The foundation for a healthy immune system for our kids is a healthy diet with all the vitamins and nutrients their growing bodies need, getting adequate exercise, and good sleep. Because our food sources can be so tainted with inadequate soil conditions, chemicals in the food, cooking the food which reduces half the nutrient value, etc it is no wonder that so many have decided to supplement. I am one of them. I don’t think a healthy diet alone will meet all of their needs…our food chain is just too messed up. But Many health officials are telling us we should supplement with fish oils. Dr. Sears is one such doctor who endorses them for their benefits to immunity and brain function.
Fish oils are rich in essential fatty acids, including omega-3s, so they provide a powerful immunity boost. I know that there are many moms that disagree with using this source of omega-3s, vegans included, but other sources such as flax seed may not be a very good alternative. Flax seeds contain the omega-3 fatty acid ALA that must be converted to DHA so that the body can incorporate it into cells and use it. Children make this enzyme only in small amounts, if at all. If they do not have the enzyme they will not benefit from the omega-3 fat in flax seeds. Newborns are completely unable to convert ALA to DHA. Even adults struggle with this conversion. Hence, flax seeds may not be an adequate source of DHA. That doesn’t mean we can’t give our kids flax seeds…mine love them…but I supplement with fish oils too. I am covering all my bases. You just need to make sure it is high quality so that you can avoid environmental contaminants associated with taking concentrated fish supplements.
One I came across recently is Omax3 where purity seems to be the name of the game. Omax3 omega-3 supplement is made from highly purified fish oil. It offers an unprecedented level of purity, potency and freshness – as well as a perfected balance of the omega-3 essential fatty acids EPA and DHA. They claim that the market has been dominated by expensive, poorly formulated supplements that contain as little as 30% omega-3s that mostly consist of marine bi-products, cholesterol, saturated fats, and environmental contaminants that can do more harm than good.
Omax3 claims that their formula is 91% pure and one of the highest quality fish oil supplements you can get. Their freezer test was really interesting. If you stick your fish oil capsules in the freezer for 24 hours and they get white and cloudy, they claim this is an indication that the capsules have a high lard content and a high impurity rate. After freezing Omax3 capsules remain clear. Pretty interesting. I may have to do more research into what makes some fish oil supplements superior to others.
How would you give these to a toddler? Do you squeeze the liquid out into their food? Do your kids taste it? I have been wondering whats the best way to do this. Also do you use that whole giant pill even for a little toddler?
No, for younger kids I would use bottled oil and stick in their smoothies or squeeze out capsules as you mentioned.
Thanks so much for this informative post. I was just wondering if I should start supplementing with Omega-3 or cod liver oil.
I think it is actually better to have children obtain Omega 3’s from natural sources. Cold water fish such as salmon, sardines, trout, herring and tuna are excellent choices. My children eat fish about once a week. For snacks my children also eat pumpkin seeds and walnuts they contain lower levels of omega 3. I do not believe that children under the age of 4 should be given supplements, you run the risk of them developing allergies.
The foundation for a healthy immune system is a healthy digestive system. If the digestive system is not functioning properly, it does not matter how much nutrients you consume, it will not be available to the body. There is a profound connection between the immune system and the digestive system.
I’m not sure I believe the hype on fish oil verses flax or other oils. People find both equally beneficial and I’m not sure I believe the fish oil makers claims that because fish oil contains so much DHA, ALA and EPA that our bodies need that much or that all of it is used by the body. Also our abilities to convert omega fatty acids into DHA, ALA and EPA is impaired by toxins such as mercury. Mercury in found in fish and fish oils many of which are not third party tested for such toxins and even in small amounts can cause harm to the body. There is controversy over the way in which fish oils are being harvested because many of the fish species used for fish oils are being over fished. There is not that concern for organic flax or hemp oils. People often also have issues with the burp factor associated with fish oils. There are also vegan DHA drops made from algae.
I just had this discussion with my 18 month old daughter’s awesome very hard to come by holistic, natural, no vaxing doctor. Since I’m vegan she knew fish oil was out of the question. She also said flax seed was not a good substitute for a child so young. So we decided on pumpkin seeds, brazil nuts and a liquid supplement that comes from algae. The doctor agrees this is just as good as fish oil for my daughter. Veganism aside, I would also be worried about the mercury issue when it comes to fish oil.
I really really love your blog! I just wanted to put out there that there are decent alternatives to fish oil.
I recently read Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten: Build a Better Brain and Increase IQ up to 30 Points by David Perlmutter. He highly recommends a DHA supplement and actually produces one himself from marine algae. I highly recommend this book and there is info on the benefits of this supplement and the benefits and risks of fish and other food choices. A friend of mine wanted to avoid ADHD meds for her son and changed his diet and gave him DHA supplement. Great Success. Dr Perlmutter prefers diet and supplements to meds. Our child are over diagnosed and over medicated.
My kids love their fish oil “ball vitamins”. They have taken them since they were four and they are nearly seven now. The pills are chewy, strawberry-flavored gel tablets filled with the fish oil. They remind me when I forget to give them at breakfast so they must not taste too bad!
This is an area where I’m just not sure what to do. I’m very concerned about fish oil being contaminated by mercury, but I know how beneficial fish can be to the diet.
I always love receiving the natural mom blog by the way!
My youngest son is 4 1/2 and has Autism. Mercury is already in his little body from a vaccine injury, so we stay away from anything w/ mercury in it. I have my son on ‘Omega Brite Kidsz’ -orange for his EFA.
We need to add cod liver oil, but the one we thought we’d give contains soy and he can not have soy or gluten or casein products.
We get this product via Kirkman Labs at: http://www.kirkmanlabs.com/
OmegaBrite KIDZ
Great tasting, and easy to take small dosage for kids
OmegaBrite KIDZ is a scientifically developed pharmaceutical-quality high EPA Omega-3 supplement, which has undergone molecular distillation to remove the full spectrum of environmental contaminants including any potential heavy metals, pesticides, dioxins and PCB’s. A proprietary Tutti-Frutti or Orange Cream flavor along with a proprietary antioxidant blend is added to ensure great taste, freshness and eliminating any fish oil after taste.
Do you know anything about the ‘Little Critter’s’ chewable fish oil vitamins?
As a vegan women prepping my body for a future pregnancy, I’m supplementing with NuTru’s O-Mega-Zen3 which is a vegan source of 300mg per vegicap of DHA. I buy it from VeganEssentials.com
Cheers :)
Kristen
Be careful with fish oil. Some companies do not purify it to the extent they let on. Our oceans are terribly polluted, and that pollution concentrates in animal tissues. Also I have heard that it contains an unhealthy ratio of vitamin A to D. I am a vegan who also supplements with algae sourced omega. We grind our own flax seed in a coffee grinder every day and eat it on lots of things. I do not see why it wouldn’t be appropriate to give an 18 mo old flax seed as long as it was ground properly, my son ate it before that age. Flax seed, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, etc are the sources we use mostly aside from the supplement.
A good rule of thumb is to find which fish oils are allowed to be sold in Europe. They have much higher standards than the US when it comes to mercury and PCB’s. I worked for a professional line of supplements sold to Dr.’s called Biotics Research. They are allowed to be sold in Europe. Also, Nordic Naturals is allowed too. I only use these 2 companies. Also, the reason adults have trouble converting ALA to DHA is just because the same enzyme is used to convert all the essential fatty acids (Omega 3, 6 and 9). So it is a competition issue. This is why recent studies show that you need a balance of the omegas and not to go too heavy on just omega 3’s. Too much of one bumps the others out of the cell.
I am so confused. No idea what to do. I have 20 mo old b/g twins. Do I suppliment? If so, with what? UGH!
I have also done a lot of research in this area so wanted to add my two cents. Some fish oils are very clean after they go through the purification process. The problem is that this process takes out the Vitamins so they are then added back in artificially. This is a very good article that goes into detail about the vitamin A and D as well as other issues: http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/cod-liver-oil-menu.html
My three year-old loves the capsules, flavored or not. She pops them in her mouth and chews them right up. I also take them regularly for both me and my nursing 10 month-old.