Omega-3 fats active against child allergies

One-year-olds whose mothers had ingested fish oil during pregnancy and breastfeeding had considerably fewer allergic reactions than children whose mothers did not it, according to a study from Linköping University in Sweden. The double-blind study, which started in 2005, comprised 145 pregnant mothers with families at heightened risk of developing allergy and asthma. From the 25th week of pregnancy through the third month of nursing, they were asked to take nine capsules of oil every day. Half of them were given fish oil with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, and the other half were given a placebo in the form of soybean oil.

It turned out that the "fish-oil children" had fewer than half as many reactions to eggs at the age of one year as the placebo group did. This is an important discovery, since allergic reactions to eggs early in life are strongly correlated with the later development of allergic disorders like eczema and asthma. The idea that the difference is truly an effect of the omega-3 fats is supported by an immunological study of the mothers' blood. The women who were given fish oil had less prostaglandin E2 in their blood than the others. This is a substance that triggers allergic immune responses, and it is known that it is depressed when the concentration of omega-3 increases.

Bonnie - of course this makes perfect sense being that omega-3 is a natural anti-inflammatory.