omega 3 fish oilsand childrensbehaviour

catford

after all the good press about the benefits of omega 3 for child concentration etc ,we started giving them to our sons age 6&4+about 4 wks ago. Far from aiding their behaviour it seems to have had the opposite effect .theyve got even more of a handful than ever!! they are ruder ,fight more,know all the smart alec answers etc etc.--just normal boys really--but there is a definite downturn in their attitude. has anyone had experience like this??we are stopping the dose tomorrow to see what happens. maybe we can get our old little b*****s back!!

Ticklemouse

How surprising. Can I ask, what is their normal diet like anyway? Do they get lots of additives/e numbers etc, either knowingly or otherwise. I don't know if it makes any difference, but I'm sure with other things, medicines and natural alternatives, there may be a period where things get worse before they get better. It may be like detoxing, as the body tries to rid itself of the nasties, they start 'flowing' around the body again whilst it excretes them, so they will be in your kids brains again, thus making them worse. Maybe you could bite the bullet and keep them on the Omega 3 for a while longer to see. I'm sure it will be worth it in the long run. (ps this isn't medical advice, I'm just guessing this is what may happen)

My DS1 is terribly affected by additives and reacted well to Omega 3/6. We could see a change in him within a few weeks, but TBH his diet is controlled in that he gets very few 'nasties'. With the obvious few exceptions like at parties, he doesn't get squash or fizzy drink, the few crisps he eats are always ready salted, we don't eat pre-prepared foods or use cook in sauces etc very often and he doesn't get jelly or coloured sweets (3 starburst and he lies on the floor kicking and screaming!)

What Omega supplement are they on? I started my boys on hemp seed oil, as it has 3 and 6 plus othe GLA's etc in it. They are easy to take and fine for smae kids. DS1 now takes Omega juice, as recommended by Ted_Hutchinson, it's great and DS1 takes it every morning with a little Orange juice. DS2 won't touch it so he's still on the hemp seed oil (he's only 3)

I would be tempted to stick with it. Some kids are more badly affected by e numbers/additives or they may take longer to react in a good way. I've never heard of anyone's kids doing this, so I'll let others come in as well and tell their tales. Hope you get it sorted either way.

TM

aliasojo

I started my daughter (5) on eyeq capsules about 3 weeks ago. She can be a bit of an air head (bless her) and her concentration span could do with a jolt.

She has 6 a day for 12 weeks then she is supposed to just take 2 a day thereafter.

I haven't noticed any difference in her attitude but she seems to be more clumsy than usual. I have no idea if this is coincidence or not.

However her gymnastics teacher commented that she'd done really well during her last class and she'd noticed a difference in her. (Normally she spends most of the lesson looking around her and daydreaming.)

Also her school teacher reckons her reading has come on a bit. Again, I don't know if this is coincidence or not but I don't think they are doing her any harm so I'll keep giving them to her (or at least for as long as they are on 3 for 2 at Boots. )

You don't think the approaching summer holidays have anything to do with your lads? I know in my daughter's class there are a few who seem to have recently become more of a handful and the teacher reckons it's a 'that time of the year' thing. Lol!

catford

Both my boys eat a good additive free diet as we do. minimum sweeties etc much to their disgust.we just thought it would help them with school etc. the tabs we use are from zipvit but are high strength-1000mg .maybe its a bit too much for them. decisions decisions??

Savvy_Sue

Look on the Health board: sure there's a post about Omega3 oils etc to which Ted will have contributed some very useful research links!

Ticklemouse

catford - if you are worried about giving them high doses to start with, then I would suggest either the zipvit Omega juice - then you could give them less. It is an aquired taste though. I tried the 'hiding it in other foods' trick, but mine always knew something was 'wrong' and refused to eat it. Thus, I told DS1 (6 yo) what it was and he was to drink it with a little OJ and he's been fine about it. If they are OK with the tabs and won't touch the liquid, I'd go for Hemp Seed oil tabs (Holland and Barrett do them, 60 for approx £3.60ish) They are lower strength but give good balanced levels of 3 and 6 etc. I currently give my 3yo 2 tabs every day - he won't take the juice but he'll chew the tabs (eeewww)

aliasojo

Just checked the bumph that came in the capsules box. Apparently 6 capsules a day = 558mg so it sounds like quite a different strength.

Ted_Hutchinson

[size=+1]The Oxford-Durham study: a randomized, controlled trial of dietary supplementation with fatty acids in children with developmental coordination disorder.[/size]

117 children (aged 5-12 years) were randomized to
receive either the active LC-PUFA treatment (eye qTM [two capsules taken three times daily]) or matching placebo capsules (olive oil).

The Durham Trial used 558 mg of EPA, 174 mg of DHA and 60 mg of GLA.
If you took 2 x 500mg capsules or 1 5ml tsp. of eye q liquid, you would consume:

• EPA: 186 mg x3=[size=+1]558[/size]
• DHA: 58 mgx3= 174
• GLA: 20 mgx3= 60

ZIPVIT High strength capsules 180 EPA 120 DHA

If catford was only giving one capsule daily this is less than a third of an effective dose. It is unlikely to have any noticable effect and therefore the change in behaviour described is the result of other causes.
Both the above trials lasted for 3 months initially so a one month trial of a much less effective product is probably not a good indicator of the potential beneficial effects.

Zipvit's Omega Juice provides 900 EPA and 600 DHA and so a small teaspoon would provide an equivalent amount when compared to the above scientific trials.

Ted_Hutchinson

Ticklemouse wrote:

catford - if you are worried about giving them high doses to start with, then I would suggest either the zipvit Omega juice - then you could give them less.

As the OJ is a far more concentrated product than the 1000g fish oil capsules it would be difficult to give them less. As I have pointed out elsewhere the scientific effective dose is 3 times more than Catford was using so her assumption that any worsening of behaviour was due to the use of Omega is probably wrong, although it may be that by placing closer scrutiny on the childrens behaviour in the expectation of seeing improvement has focussed undue attention on bad behaviour and this can be counterproductive.

If they are OK with the tabs and won't touch the liquid, I'd go for Hemp Seed oil tabs (Holland and Barrett do them, 60 for approx £3.60ish) They are lower strength but give good balanced levels of 3 and 6 etc. I currently give my 3yo 2 tabs every day

Hemp Seed Oil 297 mg typically contains:
Linoleic Acid (LA) 160-170 mg X2 = 330
Alpha Linolenic Acid (ALA) 40-50 mgx2 = 90
Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA) 8-9 mgx2 = 17

However it is estimated that only 5–15% of ALA is ultimately converted to DHA so although it will be useful it isn't equivalent.

Both linseed and hemp are available in their natural state and could be ground and sprinkled over cereals, porridge, sauces, breads, cakes etc. A tablespoon a day of ground linseed would be as effective and less expensive.

Rebob

I give my boy Seven Seas Pulse High Strength Triomega capsules. They seem to be having a good effect on his overall behavoiur and consentration. I tried him on the eye q liquid and the capsules last year, he did not like the liquid and could not take the capsules. To make sure he got the omega oils I bought the Boots Smart omega medicine which I gave in larger amouts to match the dose of the eye q. This went down well and now he is older we have moved to the Pulse ones which seem to give better results. His appetite since the switch has increased too.

catford

On the label of my zipvit oil it says 1 per day,so i foolishly assumed that would be the correct dose . ive been taking it for ages in place of cod liver oil !!and its not even enough for an adult dose.I will look for a suitable alternative and keep my boys on it ,Their obviously winding me up a bit more than usual.bless 'em. thanx ted_hutchinson