Breastfeeding, DHA supplements essential for vegan moms
When well balanced, a vegan diet is completely compatible with breastfeeding. However, some nutrients must be taken in the form of supplements. These include DHA, which is essential for the development of the infant's brain and eyesight.
When it comes to Omega 3-rich foods, lists are compiled that virtually always include foods of plant origin, particularly nuts. Therefore, those who follow a vegan diet (or do not include fish, a source of animal-derived Omega 3s, in their diet) may tend not to worry that they are not getting enough.
The reality, however, is different. Because the Omega 3s found in nuts and other terrestrial vegetables are not the same as those that can be taken through fish and other marine sources-and this means that in some circumstances a lack of supplementation can lead to unintended consequences.
Omega 3 and lactation
One such circumstance isbreastfeeding. The problem can be observed from two different perspectives:
- that of the mother, who may have consumed up to 50 percent of her stores of one of the biologically active Omega 3s (docosahexaenoic acid, more commonly known by the acronym DHA) during pregnancy and may take up to 6 months to be able to restore them;
- That of the infant, who takes in 13 to 26 mg of DHA with breast milk each day.
But whichever way you look at it, the solution to this problem is the same: Mom must take in enough DHA to avoid deficiencies and to produce milk that contains sufficient amounts to meet her baby's needs. The latter will use it to build the membranes of his or her cells, particularly in the central nervous system and the retina; this means that through a diet adequately rich in DHA, the breastfeeding mother is helping to ensure that her child's brain and eyesight will develop and function better.
DHA in the vegan diet
In the vegan diet (which, in itself, is not a contraindication to breastfeeding) Omega 3 sources do not provide DHA but its precursor, alpha-linolenic acid(ALA). The human body possesses the tools to convert ALA to DHA, but it does so with very low efficiency (according to the scientific literature, less than, on average, 5%); what is more, it must also use these tools to produce the Omega 6 polyunsaturated fats from their precursor, linoleic acid, in which modern Western diets are much richer than ALA.
At present, supplementation with DHA is not recommended for all people who are vegan or do not eat fish. However, the results of a study published in Nutrients by a group of researchers from the University Hospital "October 12" in Madrid, Spain, suggest that supplementation by women on such a diet is essential precisely during breastfeeding.
DHA in the milk of vegan moms
The study authors compared the daily intake of DHA and its levels in milk produced by omnivorous women and vegan or vegetarian women who ate neither meat nor fish. The protocol called for participants to note for 5 consecutive days everything they ate and the supplements they took, and on day 6 to keep as much milk as they could "pull" from a breast on one occasion.
It emerged that vegan or vegetarian mothers took in significantly less DHA (110 mg per day) than omnivorous mothers (380 mg per day), and that the DHA in the milk of vegan or vegetarian mothers was less than half that in the milk of omnivorous mothers (0.15 percent versus 0.33 percent).
"Themost important differences between the milk of the two groups were found in phospholipid distribution and fatty acid profile, in agreement with the significant difference in the type and amount of fat in vegetarian diets described in other studies and which our study confirms," the authors explain. "Regardingessential fatty acids," they continue, "the Veg group showed significant downsides, due to insufficient intake of DHA and EPA [the other biologically active Omega 3, ed.], and low intake of Omega 3 fatty acids compared with that of Omega 6."
As mentioned by the authors of this study themselves, the DHA content of breast milk should be at least 0.30 percent, double the proportion found in their analysis. What's more, their results are in line with those of another study on the subject, published back in 1992 in The Journal of Pediatrics by two researchers from King's College London (UK).
DHA in lactation: which supplements to choose?
Thus, no doubt seems to remain about the need for women who exclude fish from their diets to take DHA supplements during breastfeeding. Moreover, the effectiveness of supplementation-based strategies to make up for nutrient deficiencies in the breastfeeding woman's diet is proven. In fact, this same study showed that it is sufficient to take vitamin B12 supplements (a nutrient very deficient in the vegan diet whose supplementation is always advisable) for even vegan women's milk to contain sufficient amounts.
There is no shortage of DHA supplements suitable for women who do not eat fish or other foods of animal origin. You can choose, in particular, those based on algal oil, a plant-based source of marine-derived Omega 3 (EPA and DHA). Because of the special importance of taking products that are free of potentially dangerous contaminants for the child/children, the advice is to choose products certified 5 Stars IFOS, a brand that offers a guarantee of the purity of Omega 3 supplements of marine origin.
Sources:
1. Ureta-Velasco N et al. Human Milk Composition and Nutritional Status of Omnivore Human Milk Donors Compared with Vegetarian/Vegan Lactating Mothers. Nutrients 2023, 15(8), 1855. doi: 10.3390/nu15081855.
2. Sanders TA and Reddy S. The influence of a vegetarian diet on the fatty acid composition of human milk and the essential fatty acid status of the infant. Pediatr. 1992 Apr;120(4 Pt 2):S71-7. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(05)81239-9
