Why is Desi Cow A2 Ghee so important for children ?

DHA and its importance for Children

To start with DHA stands for Docosahexaenoic Acid which belongs to the class of Omega-3 fatty Acid group. In lay man terms, it is a type of fat. Now, where is this DHA found in the human body? If one analyses the components of brain tissues, it is found that DHA is a major structural component of human brain. This means DHA is the main building block of brain. Out of the most parts of the Brain, it is the frontal cortex where the concentration of DHA is the highest. It is this area which is considered to be responsible for higher level cognitive capabilities such as Problem Solving, Planning and Focused attention [1] In other words poor development of frontal cortex can lead to learning disorders and memory deficit. Other area where this DHA is found abundant is the retina of the eyes.

Interestingly, if we go deep into the development of human brain it may be noted that earliest signs of development of brain starts from the 2nd week of gestation or conception in the womb. That means right from the 1st Month of Pregnancy, the brain of the baby starts developing in the womb. This development progresses at a very rapid stage and doesn’t really stop once the baby is born.

There is a certain complex process in the Brain development process called Myelination which is basically increase in the fatty sheath around the nerve fibres in the brain. In Lay man terms, a layer of fat builds around the nerves of the brain to better facilitate flow of information between nerve fibres. Better flow of information leads to better coordination between different part of Brain leading to optimal cognitive development. This Myelination process in the frontal cortex begins as early as 6 months of age and continues through childhood till the child reaches adolescence. Spurts of this development can be seen at around the age of 2 years when the child develops linguistic capabilities and to some extend also displays and recognizes emotions. The next spurt in Myelination can be seen during the age gap of 7-9 years [2]

It continues at an aggressive pace till about 5 years of age. It can be confirmed that the Human Brain develops to almost 90% of its peak level by 5 years. After that, it can be seen to develop fully but very slowly till about the age of 20. If we add the above two pieces of information, it is very clear that your baby requires DHA in abundant quantities right from the 1st Month of Pregnancy in the womb till about 7-9 years of age.

Natural Sources of DHA

Now let us understand what are all the sources by which we can fulfill this high DHA requirement in babies and children. For babies who are solely on Breast Milk, the DHA requirement is fulfilled provided the mother is consuming sufficient quantity of DHA in her diet. One of most abundant sources of Omega-3 Fatty acid is Fatty Fish such as Cod, Atlantic Salmon and Sardine. Eating 2 servings daily of the above fish provides significant quantities of Omega-3. But these fatty acids are concentrated in the liver and intestine region which is generally cleaned out in the Indian Diet. Also, these days with high mercury and micro plastic content in fishes it poses a danger to Pregnant women.

Another healthy source of Omega-3 fatty acid are Nuts such as walnuts. But making nuts a part of daily diet in infants and children is a difficult task. It could be added as a powder to milk but still will not fulfill the daily recommended quantity required of Omega-3. Therefore, one of the easiest ways to include Omega 3 Content in Indian Diet is Vedic A2 Ghee of Malnad Gidda, which is made by the Ayurvedic Bilona method of Curd Fermentation. This is because during the fermentation process significant quantities of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids are generated from the Malnad Gidda Milk. This could be because, Malnad Gidda being a forest based animal it’s diet includes a variety of medicinal plants and ayurvedic herbs which are uncorrupted by pollution. It has been proven by lab tests that Pure Breed Malnad Gidda A2 Ghee contains almost 14-15mg  Omega -3 Fatty acids per spoon of Ghee.

Therefore, if in every meal of a child’s diet about 2-3 teaspoons of Malnad Gidda A2 Ghee is used as an additive in the rice, roti and sabzi, the daily consumption just from this ghee can exceed 150mg of Omega-3 fatty acid in children which is almost 70% of the daily requirement. This is the reason ancient Indians placed so much importance on this ghee. The current generation have discarded this elixir of life due to ignorance and bad publicity by Western media. It is however time to go back to the wisdom of our ancestors where they emphasized so much about Desi cow ghee.
So much so that, in Kannada there is an ancient proverb which goes by – ‘Saala Maadi-aadaru, Tuppa Tinnu’ which means Eat Ghee even if you have to Borrow money for it. Well, our ancestors knew what they were talking about.

References

[1] Anderson, V.; Fenwick, T.; Manly, T.; Robertson, I. Attentional skills following traumatic brain injury in childhood: A componential analysis. Brain Inj. 1998, 12, 937–949.

[2] Brown T.T., Jernigan T.L. Brain development during the preschool years. Neuropsychol. Rev. 2012;22:313–333. doi: 10.1007/s11065-012-9214-1.