EFA's

I found myself on the FAQ page of Udo Erasmus' website the other day while doing a search on google for something, I cant remember what. Anyway, I came across this section and thought it was very informative, especially the part about mothers after having several children.

Does a woman's needs for EFA's increase during pregnancy?


EFAs are required for brain development and brain function. During pregnancy, the child draws EFAs from the mother's body to build its brain, which is over 60% fat and very rich in both n-3 and n-6 EFA derivatives. The placenta contains receptors that ensure that n-3 and n-6 EFAs are transported from the mother to the baby. No such receptors are found for the non-essential monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids.

During breast feeding, the child pulls 11 grams of EFAs from the mother daily through breast milk.

During pregnancy, the child depletes women of EFAs. Each child gets less EFAs than the previous child, and each subsequent child depletes the mother further unless the mother augments her diet with essential fatty acids.

Depletion of the mother's EFA stores explains why younger children have far more developmental and behavioral problems than older children, especially in large families in which the children are born close together.

Depletion of EFAs during pregnancy also provides a rationale for why women experience far more depression, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue, and more inflammatory, autoimmune, and collagen diseases than men. Women suffer these problems from 2 to 15 times more frequently than men do. The depletion of EFAs during child bearing predisposes women to these conditions. Men are not depleted by baby brain building in the way that women are.