Article: Essential Fatty Acids, Diet and Developmental Disorders

[Guest guest]

Article by

" To see how these EFAs can help with developmental

disorders we must first answer the following questions:

Firstly, why are EFAs helpful? Next, where are EFAs

helping? Lastly, what can we do about it? "

Essential Fatty Acids, Diet and Developmental Disorders

http://www.positivehealth.com/permit/Articles/Nutrition/taylor52.htm

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[Guest guest]

: Thanks for this great article, it couldn't have come at a better

time. Many of my family members are encouraging me to eliminate the

Pro-EFA from my son's diet. , with verbal apraxia will be 3 years

old on march 1st. He has been taking Pro-EFA (one capsule a day) since

August, so for about 6 months now. Last week, those close to

said that they thought the Pro-EFA was having a negative effect on him and

that it was interferring with his learning, meaning that the supplement

made his brain and central nervous system " too active " to process

information.

WOW! I told them that he has been on this Pro-EFA since August, and I

have seen such advances in his speech. He is finally putting 2-3 words

together, spontaneously! Then, they told me that this is new, and no

studies have been done to support this supplement, and the FDA has not

approved it either.

Suffice it to say, that I have copied this attachment, as well as many

others as back-up !!!

Thanks again !

Kim

" M. "

Essential Fatty Acids, Diet and Developmental Disorders

by

It has been estimated that between 5 and 10 percent of

the population have behavioural difficulties,1 with many

youngsters so diagnosed displaying delayed language

development, poor social skills and a lack of

co-ordination. They experience failure from an early age,

become isolated and may suffer from bullying. Such children

are of average or above average intelligence, but have

problems with spelling and handwriting even though reading

may not be a problem. In other words, these children

display those 'symptoms' characterized by the term

dyspraxia. This, and other conditions such as dyslexia,

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and

possibly autism in some cases have a high comorbidity

(35-40%),1 making it reasonable to assume some sort of

common external influence.

An increasingly important external factor is that of

nutrition.2 Everything we eat and drink is made up of

chemicals, and as chemicals have a direct impact on both

body and mind, it would seem reasonable that nutrition

would impact upon our behaviour and our perception. One

area of investigation that I have found to offer a good

outcome for some children is that of essential fatty acids,

because of the role they play in our development and

well-being.

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are polyunsaturated and

mono-unsaturated fatty acids that cannot be produced by the

body and must therefore be obtained in our diet. EFAs fall

into two main groups, Omega-3s and Omega-6s (although there

is a group of Omega-9s which have a cholesterol- lowering

effect). The Omega-6 group of oils are readily available in

such foods as safflower and sunflower oil and we are

therefore not likely to be deficient in them. The Omega-3s

occur naturally in fish, wheat germ, flaxseed oil, nuts and

seeds and to a lesser degree in navy beans and oatmeal. It

can be seen then that because the mainstream western diet

has excluded these sources in recent years, getting the

right balance of Omega-3 EFAs has become more

problematical.

To see how these EFAs can help with developmental

disorders we must first answer the following questions:

Firstly, why are EFAs helpful? Next, where are EFAs

helping? Lastly, what can we do about it?

Complete the article here:

http://www.positivehealth.com/permit/Articles/Nutrition/taylor52.htm