Читать книгу They Are What You Feed Them: How Food Can Improve Your Child’s Behaviour, Mood and Learning - Dr Richardson Alex - Страница 67

Fat is not just a convenient store of energy. Certain dietary fats are absolutely essential to your child’s physical and mental health, being needed for:

 the structure and flexibility of all cell membranes

 regulating the transport of all substances into and out of cells

 supporting the immune system, heart and circulation and hormone balance

 maintaining the structure and function of your brain and nervous system.

Fats are dealt with in detail in Chapter 8, but in summary, saturated (hard) fats like those found in butter, cream and meat fat are not a problem in moderation. In fact, it’s better to use these for cooking than vegetable oils (which can produce toxic fats when heated). Olive oil and other monounsaturated fats (found in nuts and seeds) have some health benefits, but the fats your child needs most are the natural polyunsaturated fats, particularly special ones called omega-3 fatty acids (found in oily fish and flax oils) and omega-6 (found in vegetable oils, grains, meat, eggs and dairy produce). You and your child are far more likely to lack omega-3 than omega-6 fats—which could even be increasing stress, anxiety or depression in both of you.⁵