DHA is an important fatty acid component in the brain, nerves and visual cells of the human body. It promotes the development of the nervous system, retina, intelligence, cognitive ability and immunity in early life.
The General Standard for Supplementary Food Supplements (GB/T 22570-2008) was revised in September 2012, and GB22570-20** “Food Safety National Standard Supplementary Supplements” (reported for approval) has been submitted to the Secretariat. If there is no accident, DHA will be allowed to become a non-micronutrient ingredient and be added to the complementary nutrient supplement after the release.
Why should I add DHA to the nutrition package?
DHA, the scientific name "docosahexaenoic acid", is one of the important members of the n-3 unsaturated fatty acid family. It is also an important fatty acid component in the human brain, nerves and visual cells. It plays a normal role in human physiological functions. The prevention and treatment of diseases plays an important role.
The most dazzling light on the head of DHA comes from the common name of “brain gold”. This name is also true. The human brain has a high lipid content in chemical composition. In the white matter of the brain, lipids account for 56% of the total dry weight and 32% of the gray matter. DHA accounts for 97% of the brain's n-3 unsaturated fatty acids and is a major structural fat in the brain, mainly in the form of phospholipids in biofilms. As a long carbon chain highly unsaturated fatty acid, the content of DHA in the biofilm increases, which affects the fluidity of the membrane, the permeability of the substance, and the activity of the receptor, thereby affecting the function of the membrane and enhancing the nerve information. Delivery, enhancing the activity of the brain and nervous system.
At every stage of human life, DHA has proven to be very important for brain health, especially for early life. Brain development is a complex process involving the development of brain tissue structures and numerous biochemical, physiological, and psychological processes. Brain science research found that early life is an important window of brain growth and development. The weight of the adult brain is only 2% of the body weight, and the fetus and the newborn are 10%! The "big head" phenomenon at the beginning of the human originates from the developmental speed of the brain, surpassing any other organs or tissues of the human body in the early life. It peaked at 26 weeks of gestation and lasted for the first two years of life, maintaining a rapid rate of development. This makes the full-term brain have a weight of 350 grams, reaching 80% of the adult brain weight at the age of two. During the development of the brain ahead of physical development, the brain is undergoing an amazing “infrastructure”: in the third month of pregnancy, the fetus ushers in the first peak of brain cell proliferation, and in the following three months, neurons With an average growth rate of 250,000 per minute, the weight of the brain is increasing. The last 3 months of pregnancy is the second important stage of brain cell growth and development. On the other hand, the number of brain cells continues to increase. It is the brain cell volume begins to increase, the dendritic branches increase, the synapse occurs, and the myelin sheath begins to form. By birth, there are already more than 100 billion neurons in term newborns. The development of the nervous system provides the "raw material" of DHA, and its supply must be consistent with the needs of brain development, otherwise it will restrict brain development.
According to the 2010 FAO report on the role of fatty acids in human nutrition, DHA has been critical for the development of brain and vision in infants aged 0-24 months.
DHA is an essential fatty acid, that is, the human body cannot synthesize itself and can only be obtained from food. Fetal nutrition comes from maternal delivery, and DHA is no exception. In late pregnancy, DHA is transferred from the mother to the fetus to the highest level, so it is important to ensure adequate supply of DHA throughout pregnancy. It is also important for the mother to maintain adequate postpartum intake, as neonatal brain development continues and requires a stable supply of DHA from breast milk; women with lower dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids have more breast milk. The level of unsaturated fatty acids will also decrease. Based on this, DHA has been widely used in infant formula and infant food supplements. In the United States, more than 80% of infant formula powders have been added with DHA. China is a land-based country. The supply of n-3 unsaturated fatty acids in the diet of residents is insufficient, and there is a high risk of n-3 unsaturated fatty acid deficiency. Therefore, DHA has also been widely added in infant formula powder.
The risk of a lack of n-3 unsaturated fatty acids in the diet is magnified by poverty. Infants and young children in poverty-stricken areas in China are suffering from family poverty, food alone and food feeding are unreasonable, and the malnutrition rate of various nutrients is significantly higher than other regions. As a kind of family food supplement, China's soybean-based infant food supplements (referred to as “nutrition packs”) have been developed into large-scale applications after years of pilot promotion. Observation shows that nutrition package has a significant effect on improving growth retardation and anemia in infants and young children. However, the current nutrition package mainly supplements protein, vitamins and trace elements. Therefore, it is a logical idea to let DHA carry this food carrier.