DHA
a Long-Chain Omega-3 Fatty Acid
Our bodies don’t make it?! Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), have neuroprotective and neurotrophic (supporting growth and survival) properties. It is vital for your baby’s neurodevelopment, and for boosting mom’s mood—but our bodies don’t make it, so you have to take it. Plus, it is also required for the maintenance of normal brain function in adults.
And it does a lot of work
It makes up over 90% of the omega-3 fatty acids in your brain. Feeding studies have shown that DHA regulates neurogenesis (formation of new brain cells called neurons), neurotrophic factor (regulates growth of neurons), and synaptogenesis (formation of connections between neurons).
Plus, it has many benefits
Because it makes up the cell membrane and affects cell structure in postsynaptic neurons, it plays a role in releasing serotonin in the brain and important functions, such as sleep, memory, mom’s mood, and child’s behavior.