DHA and ARA are found naturally in breast milk

DHA and ARA are found naturally in breast milk

DHA and ARA are important components of breast milk. Rapid brain development takes place during the first 12 months of life, and infants who are breastfed have significantly higher DHA levels in the brain compared to infants fed non-DHA/ARA supplemented infant formula.

DHA is correlated with improved mental function in infants

Several published studies have shown that infants fed formula supplemented with pre-formed DHA and ARA have demonstrated an improved mental development over infants fed non-supplemented formulas. One such study, published in the March 2000 issue of Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, shows that infants fed formulas supplemented with DHA and ARA demonstrated a mean increase of 7 points on the Mental Development Index of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II, a significant increase for a study group.