I have found it can be a hard thing to live healthy and plant based in this society. There are some key nutrients that we need that aren't always easy to get the proper amounts without eating certain animal products. So why don't I eat them? Well I weigh the pros and cons of each food...do I really want the good product so bad that I'd let the not so good stuff into my body?
Some of this that I'm going to write today may be controversial to some and how they view things. This world would be pretty boring if we didn't have different opinions right!
One of the greatest nutrients that is hard to get adequate amounts of is DHA. DHA is the brain building omega-3 that comes from breastmilk for our little babies. It should be in children's diet as well as adult diets. A healthy brain can truly prevent disorders like Alzeihmers and Dementia! I work with people everyday who suffer from these diseases and I don't want them. It's miserable for the family as well as very confusing for the resident at times.
DHA supplements are primarily fish oil. How many of you take a fish oil supplement? I think if you can down them it's better than nothing, however the fatty fish they use for the supplements also supply us with the mercury. I read here that if we take the recommended supplemental amount we will be getting too much mercury in our bodies as well. You've got to weigh the pros and cons. I'm in the process of finding a new DHA supplement for my kids. They have been taking a DHA supplement that is fish oil...its a gummy and they love it. I scoured my nearby stores for a plant based DHA, I've seen them advertised but to my frustration none of my stores chose to carry them. There was flaxseed oil, but it didn't say on the ingredients that it contained DHA...so I moved on. You can recieve DHA from plant food--just not the serving that is recommended. Foods to eat are walnuts, chia and leafy greens. Hemp seed and flax also give us the omega-3s. So what should we take if we aren't fond of the idea of the pollutants in the fish oil? Well I'm looking for a clean algea supplement- or I may order these drops from Dr. Furhman's website. What do you think about DHA? Have you even thought about it? Sometimes I feel like it is the forgotten supplement.
The next one is the one that I think is going to get the buzz going. Folic Acid! How many of you who have been pregnant before were told to take folic acid in your prenatal vitamin to prevent neural tube deffects like spina bifida? I sure as heck did...I wasn't going to risk the health of my baby. But was I risking my health? So over this past year I've done a lot of research on my family and the best way to eat. The past four years really is how long I've been bouncing back and forth with plant based eating. Awhile back I read an article about folic acid and how your chances of breast cancer increase if you take the synthetic supplement.
Okay so what do I mean synthetic? Folic acid is the synthetic version of Folate. Folate is found in green vegetables. If we eat our spinach and broccoli and romaine lettuce we will get ample supply of folate...we won't need the folic acid supplement. Isn't the natural version better than the synthetic one? I want to link the article here that talks about the increase risk of breast cancer. I am a mom and I will do anything for my children and that includes any future unborn children, but it got me thinking about the miracle supplement folic acid.
It made sense to me that adding the natural, raw nutrients would be just as effective as the man made version...if not more effective because it wouldn't add anything harmful to my body.
I am not a doctor or scientist. This is research I've done for myself. I would talk with your doctor about these things if you wonder...I would most definetly do the research on my own as well and try and educate myself so I can better understand what is available to me!
here is another article I read awhile ago that talked about plant based eating in pregnancy--it discusses folic acid a little bit it was very interesting and really got the wheels turning!
What are your thoughts? Is there a supplement you like to use?
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