Early brain development helped by Iron, Iodine, Vitamin D, Omega-3, Zinc etc.
Nutrition and Brain Development
Brain development Curr Top Behav Neurosci . 2021 Oct 8. doi: 10.1007/78542021244 PDF behind paywall
Sarah E Cusick 1, Amanda Barks 2, Michael K Georgieff 2
All nutrients are essential for brain development, but pre-clinical and clinical studies have revealed sensitive periods of brain development during which key nutrients are critical. An understanding of these nutrient-specific sensitive periods and the accompanying brain regions or processes that are developing can guide effective nutrition interventions as well as the choice of meaningful circuit-specific neurobehavioral tests to best determine outcome. For several nutrients including
- protein,
- iron,
- iodine, and
- choline,
pre-clinical and clinical studies align to identify the same sensitive periods, while for other nutrients, such as
- Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids,
- zinc, and
- vitamin D,
pre-clinical models demonstrate benefit which is not consistently shown in clinical studies. This discordance of pre-clinical and clinical results is potentially due to key differences in the timing, dose, and/or duration of the nutritional intervention as well as the pre-existing nutritional status of the target population. In general, however, the optimal window of success for nutritional intervention to best support brain development is in late fetal and early postnatal life. Lack of essential nutrients during these times can lead to long-lasting dysfunction and significant loss of developmental potential.