Taking fish oil supplements when pregnant could protect our offspring from developing allergies, suggests new research from an Australian team. Allergic diseases such as asthma have dramatically increased in Western countries over the last 20 to 30 years, often attributed to changes in lifestyle, such as diet. The researchers theorized that the Western world tends to eat much less oily fish. Furthermore, there is also increasing evidence that the failure of normal immune regulation that characterizes allergy occurs in early life (December issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology - vol. 112, no 6).

Janet Dunstan and colleagues examined the effect of fish oil supplementation in 40 pregnant women (from 20 weeks gestation to delivery) on the immune response in their infants. The women all had a history of hay fever or asthma, making their children at increased risk of developing allergies. A further 43 women took an olive oil placebo. The supplements resulted in significantly higher levels of omega-3 and lower levels of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in cell membranes of babies born to mothers in the fish oil group.

They found that at one year of age, the offspring of mothers who had taken fish oil supplements were three times less likely be sensitized to egg allergen, and they were 10 times less likely to have severe disease. Mothers who supplement their diet with fatty acids rich in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) during pregnancy and lactation may also increase the IQ of their children, according to recent studies. German researchers recently said they had found further evidence that components of diet, particularly fatty acids and antioxidants, might be able to inhibit symptoms of hay fever in adults, which affects up to 20 per cent of the UK 's population.

More on Fish Oil

Click here to order pharmaceutical grade fish oil