Important Elements For Brain And Eye Development

The development of your baby’s brain is a very long and complicated process – even though it starts before they’re born, it will carry on developing well into their teenage years.

Their brain grows a lot during pregnancy and their first year of life, and by the time your baby is born, their brain is already a quarter of its adult size. This is quite impressive when you think about it – compare that to their arms or legs and imagine if they were a quarter of their adult size, imagine how funny they’d look

Also , at birth , an infant’s visual system is immature . Maturation of the visual system is reliant on stimulation and appropriate dietary intake.

Of course, good nutrition is essential for your baby’s brain development, especially during the first 2 years – can you believe that when your baby is first born, their brain uses 70% of their total energy intake? Fat is an important source of essential fatty acids and some fats also provide long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPs for short) that are important in brain, eye and nervous tissue development.

Important elements needed for brain and eye development are:

• Omega 3 and Omega 6 – Essential fatty acids the body will naturally convert these into the LCPs: DHA and AA. Both are present in high concentrations in the brain and the retina
• DHA and AA – long chain omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids that support IQ, vocabulary development, and visual acuity
• Phospholipds – a type of fat that is found in the membranes of all cells and in myelin. It is essential for the functioning of brain cells
• Lutein – an antioxidant that is important to the retina to support your baby’s eye health
• Taurine – important for retinal development and vision
• Choline – precursor of an important neurotransmitter in the brain: Acetylcholine that is important for learning and memory
• Iron— important for cognition and other brain functions
• Zinc – important for cognitive development