Debates will probably never end about the best way to raise kids. But whether you believe sparing the rod spoils the child or not, researchers have discovered a way to better the odds that your offspring will be more successful in life. And it gives us a hint on how to make ourselves smarter and our brains healthier throughout our lives.
A study at the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil, demonstrates that children who are breastfed the longest enjoy the highest intelligence, get more education and rake in higher earnings as adults.
“Our study provides the first evidence that prolonged breastfeeding not only increases intelligence until at least the age of 30 years but also has an impact both at an individual and societal level by improving educational attainment and earning ability,” says researcher Bernardo Lessa Horta.
The research discovered that breastfeeding results are additive: The longer a child breastfed (measured up to 12 months) in the study, the greater the measurable benefits.
Compared to kids who breastfed for less than a month, infants breastfed for a year or more gained, on average, four IQ points, spent 0.9 years more at school and had an income that was about a third higher at age 30.
What this shows, of course, is that when it comes to designing the optimal diet for newborns, our bodies and nature know best. No matter how much companies that make infant formula claim to know about nutrition, they may never be able to match breast milk because it’s a nutritional concoction that has been millions of years in development.
How can we use this to make our own brains work better and stay healthier for longer? One of the main components of breast milk is the omega-3 fat called docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA for short. It’s so important that almost every infant formula has it added.
There is almost no other nutrient I can think of that helps the brain more, considering that good fats like omega-3s are the fuel your brain uses to function.
In fact, there are countless studies which show that no matter your cognitive status, getting a gram or more of omega-3 with DHA every day improves all forms of memory. [1]
Our bodies can’t make DHA, so we have to get it from food or supplement. Eggs, avocadoes, cold-water fish and walnuts have DHA. But the richest source of bioavailable DHA seems to be calamari, or squid oil, which is 35% or more DHA.
[1] Yurko-Mauro K, Alexander D, Van Elswyk M. “Docosahexaenoic Acid and adult memory: a systematic review and meta-analysis.’ PLoS One. 2015 Mar 18;10(3):e0120391.
