What Are DHA Supplements And Who Should Take DHA Supplements(especially for pregnant women)

5 min readJun 18, 2020

So what are DHA supplements, are they safe and should you take them?

Let’s answer every query about DHA supplements in this article.

This article is from WWW.SIMPLEBODYFITNESS.COM

So when we hear a term as DHA supplements which is not very common the first question that comes to our mind is What are DHA supplements.

A DHA supplement or Docosahexaenoic acid is a type of omega-3 fat. It is an essential omega 3 fatty acid important for the development of the brain during pregnancy.

DHA supplements play an important role in the development of nerve tissue and eyes.

A DHA supplement is can have many health benefits as well as some side effects too. So it is important to consult a doctor before taking a DHA supplement.

It is very beneficial for newborn babies too. Let’s discuss some health benefits of DHA supplements

What are DHA supplement benefits?

There are so many benefits of DHA supplements and listing them might help you with your question “what are DHA supplements and who should take DHA supplements”

Brain development — Women are advised to use a DHA supplement during pregnancy containing 200 t0 300 mg of DHA because of its benefits for brain development.

A number of studies have shown the benefits of taking DHA supplements during pregnancy for better brain development of newborns.

Eye health — Another study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that mothers who supplement with DHA, their babies had better eyes acuity than those babies whose mother didn’t supplement with DHA.

Less risk of early preterm labor — DHA supplements during pregnancy can also help with the risk of preterm labor.

Reduces heart disease risk

A DHA supplement might be good for your heart too.

DHA can improve you improve your cholesterol profile by increasing omega 3 indexes of your body.

Increased consumption of DHA can decrease the risk of death related to heart disease in people.

Can help you with Inflammation

DHA and some other omega-3 acids have anti-inflammation effects.

Increasing DHA in your diet will help you with inflammation by balancing excess omega-6 inflammation in your body which can help you directly with symptoms of heart disease and other conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Due to its anti-inflammatory properties, a DHA supplement can help you with muscle recovery and soreness.

DHA can also help you with post-exercise limitations in a range of motions mostly due to the soreness of muscles.

High intake of DHA or omega acids have shown to help you fight with cancer. They can increase the effect of anti-cancer drugs.

Some studies have shown that DHA may help improve the benefits of Chemotherapy but it needs more research there are limited studies done on this.

According to a study from 2010 in THE Biological Psychiatry DHA, supplements might help you fight with depression too.

In a study conducted on 14 depressed patients, it was found that people suffering from depression were more likely to have low levels of DHA.

Helps with infertility in men

Dietary fat intake has shown a positive result in around 50% infertility cases in men.

Low DHA profile in one of the common reasons to be found in men with low-quality sperms and frequently found in men with low fertility.

So a DHA supplement can help you improve your sperm quality and can help you improve your low fertility rate.

What are DHA supplements side effects?

DHA is safe for most of us but it too can have some side effects although they are not very common some people can side effects of DHA supplements.

Side effects of DHA supplements

The most common side effect of a DHA supplement is Diarrhea.

Any type of omega acid whenever taken in high doses might cause diarrhea. If you experience diarrhea try taking DHA supplement with meals it might help you with diarrhea.

Some people report a feeling like heartburn after taking DHA. This might be a symptom of acid reflux.

Some other symptoms of acid reflux are

The common cause of acid reflux is a high dosage of DHA but if you are not on high dose of DHA try taking your DHA supplements in smaller proportions throughout a day.

You should avoid taking a DHA supplement if you are allergic to ASPIRIN.

Taking DHA when you are sensitive to aspirin might affect your breathing.

It can increase your blood sugar

People with type 2 diabetes should stay away from DHA supplements. A DHA supplement can also increase your blood sugar levels.

DHA might lower down your blood pressure and people who already have low blood pressure DHA can cause serious problems for them.

Taking DHA might affect your blood clotting. Taking a DHA supplement alone won,t affect your blood clotting but if you take DHA with EPA as in Fish oil might affect your blood clotting.

This will mostly affect you when your doses of DHA are high, for safe results keep your doses under 3grams to avoid the risk of bleeding.

Related -19 Side effects of Keto diet Foods high in DHA

There are several foods that are high in DHA and you can have DHA from them if you don’t like to supplement it

Foods high in DHA

Vegetarian Foods high in DHA

A DHA supplement is an omega-3 fat that can help you in many ways. In this article, we have covered What are DHA supplements and who should use them.

We had also covered the benefits of DHA supplements and the side effects of DHA supplements. We have given some non-veg and some veg food sources for DHA.

You can assume this article as a quick guide on What are DHA supplements and who should use them.

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Originally published at https://simplebodyfitness.com on June 18, 2020.