Omega 3 tablets for poor attention span..........do they ever work?

[makemineaquadruple]

Hi everyone

I have a nearly 5 year old dd who has certain behavioural issues and has a short attention span.

I'm not really a fan of suppliments normally. However, dd doesn't really have much omega 3 in her diet and that doesn't mean I haven't tried tirelessly to get in into her diet.........but as yet, i've been unsuccessful.

I've read lots about omega 3 and it's healthy brain function benefits. I really want to give them a go and actually already have, but the few that i've tried actually do taste of fish. I thought that the fish taste would have been masked, but obviously not.

Does anyone know of any omega 3 tablets/syrup that don't taste of fish and that more to the point, actually has shown some benefits?

Thanks for reading.

I found eye - q vanilla liquid the closest to NOT tasting fishy. DD's stomach did not agree with fish oil so I stopped giving it to her, therefore, I cannot comment personally on its effectiveness.

Mummytime - interesting about the link between dry scalp and lack of Omega's - DD does have lots of dry skin on her scalp not dandruff but actual dry bits of skin - I may try her again on a small dosage of omega's.

Didn't do anything for my DS I'm afraid.

Makemine you'll never know until you try it. So my advice would be, give it a go. My son has ADHD and it DOES work for him. When I stop them during holidays or if I run out and his without them for a few weeks, I def see a deterioration in his attention span. Don't buy diluted supermarket brands, I'd go online and get the highly concentrated supplements. You have nothing to lose.

Madamesin, which ones do you recommend? I bought capsules but can no longer get DS to take them, but I'm sure they helped so would like to try something different, pref ones he could swallow...

Choca - Vegepa ones are the best because they only contain EPA. And they're ones that you swallow.

Does the vegepa come in liquid form? Had a quick search and couldn't find it but DD won't swallow a capsule.

No, it's coming out as a chewable soon.

You can cut the capsule open and pour the liquid onto something if you want.

Indigo/Choco Assuming Vegepa is a vegetarian supplement ... Dr Alex Richardson of the charity Food & Behaviour Research and one of the world's leading researchers into Omega 3 says:
"In the absence of an official recommended daily amount, start by choosing products that contain EPA and DHA, this usually means fish oils. Vegetarian Omega 3 supplements usually contain none at all - instead they are made with linseed or flax oil, which provide a different form of Omega 3.
They're not a complete waste of money, but vegetarians would be better off taking ones containing DHA from algae.
Next, ignore any doses suggested on the packet and focus on the small print to find out how much EPA and DHA combined the product provides.
A good target for mental well-being and performance is 1000mg per day and to get this amount, you may well need to take more than the manufacturer's suggested dose".

Vegepa is not vegetarian.

There's lots of people recommending different amounts of EPA vs DHA.

Someone did some meta analysis into all of the studies on Omega Fish Oils, and found that the higher the dose of EPA the more positive the study was. He thinks that DHA actually has a negative effect on the EPA.

But I don't know who did this research :) And I certainly can't link to his study.

My DS has the Eskimo Oil ones and he has a much better attention span.. He is Coeliac and food doesn't really stay in him very long ....

While it is the case that DHA is important structurally in the brain, a consensus has emerged in the scientific and medical community that it is EPA which is the more beneficial of the omega-3 fatty acids for optimal neurological function. More and more supplement companies are acknowledging this body of evidence and are gradually increasing the ratio of EPA to DHA to the extent that some forward-thinking companies, like ourselves, remove the DHA completely through molecular distillation. This oxygen-free process extracts the EPA, which is left "ultra-pure" and is most bio-available to the body. The primary reason why Vegepa only contains ultra-pure EPA and absolutely no DHA is due to the fact that clinical trials show that as the ratio of EPA to DHA increases in a supplement, so does its effectiveness. In addition, some leading experts believe that DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) may inhibit the beneficial actions of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). Indeed, recent research has confimed that pure EPA derived from fish oil is as effective as fluoxetine for the treatment of clinical depression

Opti3 is vegetarian and contains both EPA and DHA and comes from algae, not from flax or linseed.

Indigo, that's really interesting regarding DHA. I've never heard that before and unfortunately Opti seems to have higher levels of DHA than EPA. I haven't found another good quality vegetarian omega 3 supplement as yet though, so will have to stick with it for now. I'm positive it has had a good effect on ds1 and myself, but as I said before, we were both probably very deficient before we starting taking it.

Vegepa do a vegetarian one called Echiomega

Thanks Indigo, I have just done a bit of reading on it all and its fascinating stuff.

Not sure what to do now really. We are pretty sure that the Opti-3 has had a really good effect on ds and I - so changing doesn't feel right at this piont. BUT, having just read that long term use of high DHA supplements might have some negatives health wise, I'm wondering if we should try the Echiomegas instead.

My main concern was in the podcast I listened to, when they said several companies - such as Monsanto, are already working on genetically modifiying the Echuim plants to improve the yield of the right types of fatty acids. Why can't just they stop meddling and accept that natural things are good for us.

Perhaps I'll wait until we've got to the end of this batch then try him on the others for a month and see how it goes.

Incidentally, I read an independent article about it in NHD the dieticians' magazine that was linked to on the Vegepa website and it really helped me get my head around it all.