take this supplement, according to a study from Linkoping University in Sweden.

The study, which started in 2005, comprised 145 pregnant mothers with families at heightened risk of developing allergy and asthma. From the 25th week of pregnancy through the third month of nursing, they were asked to take nine capsules of oil every day. Half of them were given fish oil with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, and the other half were given a placebo in the form of soybean oil.

The study was doubly blind, that is, neither the participants nor the researchers knew who had received what.

It turned out that the "fish-oil children" had fewer than half as many reactions to eggs at the age of one year as the placebo group did. This is an important discovery, since allergic reactions to eggs early in life are strongly correlated with the later development of allergic disorders like eczema and asthma.

All of the children are now two years old and have undergone a clinical examination regarding eczema, been scratch-tested for eggs, milk, and cats, and left a blood sample.

The idea that the difference is truly an effect of the omega-3 fats is supported by an immunological study of the mothers' blood. The women who were given fish oil had less prostaglandin E2 in their blood than the others. This is a substance that triggers allergic immune responses, and it is known that it is depressed when the concentration of omega-3 increases.

"We have been able to show that omerga-3 influences the mother's immunological profile in a less inflammatory direction. Theoretically this can also affect the child's immune system, which is supported by the results of the scratch-tests," says the immune biologist Malin Fageras Bottcher, who led the study together in collaboration with the child allergist Karel Duchen.

VETENSKAPSRADET (THE SWEDISH RESEARCH COUNCIL)
Regeringstgatan 56
103 78 Stockholm
http://www.vr.se
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Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/85448.php

[Admiral Valdemar]

We need this in the water supply for the UK. Our allergy epidemic is growing to alarming levels, whether you agree with the hygiene hypothesis or not.

[Spin Echo]

We need this in the water supply for the UK. Our allergy epidemic is growing to alarming levels, whether you agree with the hygiene hypothesis or not.

I wouldn't recommend that. Fish oil capsules taste, surprisingly, very fishy. Putting that in the water would make it very unpalatable. You just need to get society to the point where it's considered negligent not to give your kids the fish oil supplements.

As a Norwegian friend of mine once put it: "There's two bad things you can do to your kids in Norway: beat them and not give them their tran[fish oil type supplement]. And if you're not giving them their tran, you might as well be beating them."

[Medic]

Omega-3? I think that was the fatty acid mentioned in this show on CNN called "America's Killer Diet."

Thanks to the internet, I found out it is and the relevant scene on the transcript

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Throw it in the blender. The digestive burger stuff.

GUPTA: Here it is after going through Hibbelin's blender. In his lab, he does what your stomach does, breaks down food into its basic ingredients like starches and oils.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what you would see in your stomach. *take my word for it, nasty*

GUPTA: This oil from salmon is rich in omega 3 fatty acids, and here is another kind of oil, soybean oil, largely omega 6.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This amount of oil comes from just one single serving of French fries.

GUPTA: Our brains and bodies need both omega 3 and 6 in order to function, but you need a balance. Over the last century, says Hibbelin, the balance has gotten completely out of whack. Here's a chart tracking our consumption of soybean oil, the main source of omega 6 fatty acids. *I can't quite remember this chart but like most, it was startling; I just wish I could give a ballpark comparison of the numbers*

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The brain is made of fats and the brain is made of oils. When people flood their diet with seed oils and omega 6 fatty acids, it forces out the omega 3s and the neurons instead of looking like full, healthy frees with wonderful branches and wonderful leaves and synapses become rather shriveled and die back.

GUPTA: The result he says can be depression, suicidal thoughts, even criminal behavior. Some of that is controversial. But a committee established by the American Psychiatric Association did recommend that doctors consider omega 3 supplements as part of the treatment for depression.

I liked also a graph they showed (I'll reference it though through the transcript, since I have no video):

GUPTA: [...]
And let's not forget an even bigger change. That is what America drinks. The white line shows milk consumption since World War II. The red line is soda. Mostly regular soda, not diet. *The declining line of milk and the climbing one of soda crossed and did not show signs of reversing sometime in the ... 70's.* And here's the bottom line -- barely one percent of children meet government guidelines for a healthy diet.

Puts obesity in sharper-perspective when paired with other societal trends including video games / sloth-favored-activities. (like this post )

Clearly our diet is to blame for everything. Well that and sloth.