In all of the posts related to DHA supplementation, the one point that I think has been given too little importance is that the levels of DHA are significant in relation to levels of other fats. It is so typical of both the pharmaceutical industry and American culture to want to fix things with a pill. The reduction of omega 6's in the diet (stop eating oils from safflower, canola, etc--these are no better than any others, no matter how they are processed) and eliminate (not reduce) the trans fats.

I am a vegan, but I tell all of my clients about the benefits of fish oil in their diets (unless they are veg) and about the risk of other oils except omega 3's, coconut oil and perhaps a very small amount of olive oil. I am 100% convinced that the composition of fats in a mother's diet hugely impacts both the developing fetus and the nursling. The good news is that a mother can change her diet--she cannot eliminate or even effectively mitigate the hazardous oils in artifical milks.

But, I think that when we focus on DHA, we are looking exactly where the AIM companies want us to look and are neglecting once again to define the issues for ourselves. To say that babies grow fine on the milk of mothers eating the SAD is just as ignorant as saying that babies thrive on AIM. We hear about pesticides in human milk and controversy is stirred. Women have less power to control the pesticide content in their milk than they do the fat profile. Trans fats are toxic--IMO, they are the issue that deserves attention.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

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