3 Nutrients Essential for Your Child’s Brain Development

When it comes to your child’s brain development, nourishment is as important as having a positive stimulating environment. Since the brain is considered an important organ, you want to provide it with the most beneficial nutrients. Today we will explore some of the best nutrients and their food options to augment your child’s brain power.¹  

Taurine

Taurine is an amino acid, and it is found basically in the nervous system: the spinal cord, skeletal muscle, and especially in the brain. It helps the development of your child’s brain by being a neurotransmitter, as in the efficiency of communication between functions and quality. For a brain to function well, it needs a good base, healthy cells, to do the job. If everything runs smoothly, your child will feel less stressed. Taurine can be sourced from breast milk early in their life and later on from mostly from meat protein.²

Meat Source – animal milk, viscera, or giblets (organ meat), lamb, clams, tilapia, local freshwater fish, and bird eggs

Kid’s Favorite Styles: Milk smoothies, stir fried giblets and veggies, sandwiches

Plant Based – Garlic, Shiitake mushrooms, Sea Moss (Gracilaria), nori, and parsley

Dish styles: mushroom soup, sushi, mixed salads, sandwiches, quiches

Omega 3 & 6 Fatty Acids

Fats like Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids are essential for your child to stay self-aware and sharp. They help the brain by supporting its chemicals and quality of the cells itself (neurons). This is one of those nutrients where the better quality of it your child gets, the more benefits they reap.^{3, 4}

• A well-known Omega 3 fatty acid for supporting brain development in children is DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), the battery of brain function.^{3, 4}
  • Best source: salmon, mackerel, anchovies, Myanmar trout, sardines, walnuts, any fresh or processed soy product, organic eggs, canola oil

• Omega 6 functions similarly with the addition of also supporting your child’s brain on a gene level. For example, If you usually observe your child to be having constant attention issues or poor reading skills, Omega 6 therapy through food and supplements can improve those conditions.^{3, 4}
  • Best source: Fresh soybeans, corn, sunflower oil and seeds, tree nuts, avocado, peanut butter, red meat

If your child gets a balanced diet of plant and animal proteins while plant-based oils are used in cooking, they have the required amount of both Taurine and Fatty Acids. Natural food is the best option, but modern diets of children are short on these as parents go for convenience. Parents can seek to add child growing up milks that have been scientifically formulated, like the Similac Gain IQ range, for additional help with nutrition. Similac Gain IQ is a growing up milk with a unique combination of 10 Key Brain Nutrients, including DHA, AA, omega 3&6, taurine, choline, iron, zinc and vitamins B1, B12. As always, consult a Child Nutritionist before starting your child on a growing up milk and also find a nutrition plan that best caters to them.¹

For more information or if you would like a sample of Similac, please visit Similac Myanmar today.