A healthy and balanced diet is essential for everybody, but is especially important throughout pregnancy to ensure the adequate nutritional support for the new child and mother. Help is at hand in the form of a new omega-3 based supplement, Efanatal, specifically designed to help encourage healthy growth in pregnancy and beyond, for mother and baby.
DHA is necessary for healthy development in the placenta. As the pregnancy progresses, further demands are made on the mother’s fatty acid supply as the placenta and the foetus grows. Maintaining sufficient levels of these vital oils is essential in ensuring that both mother and baby remain healthy at these important stages of development. Clinical studies have shown that DHA during pregnancy improves later childhood brain function1. Research has also indicated that DHA supplementation during pregnancy enhanced brain function in children just entering school (approximately age 5 years).2
In addition, LC-PUFAs are all important building blocks for the baby’s brain, eyes and central nervous system. After pregnancy, it helps ensure an adequate fatty acid intake to the infant from the mother’s breast milk and assists in the mother’s recovery process following birth. A higher concentration of DHA in infant cord blood increases gestation, improves visual acuity and intelligence at 6 months of age, and also increases mental and psychomotor development at 11 months of age7
A 2009 study reported that babies born to mothers who took DHA during pregnancy and while breast feeding are 7.5 times less likely to develop food allergies and 3 times less likely to develop eczema.4 A study published in early 2011 reported that babies born to mothers who eat the recommended quantity of DHA during pregnancy are 32 percent less likely to have excessive body fat indicative of potential obesity3. The largest clinical study ever providing DHA to 2,399 pregnant women, reported a 60% reduction in slow developing cognitive and language skills in infants, a 35% reduction in the incidence of low birth weight babies and 50% reduction in the number of very early pre-term deliveries with no serious adverse effects for either the mother or infant11.
Other clinical studies have shown that maternal fish intake during pregnancy is associated with higher IQ in offspring10, and that pregnant mothers taking DHA rich fish oil supplements during the last trimester can maintain their DHA status.12 In addition, infants born to these mothers have also been shown to start life with higher DHA levels than those of mothers who were not supplemented.12 Infants with higher DHA status have enhanced sleep patterns suggesting greater central nervous system maturity13, enhanced attention and mental processing6, score better in mental processing tests14, have higher IQs at four years of age15 and higher scores for language comprehension, average phrase length and vocabulary16.
The largest clinical trial to date looking at the effects of supplementing with omega-3 in pregnancy is the DOMInO trial. Nearly 2,400 pregnant women took either Efanatal or a placebo and the benefits experienced by participants included a 35% reduction in postnatal depression, a 60% reduction in slow developing cognitive and language skills in infants and 35% reduction in the incidence of low birth weight babies.
Take 1 to 2 capsules daily with food or drink. Each 750mg capsule contains high strength Omega-3 fish oils, DHA, EPA, AA, omega-6 nutrients and vitamin E, to help mother and baby stay healthy and happy.
Efanatal comes in 30 capsules and retails at all leading pharmacies, department stores and selected independent stores for S$28.00. Please feel free to contact me should you have any enquiries at 63339728 or email: [email protected]
Side effects are very rare and may include headache, nausea, soft stool, diarrhoea or other gastrointestinal disturbances. These can usually be eliminated by taking the product with food and/or reducing the dose to one capsule per day and then slowly increasing the dose up to the recommended amount over the course of a week. People who take the product on an empty stomach tend to have more digestive side effects.
There are no known interactions of Efanatal® with other natural health products. You should consult a qualified health care provider if you are taking anticoagulants, epileptogenic drugs, ASA, or phenothiazines. Anyone under medical supervision or taking medication should consult their health care provider before taking any supplement including Efanatal®.
Side effects are rare and may include nausea, soft stool, diarrhoea or other gastrointestinal disturbances. The digestive upsets can usually be eliminated by taking the product with food. People who take the product on an empty stomach tend to have more digestive side effects.
Efanatal® is designed to take during breast-feeding as well as during pregnancy. In fact, supplementation during breast-feeding is particularly important because DHA and AA are preferentially transferred from the mother’s body into her milk and her body can become depleted, a possible contributing factor to postnatal depression.
Parents should speak to their health care provider about giving their child some Efanatal® (the oil from one or two capsules per day mixed with their food). Based on available research, there is no reason to suspect that giving the product in that age group would have an ill effect. However, we do not sell the product for that age group, so the decision is really up to the mother and her health care provider.
We do not recommend adding any supplement including Efanatal to reconstituted infant milk formula for bottle feeding.
| Nutrition Information | Per 2 Capsules | % RDA* |
|---|---|---|
| Fish Oil | 1000mg | ** |
| of which: Omega-3 Nutrients | 700mg | ** |
| of which: DHA | 500mg | ** |
| EPA | 80mg | ** |
| Ginkgo biloba standardised leaf extract | 120mg | ** |
| providing 24% Ginkgoflavone glycosides | 29mg | ** |
| 6% Ginkgolides and Bilobalides | 7.2mg | ** |
| Phosphatidylserine | 30mg | ** |
| Vitamin E | 10mg | 83 |
| Folic Acid | 500ug | 250 |
| Vitamin B12 | 10ug | 400 |
| Energy | 52kJ/13kcal | ** |
| Protein | trace | ** |
| Carbohydrate | trace | ** |
| Fat | 1.1g | ** |
| of which: Polyunsaturates | 0.8g | ** |