Fish Food for Thought

Copyright (c) 2006 The Brain Code LLC

Have you heard about omega-3s? You may have seen headlines
in the New York Times or CNN touting their benefits. Maybe
you have seen them highlighted on cereal boxes and other
food products. What are they and why is it such a big deal?

The fat brain

Omega-3s are one type of Poly-Unsaturated Fatty Acid or
PUFA that are incredibly important for your heart and
brain. In fact, your brain is about 25% PUFA by weight and
about 40% fat overall. Yes, the brain is a big fat organ!
This is one reason why low-fat diet fads are not the best
option.

Omega-3s are actually important for every cell in the body
but they are especially high in brain cells. They help your
brain cells signal to each other appropriately and keep
things running smoothly.

So what kinds of foods have them? Actually, there are three
main kinds of omega-3s. One that comes mostly from plants,
like flaxseed and some nuts, and two others that come
mostly from fish. They are all important for the body but
the omega-3s found in fish appear to be most important for
the brain.

Food for your mood

The interesting thing is that societies who eat more fish
have lower rates of depression, suicide and violent
behavior. Also, omega-3s have been found to be lower in
blood samples from suicide victims, schizophrenics and
bipolar patients.

These types of studies are called 'observational' because
you can't say that low omega-3s caused these conditions.
However, one study that took place in a British women's
prison showed that giving inmates omega-3 supplements
actually reduced violent behavior. Also, omega-3s have
shown promise in small clinical trials treating depression
and bipolar illness. Other studies in animals show that
omega-3s affect the levels of neuro-chemicals that control
mood, like dopamine and serotonin.

This is not to say that if you don't get enough omega-3s
that you will get mentally ill, but there appears to be a
real link. Many factors contribute to mental illness,
including, genetics, chronic stressful experiences,
physical activity and yes, diet. Omega-3s look like they
are one piece in the puzzle.

What about Mercury?

So should you just eat more fish? This brings up another
problem. Too much fish can lead to problems from mercury
and PCBs. In fact, pregnant women are advised not to eat
fish at all. This is a big debate in the medical community
because omega-3s are incredibly important for development
of the fetus and the growing baby will 'steal' omega-3s
from the mother if she doesn't get enough in her diet. Some
researchers argue that this advice does more harm than
good. Still, most doctors today don't offer their pregnant
patients any other alternatives - they just say don't eat
fish.

This is where fish oil supplements can come in. They are
becoming very popular and offer a safe alternative - if you
are careful. The thing to look for is 'molecular
distillation' on the back of the bottle. This means that
the manufacturer has tried to remove heavy metals and PCBs.
Still, I would check with them to make sure they have some
kind of quality control since the FDA does not regulate
this claim.

Why now?

So why didn't we have all these problems centuries ago.
It's not like all our ancestors took fish oil pills all the
time. Well, there is another major factor that I haven't
mentioned yet - omega-6s.

Omega-6s are another kind of PUFA that are also important
in the brain. The balance between omega-6s and omega-3s in
the diet is very important. They are like the yin and yang
of fats. They compete with each other for many biological
functions and keep each other in check.

For example, omega-6s help the immune system by turning on
inflammatory processes necessary to fight infections.
Omega-3s help to turn it off and keep inflammation low.
They are both important but need to be kept in balance.

We think that the ideal ratio between omega-6s and omega-3s
is about 1:1 and this is what we probably ate throughout
most of our thousands of year history. However, today's
western diet is closer to 10:1 or even as high as 30:1 in
favor of omega-6s. We are getting too many omega-6s and not
enough omega-3s to balance them out.

Why? Omega-6s are high in oils from corn, safflower,
canola, peanuts and soy. These are found in high
concentrations in many of the foods we eat, especially
processed foods. It has really been since the industrial
revolution that we started to consume large amounts of
omega-6s and lower amounts of omega-3s.

Many researchers, including myself, believe that this is
one factor in the rise of many diseases today. Since
omega-6s tend to promote inflammatory responses, we are
essentially eating a high inflammatory diet. Inflammation
is a major suspect underlying many diseases of the brain
and body - the big ones being heart disease and Alzheimer's
disease.

So there it is. Omega-3s are important for many functions
and they are a big deal because our dietary intake of
omega-3s and omega-6s are out of whack. The best thing you
can do is to stop eating many of the processed foods that
contain high omega-6s and eat a little more fish.
Personally, I take a high quality fish oil supplement daily
and so do my wife and kids.

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Dr. Simon Evans is a research neuroscientist at the
University of Michigan and a nationally licensed youth
sports coach. He is concerned about the health of today's
youth and shares information to help parents ensure their
own childrens' health. You can visit Dr. Evans website at
http://www.thebraincode.com