QUEBEC, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Adding fish oil to baby formula may help infants better regulate their blood sugar and make more proteins in their muscle cells, say Canadian scientists.
First author Karen Bergeron of Laval University in Quebec said recent improvements in baby formula include the addition of long-chain n-3 fatty acids, which can improve brain and visual development.
To understand better the role of n-3 fatty acids in the early development of babies, the researchers investigated how the fatty acids affect protein metabolism in neonatal piglets. The scientists weaned 28 piglets and raised them for a month on either a control formula that didn’t contain the fatty acid or a "test" formula that contained 3.5 percent of the fatty acid from fish oil.
The study, published in the November issue of the Journal of Lipid Research, said in the piglets that were fed the control formula, fewer proteins were produced in their body over time and, at the same time, their insulin became less effective at lowering blood sugar levels. However, piglets that drank the test formula containing the fatty acid showed increased protein production and their insulin was as effective at using the proteins in the test formula for their growth as when they were born.
