Children Need Fats to be Healthy
By Jane Sheppard
Pay little attention to the pervasive hype about low-fat diets.
Children need fats in their diets to be healthy. Healthy fats supply
nutrients that are essential for growth and are necessary for energy
as well as the absorption and metabolism of some nutrients. Fats
are vitally important to the brain, which is 70 percent fat. They
are used for building the membranes around every cell in the body
and also play a role in the formation of hormones. Cold-pressed
olive and flaxseed oils, fish oils, seeds, nuts, eggs, avocados,
grass-fed meats, and butter and whole, raw milk from grass-fed cows
are good fat-containing foods.
When you limit your child's fat intake, you may be depriving him
or her of essential nutrients. Many low-fat diets are low in zinc
and vitamin E. Zinc is essential to growth and proper functioning
of the immune system, and vitamin E is an important antioxidant
that can help protect against disease. Furthermore, when children
are eating a low-fat diet, they typically eat more high sugar and
starch carbohydrates, which can lead to blood sugar problems and
decreased immunity.
The caution here is to make sure your children get the right fats
and not the bad ones. The wrong types of fats - hydrogenated oils,
high in trans fatty acids - can predispose a child to recurrent
infections, inflammatory conditions, and learning disorders. Hydrogenated
oils, such as margarine, are the prime culprits in heart disease
and cancer. Hydrogenation is a manufacturing process that converts
unsaturated fats into saturated fats to prolong shelf life. Read
the labels of foods you buy in the grocery store. It's difficult
to find anything that does not contain these unhealthy fats. Hydrogenated
or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are found in margarine,
shortening, commercial baked goods, fried chicken nuggets, fish
sticks, french fries, and most other processed foods. Hydrogenation
alters the fatty acids in the oil, which creates artificial fatty
acids. It makes perfectly good oils act as poison to the body by
interfering with the metabolism of essential fatty acids. Leo Galland,
MD, author of Superimmunity for Kids, What to Feed Your Kids to
Keep Them Healthy Now - and Prevent Disease in Their Future (Dell
1988) states "These artificial fatty acids are not only unnatural
and unnecessary, they can have a disastrous effect on your child's
body's ability to use EFAs."
Essential fatty acids (EFAs - the good fats) are essential to normal
immune and nervous system function. You cannot have a healthy immune
system or brain without these fats. EFAs are called essential because
we need them to be healthy and our bodies can't make them. They
must be supplied by the diet. There are numerous health problems
associated with EFA deficiencies. These include susceptibility to
infections, arthritis-like conditions, asthma, eczema, hair loss,
liver or kidney degeneration, growth retardation and vision or learning
problems.
There are two kinds of EFAs: omega-6 is found in evening primrose
oil, borage oil, black currant oil, safflower, sunflower, corn,
soybean, and cottonseed oils. The other is omega-3. Flaxseeds and
cod-liver oil are rich in omega-3 EFAs. Walnuts also contain significant
amounts, as well as freshly ground wheat germ. Certain fish, including
salmon, tuna, mackerel, bluefish, sardines and herring, are rich
in omega-3 EFAs. Dried beans, such as great northern, kidney, navy
and soybeans, contain small amounts of both omega-6 and omega-3
EFAs.
The balance of omega-3 to omega-6 EFAs is important. An excess
of omega-6 fats (polyunsaturated, commercial vegetable oils) can
create a fatty acid imbalance that can contribute to many health
problems, including inflammation, depressed immune system function,
cancer, heart disease, liver damage, learning disabilities, and
weight gain. The key is to balance small amounts of these oils with
the omega-3 fatty acids that most children are deficient in. Breastmilk
contains the perfect balance of essential fatty acids, as long as
the mother is getting enough essential fats in her diet.
Providing EFAs to Your Children
Your child's need for EFAs depends on what else he or she is eating.
If your child is eating a lot of hydrogenated oils or trans fatty
acids (fast foods, commercial cakes, cookies, crackers, and other
junk foods) or doesn't get enough of certain essential vitamins
and minerals, her body may not be able to make proper use of the
EFAs she is getting. EFAs must be metabolized effectively in order
for the body to reap their benefits. It's not enough to just get
adequate EFAs. Certain co-factor vitamins and minerals must also
be present. Vitamins B-6, A, C, E, magnesium, zinc, copper, and
selenium must be there to make the metabolism of EFAs possible.
Sometimes it's hard to get your children to eat enough EFA-containing
foods. Cod-liver oil is a practical ways to supply EFAs to children.
Years ago, mothers gave their children a small daily dose of cod-liver
oil to prevent disease. This was a good immune building practice.
Cod-liver oil is a good source of omega 3 EFAs with the added benefits
of fat-soluble vitamins A and D. Cod-liver oil is rich in a fatty
acid called eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which is very important
for the proper function of the brain and nervous system. Defatted
cod-liver oil removes the nutritional value so make sure it contains
the fat.
According to Randall Neustaedter, OMD, author of Child Health
Guide: Holistic Pediatrics for Parents, "the best sources
of omega-3 fats are cod liver oil (1 tspn per 50 lbs of body weight),
fish oil capsules (containing 250 mg of DHA for children over 7
years old), and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) supplements derived from
algae (Neuromins)." He also mentions that there is a problem
with flax seed oil for omega-3 supplementation. "Flax seeds
contains the omega-3 fatty acid ALA that must be converted to DHA
by an enzyme so that the body can incorporate it into cells. The
problem is that children make this enzyme only in small amounts,
if at all. If they do not have the enzyme they will not benefit
from the omega-3 fat in flax seeds."
Excerpted from Super
Healthy Kids: Strengthening Your Child's Resistance to Disease.
Your Children Can Have Vibrant Health and Vitality! No More Chronic
Infections, Allergies, or Sickly Kids! Click here
to download this e-book.
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Use the information provided on this site as an educational resource for determining your options and making your own informed choices. It is not intended as medical advice or to diagnose, prescribe, or treat any specific illness.