Alternative Health Blog

Fish oil is quite the catch for health protection. It has long been associated with reducing inflammation in the body and in recent years considered to protect against heart disease and certain cancers.

But the fish oil message has been aimed more at adults and not infants. Until now. A new study suggests feeding babies as little as one portion of fish before they turn nine months old may significantly reduce the infants’ risk for eczema, the dry-skin condition that can be severe enough to disrupt quality of life.

Interestingly, any type of fish appears to provide a protective effect for infants, not just the cold-water fish loaded with healthy omega-3 fats such as salmon, sardines, tuna and mackerel. The babies who consumed the fish portion (remember, as little as one serving) were 25 percent less likely to develop eczema than infants who never ate fish before nine months old.

The study, performed in Sweden and published in the peer-reviewed British Medical Journal, is notable for its landmark finding that such early intervention with fish oil can make such a positive difference over a child’s lifetime. Eczema affects about 10 to 15 percent of all children and it more common in kids who have allergies.

Intriguingly, breast-feeding had no effect in preventing eczema, nor did keeping a furry pet in the house make it any more prevalent. Fish in a baby’s diet was the next strongest factor after genetic inheritance.  The Swedish researchers said more research will follow to help explain why fish is important, but they speculated in the paper that it “must have something to do with the influence on the immune system.”

And maybe something to do with the long-held folk medicine remedy of cod-liver oil as both remedy and elixir. Sometimes old-school is new again.

Bob Condor blogs for Alternative Health Journal every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.