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Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

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Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

General health

Do fish oils really help concentration?

31 replies

rickman · 15/09/2005 22:12

Message withdrawn

OP posts:

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beckybrastraps · 15/09/2005 22:36

None of them taste nice. The initial hit might be orange/vanilla/whatever, but the aftertaste is old fish. Still, ds (4) will take it off a spoon, and dd (18 months) has hers mixed up with milk. I do have to go through a bit of a routine with ds though - "I know you're going to be really fussy now, you're going to make such a fuss..." Reverse psychology still works after several months, so probably fish oils aren't doing much for his brainpower...

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NannyL · 15/09/2005 22:41

I think there is lots of eveidence that fish oils and omega 3 (are they the same thing??) do help

I personally give children proper fish, and give them organic milk and dairy rpoducts which are much higher in omega 3 then there non organic counterparts!

I personally dont agree with food supplements, but think the way forward is to eat a healthy balanced diet instead.

Alot of kids vitamins etc seem to be filled with aspartane and other "chemicals" which i have no intention of feeding to children (or myself!)

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Jimjams · 15/09/2005 22:47

trouble with too much of the right tyoe of fish (eg tuna) is that it can be quite polluted with mercury. good quality fish oil supplements are mercury free (but will say on packet).

I'd been giving ds1 cod liver oil (for the vitmamin A- good for autism) - little git won't take it now. And guess what- he's spends most of his time looking at things out of the corner of his eyes, or running things with straight lines backwards and forwards along the edge of his eyes, looking under door cracks etc. I know all that behaviour would go with cod liver oil, but cannot get the stuff into him grrrr.

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Jimjams · 15/09/2005 22:48

Agree about a lot of kids vitamins being filled with aspartame - I dojn;t go near those! (ds1 and aspartame- not pretty! - it's banned from this house).

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princesspeahead · 15/09/2005 23:01

I give mine Eskimo Oil (after much research on mumsnet!) which is tutti frutti flavoured and they all seem to like it (7,5 and 2). I am taking Mumomega (fish oil for pregnant people) which is in capsules and I must say does repeat on me in a rather nasty fishy way....

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moondog · 15/09/2005 23:10

Jimjams..have you tried freezing the stuff in a home made lolly?
Would he like that?
My dd willtake it stirred into juice,but the ice lolly thing was a thought had she refused...

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NannyL · 15/09/2005 23:18

Good point jim jams... about the mercury

luckily my charges LOVE organic salmon and i like to hope that the organnic stuff which isnt so heavily 'farmed' is better

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Easy · 15/09/2005 23:18

Well a few months ago I was on here saying |I wouldn't give ds high levels of supplements, etc, but after some huge meltdown tantrums I gave it a try.

After nearly 2 months on them I can honestly say that we don't get the same level of tantrum, and I can deal with him on my own a lot better, he gets much less upsedt about little things.

Don't know about concentration tho', I don't expect a young child to have a long concentration span.

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GeraldGiraffe · 15/09/2005 23:21

ah well my dd is allergic to farmed salmon and i can't afford the alternatives...

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moondog · 15/09/2005 23:23

Sardines,GG.
Wonderful things and cost next to nothing.

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Easy · 15/09/2005 23:25

now I'd have trouble giving ds sardines, cos I can't stand them. Might wait until dh is home, and get him to have them with ds.

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beckybrastraps · 15/09/2005 23:25

My understanding is that unfortunately, farmed organic salmon also has high levels of mercury. Wild salmon is the one to go for. Out Tesco used to sell it, but now they've stopped. You can buy tinned, but does it still have the Omega-3 FAs? I know canned tuna doesn't, but does anyone know about salmon?!

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moondog · 15/09/2005 23:26

Easy,you're don't know what you're missing. Bake them and have them with a salad,squeeze of lemon,hot crusty bread and lots of white wine.
Wonderful!

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NannyL · 15/09/2005 23:29

ok... i may be being stupid but how do they 'farm' organic salmon... i thought when they farm salmon they all get ill so have to have all their mediciney stuff to keep them well so they dont all infect each other?

If they are organic why dont they all have these skin diseases?

I thought organic salmon was wild (aswell) id love to know!

Also the price of organic salmon from fish counter in waitrose... i assumed it sort of had to be "ok" if u see what i mean!

Its much paler and is very yummy!

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NannyL · 15/09/2005 23:36

Ok.... just googled it

BUT I CANT GET LINK TO WORK

you are right.... orgainc salmon IS farmed... they just dont add a synthetic colouring to it

I CANT BELIEVE WE PAY ALL THIS EXTRA FOR THEM TO NOT ADD COLOURING.... WHO IS IT THAT WANTS SYNTHETIC COLOURINGS ADDED TO THEIR FOOD????

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beckybrastraps · 15/09/2005 23:40

The fish food is organic. The fish are kept contained and at high density. Some medicines (but not as many) are allowed. I know - the price!! I'm so cross about the whole thing. I'm also a balanced diet rather than supplements person, but when you're told pregnant women and children should ration some types of fish, and not eat some at all - it makes me spit! It's like when the government told everyone to peel carrots because of the pesticides. Didn't limit pesticide use - just told everyone to peel carrots! Has that been changed now, does anyone know? Fish oils are the only supplement I use. Interested that jimjams said you can get mercury-free ones. I've seen ones that say "low" - any brands?

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princesspeahead · 15/09/2005 23:45

the eskimo oil (and eskimo kids) brand is low mercury etc- it is called eskimo because all the fish that the oil comes from are wild and fished in arctic waters which is the least polluted in the world. You have to get it mail order unless your local independent health food shop does it (quite a lot do, but the big holland and barratt types don't).

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gingernut · 15/09/2005 23:45

I couldn't get my ds1 to take the fish oils. We used to eat sardines but couldn't stomach it when pg with ds2 so we are now giving ds1 St Ivel advance milk which contains omega-3s from fish oil. No idea if it's going to make any difference, we've only recently started and according to their figures he is still only having about 50% of the RDA from that anyway. But he guzzles the milk so I guess it tastes OK. Expensive though.

PPH, have you tried Mor-DHA capsules? They are recommended for pg women and I didn't find they repeated on me. Website here . Other brands I do find repeat on me, so I take them just before bed so the fishy burps come out when I'm asleep (how romantic for my dh ).

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princesspeahead · 15/09/2005 23:47

they look good ginger, thanks. I'll finish this batch and then try those. lol about your fishy burps in bed..!

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moondog · 15/09/2005 23:50

God,I love the fishy taste! Often idly help mself to a cod liver oil capsule for the hell of it!

Only trouble is the smell in my house after a sardine dinner. Have to put the napkins and the kids'clothes through a 90 degree wash or it smells like a fishing wharf in the Med.

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suedonim · 16/09/2005 00:37

I was given free samples of cat food yesterday, the label of which proudly proclaims that it contains added Omega3 oils. For a p*xy cat???? What's all that about???

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bobbybob · 16/09/2005 02:21

Ds has flax seed oil and has a photographic memory and can concentrate for ages. As he's only 2.5 I find this alarming, and really should start taking the supplements myself to keep up.

Flax seed oil tastes of nothing, especially when mixed with chocolate pudding!

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ghosty · 16/09/2005 02:26

I use a flax seed based oil too. I make salad dressings with it and give it to DS by the spoonful ... he says it doesn't taste too bad, not that 'yukky fishy stuff'!
Bobbybob ... when are you going to buy mine?

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bobbybob · 16/09/2005 10:25

I can't - it's got other stuff in it (but all natural and healthy stuff for anyone else who is reading), and it's just too much for me with ds reacting all over the place at the moment. I have to stick with what I know or I will go insane!

Ds's latest reaction have all been the drop to the floor, bright red, scare your mother to death type, which after some drugs and a big sleep in A&E resolve completely.

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fimac1 · 16/09/2005 12:46

We use MorEPa Minis (recommended for children) Per capsule it has Omega 3 311mg and EPA 240mg it is farmed from deep sea fish so is fairly pure. Dd saw a Knesiologist at aged 5 who told me her fatty acids levels were virtually nil (she doesn't eat fish) She was having problems with concentration and attention span so we put her on a high dose fatty acid supplement - within a month her teacher was commenting on her improved concentration and attention etc! (Teacher did not know about her supplements)

I cannot see why anyone would try and get their child to take the liquid! I know I would find it disgusting to take - the capsules are simple and another good thing about MorEpa minis is they are Bovine free - the capsules are fish derivative

We get them on the web - around £12.99 for 60 - the EPA's are double the EYE Q capsules