Kim Tone

3/5/09

Lifespan Nutrition

Maternal Omega 3 fatty acid consumption and its effects on infant intelligence

The field of nutrition is a fascinating one. As more and more research takes place

the more apparent it becomes that what an individual consumes translates to several

different facets of that individual’s body and thusly his or her life. From the first bite to

the last, every ounce of food serves a purpose and contributes positively or negatively to

lifelong development. It stands to reason then, that the beginning stages of life hold the

most importance for nutritional choices since this is the period when everything forms

and development commences, setting the framework for an individual’s health for the

duration of their existence. This phase of life represents such a crucial time frame, that an

increased focus is being placed on an adequate maternal diet in order to yield proper

infant growth and development. Concerns about infant cognitive development and

aptitude are no exception. Many recent studies show that increased maternal

Consumption of omega 3 fatty acids in the form of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) during

pregnancy and early stages of lactation has a significant positive impact on the

intelligence of the infant.

Scientists have discovered that docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6 n-3) in the diet

directly contributes to eye health and mental capacity. It is the main polyunsaturated fatty

acid (PUFA) in the mammalian brain and high levels of it are found in the gray matter of
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the cerebral cortex and in the retina (1). This shows that not only is it a necessary nutrient

to fuel growth, but this fatty acid is actually a part of the growing fetus’ brain, making it

very essential that enough is present to fully form the cerebral cortex. Being an essential

fatty acid, DHA is not produced in the body and must come from the diet. Consequently,

the growing fetus’ only source of DHA is that which comes from the maternal diet and

her stores that are shared via the placenta and breast milk. We know this because the

mother’s fatty acid profile is strongly correlated with the infant’s in many experiments

(2) Studies have shown a sharp decrease in polyunsaturated fatty acid status after

pregnancy, and that its normalization during recovery is slow. This occurs because

linoleic and alpha-linoleic acid compete for the same fatty acid conversion enzyme and

more alpha linoleic acid exists in the diet, making it improbable that DHA will be the

converted product. (3) This presents a problem for the fetus because it continues to need a

constant stream of DHA after birthing and into the lactation stage of the lifespan. If most

of the mother’s DHA is depleted and isn’t being replenished at a fast enough rate, serious

cognitive growth stunting can occur. “This accumulation of cellular DHA is particularly

pronounced during late fetal and early neonatal life. The depletion of DHA levels to sub-

optimal concentrations in the brain and retina, due to insufficient dietary intakes…has

been found to result in impaired learning ability” (4) There may have been a time in

humanity’s past when a system to derive DHA from other fatty acids was not needed

since the diet of hunter-gatherers would have provided more than enough, perhaps from

eating other animal brains along with a diet much higher in fish than what is
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consumed in this day and age. (3) However, since our diets and evolutionary adaptation

of DHA conversion are not quite matched up, what a pregnant mother consumes is highly

imperative. The most important organ of all, incomplete development of the brain can

have serious implications for the fetus later in life. Because of this, raising the amount of

omega-3 fatty acids consumed by pregnant and lactating women becomes vitally

important.

Supposing that the necessary amount of DHA was present in the maternal diet for

brain functions to develop properly, what would an excess of this essential

polyunsaturated fatty acid do and could it be beneficial? This is the exact question that

Ingrid Helland and her colleagues at the University of Tennessee at Memphis set out to

find. They asked several pregnant mothers to participate in the longitudinal study and

divided them into a control group consuming corn oil and an experimental group

consuming cod liver oil. When the infants were four years old they were given an

intelligence exam called the K-ABC (Kauffman Assessment Battery For Children) which

is designed to measure aptitude in children ages two and a half to twelve. “We received

dietary information from 76 infants (41 in the cod liver oil group and 35 in the corn oil

group), documenting that all of them were breastfed at 3months of age. Children who

were born to mothers who had taken cod liver oil during pregnancy and lactation scored

higher on the Mental Processing Composite of the K-ABC at 4 years of age as compared

with children whose mothers had taken corn oil.” (5) This study found a very high

correlation with a larger head circumference with the cod liver intake and performance on

the Mental Processing Composite score on the exam, suggesting that infant intelligence is
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directly linked to cranial circumference. Cod liver is very high in omega-3 fatty acids,

and in this case, it was the only difference among study subjects. Analysis of the breast

milk of each group showed an equal distribution of total fats, however the cod liver oil

group showed a higher transfer of DHA over other Polyunsaturated fats. This means that

a higher amount of omega-3 fatty acids in the mother’s diet leads to a paralleled higher

amount in the infant’s brain, leading to an increase in mental performance.

Docosahexaenoic acid is so vital to the brain, that its transfer from the blood

stream to the brain is incredibly more efficient than the transfer of any other PUFA. It is

believed that the mechanisms behind this are found in the brain itself and could include

“a preferential uptake of DHA from the bloodstream, efficient trapping and conservation

of DHA in the brain, and the activity of the enzyme systems for elongation-desaturation

and esterification of LnA.”(6) The mechanisms that allow for the elongation-desaturation

are the same ones that allow for the infant to begin metabolizing PUFAs into its own

DHA that powers the neurons. (6) This could provide more evidence for a higher mental

capacity being correlated with more maternal DHA in the diet. The more DHA the

mother consumes, the faster the newborn infant can start metabolizing its own DHA and

powering its own neurons. The sooner and more efficiently the infant can provide energy

for its brain cells, the more able it will be to use more of them and therefore form as

many possible which will contribute to faster learning. A lot about how these mental

processes work is still unknown. One thing is for certain, however. The more DHA

available to the growing fetus and later infant, the more efficient the brain processes

become and that is a grand indicator of a capability for higher mental functioning.
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One question not addressed by this study was at what point in the pregnancy it

becomes most important to introduce more DHA in the diet for this cognitive

development and “extra boost” to occur. Is it possible to consume more DHA later and

make up for an earlier deficit? In a few animal studies, there have been confirmations

that a DHA spurt occurs during the last period of gestation. For rats, the greatest use of

DHA occurs in the last three days, when the most neurogenesis occurs. In the case of

guinea pigs, a burst of neural development also takes a large amount of DHA. (7) Since

the nervous system is so complex, it is in constant development throughout the entire

duration or pregnancy, but it appears that a rapid spurt occurs right before birth and

continues to develop while the infant breastfeeds. One particular study done with rats

found that after a deficit, it is possible to replenish the DHA after a period of omega-3

fatty acid deprivation. “The state of deficiency, characterized by a 34% and 60% decrease

in DHA content of fetal brain and liver, respectively, was attained by feeding the

pregnant dams from day 8 and up to 20 days gestation, with an n-3 linolenic acid-

deprived diet. After a single intraamniotic administration of Et-DHA on day 18 or 19, a

rapid increase in both fetal brain and liver DHA was achieved”(7) but the resulting

percentage of DHA once the offspring was born was significantly lower than for the rats

who received a continuous supply of DHA in the diet. Therefore in order to get all of the

benefits of omega-3 fatty acids and ensure that the infant has a statistically significant

increase in cognitive ability, it is important to continue a diet high in PUFA and omega-3

FAs specifically throughout the entire gestational period.

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The evidence is pretty concrete for a higher percentage of Omega-3 fatty acids in

the mother’s diet during and immediately following pregnancy leads to a higher

intelligence quotient in the infant. Studies performed in infants who are breastfed with a

maternal diet high in omega-3 fatty acids show higher IQ point later in life that even

those fed formula with added DHA (8). A possible reason for this is the DHA levels in

infant formula may not be as bioavailable. Also, the DHA level in the formula will

always be at a set level, whereas a mother’s diet can be flexible to accommodate a higher

percentage of Omega-3 fatty acids. This would allow for more DHA passing on to the

infant.

The only evidence found for DHA not being beneficial was in Halland’s study.

There was no difference between the cod liver oil group and the control group as far as

performance on Sequential Processing scale, Simultaneous Processing scale, and

Nonverbal scale of the K-ABC, although the tendency was for infants of the mothers fed

cod liver oil to have higher scores, but they were not statistically significant. The Mental

Processing Composite Score, however was very much higher in the infants of the mothers

fed cod liver oil(1). Among the many concerns presented during pregnancy regarding

maternal nutrition, the evidence for higher intelligence and it’s correlation to omega-3

fatty acids is so strong that it should be taken seriously.

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References

1. Helland IB, Saugstad OD, Smith L, Saarem K, Solvoll K, Ganes T, Drevon CA.

Similar effects on infants of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids supplementation to pregnant and

lactating women. Pediatrics. 5: 1-10

2. Al MDM, van Houwelingen AC, Kester ADM, Hasaart THM, deJong AEP, Hornstra

G. Maternal essential fatty acid patterns during normal pregnancy and its relationship

with the neonatal essential fatty acid status. Br J Nutr 1995;74:1-12.

3. Hornstra G. Essential fatty acids in mothers and their neonates. Am j Clin Nutr. 2008;

1-8

4.Shahidi F, Finley JW. Docosahexaenoic acid in human health. Omega-3 fatty acids:

chemistry, nutrition and health effects. American Chemical Society. 2001:54-63

5. Helland B, Smith L, Saarem K, Saugstad OD, Drevon CA. Maternal supplementation

with very-long-chain n-3 fatty acids during pregnancy and lactation augments children’s

IQ at four years of age. Pediatrics. 2003;111;e39-e44

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6.Green P, Yavin E. Mechanisms of Docosahexaenoic acid accretion in the fetal brain.

Journal of Neuroscience research.1998; 52:129-136

7. Green P, Kamensky B, Yavin E. Replenishment of Docosahexaenoic Acid in n-3

Fatty Acid-Deficient Fetal Rats. Journal of Neuroscience research. 1997; 48:264-272

Intraamniotic Ethyl-Docosahexaenoate Administration

8. Uauy, EE Hoffman, Birch EE ,Birch DG ,Tyson J: Safety and efficacy of omega-3

fatty acids in the nutrition of very low birth weight infants: Soy oil and marine oil

supplementation of formula. J. Pediatr. 124(1994) 612–62