Before we talk about DHA, we must talk about Omega-3. We eat two kinds of fat, one is "bad" fat and the other is "good" fat. If you eat too much bad fat, people will easily get various diseases. Eating too much good fat can not only eliminate the harm of eating bad fat, but also have additional benefits.

Omega-3 is a collection of good fats, three of which are important parts of human body. They are: ALA, EPA and DHA. EPA and DHA are very important to human health, especially DHA. It is the main part of our brain and retina.

DHA deficiency will make the brain enter an abnormal working state, such as decreased perception, abnormal death of nerve cells, and possibly depression. . . For infants, the lack of DHA will affect the normal development of the nervous system, leading to mental retardation or decreased perception.

Although DHA is very important to human beings, the human body has no ability to synthesize it. So there is only one way to supplement DHA-eat it in your stomach. The most direct and main source of DHA is seafood, especially those fatty marine fish, such as:

Then why does the baby never eat seafood after birth, and his eyes can grow well and his intelligence can develop normally? It doesn't matter if you don't eat seafood!

That's because the mother will give the baby DHA. No matter what mother eats, whether she eats well or not, there will be enough DHA in breast milk (also in formula milk powder). No wonder my wife always sighs after giving birth to her daughter, "Being a mother is like a superman. The baby can do whatever he wants. What calcium, what DHA, what rare things, as long as the baby needs, the mother can make it. "

But after weaning, if you want to supplement DHA, you have to eat seafood. Of course, there are other methods, such as:

1. DHA is added to many milk powder, rice flour and children's food.

2. Eat omega -3 nutrition directly. For example, oil fish balls and seaweed balls.

3. Eat some special vegetable oils, such as linseed oil. Because: Flaxseed oil contains ALA. It can be converted into EPA in human body and then into DHA. But the conversion efficiency is very low. About 20 parts of ALA can be converted into 1 part of EPA.

Do you want to supplement DHA or eat fish?

Besides DHA supplementation, the most effective and natural way to obtain delicious food and other nutrients is to eat marine fish. In China, when people talk about DHA supplementation, the first thing that comes to mind is silver cod. But is silver cod really the best choice?

Many authoritative data abroad show that it may not be safe to eat large amounts of silver cod frequently.

If you have seen a documentary called Dolphin Bay, you must know that fishermen near Dolphin Bay in Japan sell the dolphins they kill to primary schools as lunch ingredients for students. Results Primary school students suffered from mercury poisoning caused by eating dolphin meat for a long time, and their intelligence declined, even their kidneys had problems. In fact, not only dolphins, but all fish contain mercury.

First of all, let's make it clear that China's silver cod is not the kind of cod in the famous English dish fish and chips. They are two completely different varieties with completely different nutritional components. Let's not confuse.

The longer fish live, the more mercury they have.

Water in rivers, lakes and oceans contains mercury. Mercury enters plankton, phytoplankton, fish and shrimp with water. Small fish and shrimp are eaten by big fish, and their mercury is deposited in big fish. Therefore, the longer fish live, the more small fish they eat, and the greater the mercury content in their bodies.

So which fish we usually eat has higher mercury content?

EDF, the American environmental authority, once scored the mercury content of most seafood (the following screenshots of mercury content are from EDF website). In these scores, I found that the two most expensive fish with the highest DHA content in China also have relatively high mercury content. They are:

Arctic black cod

Mercury is yellow, which means moderate mercury poisoning.

It is recommended that the baby eat at most twice a month.

Antarctic silver cod (Patagonian toothfish)

Mercury is red, indicating that mercury is highly toxic.

It is recommended that the baby eat at most 1 time a month.

These two kinds of fish can be bought in domestic supermarkets, and the price is similar, about 150-300 yuan 500g.

It must be noted that there should be no risk of mercury poisoning if it is consumed in strict accordance with the recommended amount of EDF.

But if you are really a little neat, please take the silver cod and black cod out of your basket from now on. What other fish can you choose to supplement DHA for your baby?

List of marine fish with high DHA content

DHA has many good marine fish. The authoritative fishery agencies abroad have given the DHA content of hundreds of kinds of seafood, from which I found a relatively high content and common variety in China. The following table lists the contents of Omega-3, ALA, EPA and DHA per100g of fish (grams).

High DHA fish name

Authors League of American

Environmental protection agency

docosahexenoic acid

Omega -3

Mackerel (Mackerel, Herring, Mackerel)

0.3

0.9

1

2.2

Japanese mackerel (mackerel, herring, mackerel, Japanese horse)

0. 1

0.5

1.3

1.9

Herring (Pacific herring)

0. 1

1

0.7

1.8

saury

0. 1

0.5

0.8

1.4

Salmon and fish

0. 1

0.4

0.6

1. 1

Cod of Pacific fish

–

0. 1

0.4

0.5

Salmon, chinook

0. 1

0.8

0.6

1.5

Atlantic salmon

0.2

0.3

0.9

1.4

Arctic black cod

0. 1

0.7

0.7

1.5

Patagonian toothfish, Antarctic silver cod

not found

not found

not found

1.3

Comments in the table:

1. Most of the salmon bought in China are farmed. The quality of farmed salmon varies greatly due to different producing areas and farming techniques: high-quality farmed salmon is more nutritious than wild salmon, but poor-quality farmed salmon has poor nutrition and may contain more mercury. As ordinary consumers, it is difficult for us to tell the difference between good and bad salmon.

2. Black cod and silver cod are expensive and contain more mercury than other fish, so they rank last.

3. Salmon in the northeast is wild, but it is hard to buy, and there are fakes, so friends in the south don't have to worry.

After reading the list above, you may find some bright spots. For example, saury, which often appears in barbecue stalls, has such a high DHA content. Is it worth eating two more at the next barbecue?

In fact, we just recommended the baby meal of saury supplemented with DHA last month. Try it (click on the picture to see the menu directly)

Stir-fried saury