Omega 3 can help reduce the incidence of age-related hearing loss.

We know that omega 3 fatty acids are good for the heart – but it appears that this wonder compound is not just good for the heart, but may also be beneficial to our ears as well.  Just recently, a study regarding the additional benefits of omega 3 fatty acids was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The omega 3 study

According to the US study, eating fish at least twice a week can reduce the risk for age-related hearing loss by a whopping forty-two percent.  Paul Mitchell, lead researcher, also stated that regular doses of omega 3 fatty acids can delay or even completely prevent age-related hearing loss (also known as presbycusis).

Mitchell and other researchers made use of questionnaires that were given out to 2,900+ respondents.  They measured the respondents’ fish intake with the prevalence of hearing loss.  An inverse trend was noted: respondents who ate a lot of fish tend to have minimal hearing loss.  The risk for age-related hearing loss was also reduced with increased fish consumption.

Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent sensory-related conditions in the United States, affecting more than 30 million individuals around the country.

More reasons to love omega 3

Omega 3′s dazzling spectrum of benefits does not end with hearing loss prevention and heart health:

1. Omega 3 is considered an essential nutrient because it is required for normal body function.  The body is incapable of producing them; therefore, dietary sources of omega 3 are vital to good health.

2. Suffering from painful joints?  Existing studies state that regular doses of omega 3 can help ease the stiffness and inflammation associated with arthritic conditions.  If you have been prescribed anti-inflammatory medication already, you can still take omega 3 to increase the effectiveness of your current anti-inflammatory medication/s.

3. Eating more fish may reduce your risk for depression.  According to existing studies, cultures that consume fish on a very regular basis also have fewer incidences of clinical depression.  Omega 3 may also help treat depression as it enhances the potency of anti-depressant medication.

4. Pregnant women can also benefit from EPA & DHA: there is evidence that omega 3 fatty acids can improve the general wellness of pregnant women and also aid in the development of the unborn child – specifically with the child’s brain development.

5. In addition to calcium supplementation, omega 3 can also help people with osteoporosis. There is some evidence that this compound can help increase bone density.

6. Surprisingly, omega 3 can also be used by individuals with asthma.  In addition to improving the over-all condition of the lungs, omega 3 may also help reduce the amount of asthma medications a person needs to manage his/her condition.

7. Giving fish oil to school-aged kids can help manage the symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD.

Sources:
nutraingredients.com
webmd.com

Researchers have discovered that increased omega-3 fatty acids can reduce the risk of colon cancer. This can come from food sources or fish oil supplementation.

Do you get tons of omega-3 fatty acids in your diet?  If so, new research indicates you will reduce your risk of colon cancer.  Taking fish oil supplements can also accomplish the same goal.

According to Dr. Sangmi Kim at the National Institute of Environmental Health Studies in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, not only can fish oil supplementation fight inflammation, it can also reduce the risk of cancer.

The study examined polyunsaturated fatty acid intake and bowel cancer risk in both whites and African Americans.  Approximately, half of the people in each group were colon cancer patients.  The other half served as the control group.

The researchers found that the people in the group of whites, who consumed the top forth amount of omega-3s, had half the risk of colon cancer.  They also found that fish oil had the same effect.  Although when the black participants were analyzed separately, they didn’t see cancer rates drop as omega 3 intake increased.  However, researchers stated, “Whether the possible benefit from this dietary modification varies by race warrants further evaluation.”

So where can you get the necessary omega-3 fatty acids? They are found in walnut oils, flaxseed oil, and leafy greets.  It is important to remember to eat more omega-3s than omega-6 fatty acids, as you want a healthy balance in your diet.  It can be unhealthy to have more omega-6 in your system. Omega-6 acids can be typically be found in oils like soybean oil and sunflower oil as well as meats.  While omega-3 oils reduce inflammation, omega-6 oils can cause inflammation.

Frequent readers of Natural Health on the Web know that I am a big advocate of the Mediterranean diet. This diet suggests eating foods high in omega-3 fatty acids like fruits, vegetables, olive oil and fish rather than omega-6 rich meats.

Sources:
sciencedaily.com
umm.edu

Study in Archive of General Psychiatry finds fish oil may help prevent psychosis.

Few things fascinate me more than the human brain.  It’s just amazing to me how slight variations in brain chemistry can significantly alter a person’s thinking patterns and perceptions.

It’s easy to fall under the assumption that a person’s brain chemistry (if they don’t produce enough serotonin, for example) can only be altered through the administering of pharmaceutical drugs, but our nutrition plays just as significant a role.

The latest example of this is with regards to psychosis.  Psychosis is a severe mental disorder that’s characterized by a person not being able to distinguish between what’s real and what isn’t.  People with a form of psychosis often see things or hear things that aren’t really there, feel an overwhelming sense of fear for an unexplained reason, display extreme excitement for an unexplained reason, or act out in a way that’s abnormal for them.  Schizophrenia is an example of a psychosis-related disorder.

People with psychiatric disorders are often placed on anti-psychotic drugs.  Now, I certainly am not one to question a medical doctor’s advice for how to treat someone with a form of psychosis, but I think any doctor would agree that treating a person with psychosis through natural means is best.

If doctors agree with me—and I’m confident that most do—then get a load of this:

Fish oil supplements may help “beat psychotic mental illness.”

Those aren’t my words; those are the words straight from the authors of a new study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

The study—titled “Long Chain Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Indicated Prevention of Psychotic Disorders—followed 76 people deemed at “high risk” for full-fledged development of psychosis.

To see if psychosis could be avoided, researchers randomly assigned some of the men and women with a daily placebo or a fish oil supplement that had 1.2 grams of omega-3 (i.e. 700 milligrams of EPA, 480 milligrams of DHA).

After 12 weeks of supplementation, the results were truly telling.   For those that did not supplement with omega-3, about 28 percent of them were eventually diagnosed with a form of psychosis.  Contrast that to those supplementing with omega-3—just 4.9 percent of them were eventually diagnosed with a form of psychosis!

Writing in the pages of the Archives of General Psychiatry, the authors second what I said earlier:  “The finding that […] a natural substance may prevent or at least delay the onset of psychotic disorder gives hope that there may be alternatives to anti-psychotics…”

And that’s what alternative medicine is all about:  It’s about providing people with another option for treatment, minus the side effects.

There’s no question that antipsychotics work for people, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that natural alternatives can be just as effective…minus the side effects.

Sources:
tehrantimes.com
nutraingredients.com
health.google.com
news.bbc.co.uk

Caviar--the hors d'oeuvre of high society--is declared the best source of omega-3 fatty acids by researchers.

For all of the good things about seafood (low in fat, low in calories, high in protein, iron, etc.), it’s most distinguishing characteristic is it being the best source for omega-3s.  Other foods have omega-3s, sure, but you won’t find a more abundant source for omega-3s than what you’ll find in the seafood section.

It begs the question, though:  When it comes to omega-3s, what fish is the best of the best?  According to researchers from the University of Almeria, the answer may be the fish that aren’t quite fish yet.

That’s right, caviar—the hors’doeuvre of high society.

In the battle of the bulge, hors d’oeuvres can easily lead dieters astray.  They’re small pre-dinner offerings designed to whet the appetite, but their bite-sized quality is not matched by their calorie quantity (one mozzarella stick has just under 100 calories and five grams of fat!).

But that’s not the case with caviar, the hors’doeuvre that delivers a boatload of omega-3s from nary a tablespoon.

The researchers discovered this after analyzing the fatty acid content of 15 seafaring mammals, looking to see which ones were the most abundant in DHA and EPA, the primary types of omega-3s.  All of them were high in omega-3s, but the fish roe of mackerel, squid, cuttlefish, lumpsucker, hake, and salmon were the most impressive offerings.   Just a small sample of caviar more than satisfies the body’s omega-3 fatty acid daily requirement, according to researchers (there is no official requirement for omega-3 consumption, but dieticians and nutritionists agree that everyone should be getting at least some omega-3s every day).

The study is published in the European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology.

Now, to be perfectly honest, I’ve never had caviar.  It’s not that I refuse to eat it or anything like that; it’s just that I’ve never been in the company of others who were eating it.

The other thing that hasn’t exactly led me to caviar’s coffers is its cost.   A four-ounce jar of salmon caviar can cost $13, and that’s considered relatively inexpensive (you can get a pound of salmon for less than that at any fish market on the east coast)!

That said, given its richness in omega-3s, I can pretty much guarantee you that I’ll at least try caviar should the opportunity arise.  I hope you’ll do the same.  Because when it comes to increasing and improving health, everyone should try something at least once.

Sources:
sciencedaily.com
msnbc.msn.com

A high consumption of omega-3 fatty acids reduce the risk of chest pain, study shows.

Omega-3 fatty acids are the object of the heart’s affection.  They’re the heart’s knight in shining armor, for they are at the ready to reduce and prevent long-term complications, like heart disease and heart attack, while easing the sting of short-term frustrations, like chest pain.

Every year, millions of people head to their local hospital complaining of chest pains.  Whether its tightness, burning sensations, rapid heart rate or painful swallowing, the symptoms of chest pain vary, and so too do the diagnoses (heartburn, heart attack, angina, pericarditus).

Thanks to omega-3 fatty acids, though, we can minimize the occurrence and risk of chest pains, even those that might be more serious nature.

According to a recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, people that consume high amounts of omega-3s slash their risk for chest pains by nearly 30 percent compared to people who eat small amounts of omega-3s.

These findings come from a group of Danish researchers who followed the health status of approximately 53,000 men and women.  Everyone involved in the study were considered healthy at the start.

That couldn’t be said at the end, though, as 1,150 people developed acute coronary syndrome in the intervening eight years.

But in yet another act of omega-3s riding to the heart’s rescue, people with the highest omega-3 levels were 30 percent less likely to be among those with acute coronary syndrome.  Acute coronary syndrome is an umbrella term for more specific heart-related problems, like angina or complications resulting from a heart attack.

Interestingly—to continue with my personification of omega-3s as a heroic figure a little longer— omega-3s did not ride to the rescue of women’s heart health.  The benefit only applied to men, as there was no association between reduced risk of ACS and the level of omega-3s in women’s blood.

But this doesn’t mean that omega-3s only have eyes for men.  In fact, when taking into consideration the totality of benefits omega-3s has for women compared to men, they may be partial to women.

For instance, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, high omega-3 levels enhances female fertility, decreasing a woman’s risk for premature birth, and may help prevent post-partum depression (a condition that’s more common in women than men).

Further, this being Breast Cancer Awareness Month and all, high omega-3 levels reduces a woman’s risk for breast cancer.

There’s no denying that omega-3 consumption is vitally important to your long-term and—as the aforementioned study shows—your short-term health.  Be on the lookout for them.  They prefer to hide in food sources (e.g. flax, salmon, herring, snapper), but they’ve also been spotted in supplements.  A favorite hangout?  Carlson’s Liquid Fish Oil.

With omega-3s constantly saving the day, nutrition is all too important to fritter away.

Sources:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
nutraingredients.com
mayoclinic.com

Vitamin E supplementation shows improvement in children with autism.

The famous former prime minister Winston Churchill will be forever remembered as a stalwart conservative, but no one could call him conservative in his commentary.

Never one to pull punches, Churchill called it like he saw it, with utterances like “I may be drunk, miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly,” “There is no such thing as a good tax,” and “A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”

He applied this quote to anything that was mysterious or difficult to explain.  And while Churchill wasn’t known for applying this quote to diseases or health matters, I have no doubt he would have applied it to man’s understanding of autism.

Though science has come a long way in determining just what autism is, it still remains that riddle wrapped inside a mystery inside an enigma.

What is known about autism is that it’s a developmental disorder that overwhelmingly affects young children, boys primarily.  It’s typically diagnosed between a child’s first and third birthday, and is characterized by an inability to communicate, aggressive behavior and/or repetitive motions.

There’s no known cure for autism, so treatment options really run the gamut, much of it depending on the severity of the child’s condition.  Prescription drugs and therapy are often required, but there’s been an ever increasing investigation into analyzing the diet of a person’s autism.

In a past column written on autism, I talked about the common food allergies the scientific community often sees in people with autism.  Today, the scientific community is looking into what autistic boys and girls may be lacking in.

For instance, writing in the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, Russell L. Blaylock discusses his findings about how children with autism might react to dietary interventions.  Past research has indicated that children with autism are often neglecting in vitamin E.  Using this knowledge as a backdrop, Blaylock recruited 187 children to see how their supplementing with vitamin E and omega-3s might affect their symptoms.

According to Blaylock and the parents’ assessment of their autistic children at the conclusion of the study, all of the children showed improvements in virtually every aspect that autism tends to affect after supplementation:  speech, eye contact, motor skills and sensory perception.  At the start of the study, all of the children were deficient in these areas of communication.

As with all studies, more needs to be researched before making any broad-based conclusions as to how vitamin E and omega-3s can counter the effects of autism.  But this is certainly a welcome finding in a world that’s dominated by advancements in drug therapy treatments.  There’s no question that some prescription drugs have done wonders for millions of people, but advancements in natural medicine is a breath of fresh air.

Sources:
rightwingnews.com
nhiondemand.com
alternative-therapies.com

Excess consumption of Omega-6s can lead to ulcerative colitis.

In a recent “Mangano Minute” posting, I talked about the importance of balancing omega-3s and omega-6s.  I talked about how omega-6 fats – often painted as a bad source of fat – are actually good for you, so long as they’re eaten in proper proportion to omega-3s and from quality food sources (you can read it in full here).

Here’s another reason why they should be eaten proportionally:  It can affect your bowel health, be it positively or negatively.
The bowel health I speak of is a condition called ulcerative colitis.  And according to British researchers from the University of East Anglia, people whose diets are high in omega-6s but low in omega-3s are at the highest risk.

Ulcerative colitis is a specific kind of inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, and it specifically targets the inner lining of the digestive tract’s large intestine and rectum.  The symptoms vary in type and intensity, but some common ones include bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping, unintended weight loss, and tenderness in the rectal area (people with ulcerative colitis often feel the urge to pass a bowel movement but can’t because of the severe inflammation).

In the researchers analysis of over 200,000 men and women, Dr. Andrew Hart and his colleagues used food frequency questionnaires to gauge what the then-healthy men and women were eating over a four-year period.  At the end of the study, Hart and company found that a very small proportion got ulcerative colitis, just 126 people.  What really spoke volumes, though, was the commonality of dietary intake among those who got the inflammatory bowel disease.  They found that those whose diets were highest in lineolic acid – a type of omega-6 fatty acid – were about 150 percent more likely to have been affected by ulcerative colitis.

On the other hand, there was also a linkage among those whose diets were high in omega-3s, specifically DHA (or docosahexaenoic acid, a fatty acid found most abundantly in flax seeds, walnuts and salmon).  For those people, they were about 80 percent less likely to have ulcerative colitis compared to those whose diets were low in omega-3s but high in omega-6s.

Speaking to Nutra-Ingredients.com, Hart said that if these results prove accurate – and more testing will confirm that – there’s every reason to suspect that the incidence rate of ulcerative colitis can be minimized through some dietary tinkering.

According to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearing House, there are about eight new cases of ulcerative colitis per 100,000 people per year.  That’s the incidence rate.  But for the prevalence rate, it’s much higher – about 246 cases per 100,000 people every year (there’s a subtle difference between prevalence and incidence.  Basically, “prevalence” is the total number of cases at any given point in time, while “incidence” is the number of new cases at a given time).

This study was published in the journal Gut.
Once again, it’s important to consume quality food sources that have both omega-3s and omega-6s.  As my last article referenced, the optimal amount of omega-6s to consume should be right around 12 to 22 grams worth, depending on age and activity level.  This is important to remember because omega-6s are found in far more foods than omega-3s, so they can be easily eaten in excess.  In more general terms, omega-6 fatty acids should take up about 10 percent of your daily calorie allotment.

Sources:
mayoclinic.com
nutraingredients.com
digestive.niddk.nih.gov

Pistachios are a healthy source of Omega-6 fatty acids.

There are goods and bads when it comes to reporting on health news – and oftentimes, they’re one and the same.

For example, it’s great that health news is constantly flowing and improving on itself. What was true today may not be true tomorrow. In other words, science discovers something and makes adjustments to previous research, in the hopes that this new found knowledge improves on what was previously believed to be accurate.

At the same time, though, this constant flow of information can be extremely confusing – if not irritating – because what was true today may be contradicted several years from now through advancements in technology and learning (just how dangerous smoking is to health today compared to 50 years ago is perhaps the best example).

A great example of this dilemma is omega-6 fatty acids. Last November, I wrote about omega-6 fatty acids and how they shouldn’t be confused with omega-3s, essentially saying that omega-3s are far healthier than omega-6s.

I don’t change my tune on that point, for omega-6 fatty acids are found in lots of processed foods, and its believed that the average person gets far more omega-6 fatty acids than they should be getting – 10 times more, in fact.

Further, unlike omega-3s, high levels of omega-6 fatty acids in the body have been linked to a bevy of health concerns, like suppressing the immune system, cause prostate tumor cell growth, and increasing blood clotting above and beyond the normal rate (thus blocking blood flow to and from the heart).

But unlike trans fats and saturated fats, which have no nutritional value whatsoever, the same can’t be said for omega-6 fats. In other words, they’re not ALL bad, as my previously article may have implied.

As I said previously, omega-6s are found in lots of unhealthy food sources, which is why experts believe we’re consuming too much of them. On the other hand, they’re also found in plenty of healthy sources, like nuts, seeds and various healthy cooking oils.

One such healthy oil is safflower oil. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Since when was safflower oil considered a ‘healthy’ oil?” While I grant you it’s not as healthy as, say, extra virgin olive oil, it does have its redeeming qualities.

For instance, researchers at the Ohio State University had two groups of women – 35 in all – take one of two oils for 16 weeks: safflower oil or conjugated linoleic acid. Both oils are chock full of omega-6 fatty acids.

After 16 weeks of supplementing with approximately one and two-thirds tablespoons of either oil – and making sure that each woman did not change anything else about their diet or exercise habits (all of the women were considered obese) – all of the women saw improvements in weight levels.

Those women who supplemented with the safflower oil increased lean muscle tissue by an average of two pounds and decreased their girth around the middle by an average of four pounds. Due to the increased muscle mass, however, they did not decrease their BMI levels.

On the other hand, those women who consumed the CLA did see a decrease in BMI levels, dropping overall weight by about four pounds and their BMI levels by half a point on average.

Remember, these improvements were without any changes in their caloric intake or activity levels. So while the weight loss levels may be marginal at best, the fact that weight levels dropped at all without changes to their diet plan is pretty impressive.

But the benefits of omega-6s didn’t stop at the scale. Blood sugar levels dropped by as much as 19 points for some women (the women’s blood sugar levels were between 129 to 148; anything above 110 milliliters per deciliter is risky territory).

This confirms why omega-6 fatty acids are highly recommended to people with diabetes, not to mention those who want to improve their overall heart health (the American Heart Association is a staunch advocate of omega-6 fatty acids).

As we stand today, most people are getting far more omega-6 fatty acids than needed. So deficiency isn’t the problem (like it is with omega-3s). The problem stems from the sources of foods we eat.

So instead of eating foods that are unhealthy and rich with omega-6 – like creamy salad dressings and thick mayonnaise – opt for healthy omega-6 sources instead, like fish, pistachios, olives and the aforementioned safflower oil (used sparingly).

If you take anything away from this article, take this: Don’t paint omega-6 with a broad “bad” stroke. They are just as crucial to a healthy diet as omega-3s are, so long as they are consumed from healthy sources and in proper proportion to omega-3s. Per the American Heart Association’s recommendation, shoot for between 12 and 22 grams per day, depending on your activity level, age and gender.

Sources:
sciencedaily.com
americanheart.mediaroom.com
optimal-heart-health.com

Salmon is a heart-healthy rich source of Omega-3.

There are few things more satisfying than recommending something years ago, and having those recommendations supported by science several years later.

“The Blood Pressure Miracle ” started out as an e-book.  Years later, thanks to you, the print version of “The Blood Pressure Miracle ” has achieved best seller status on Amazon.com.

Of course I’m happy about this, but I honestly expected nothing else.  People recognize the legitimacy of all-natural healing methods, which has been made manifest to me in the amount of positive feedback I’ve received throughout my career,  and even more so recently.  That’s because people have employed my scientifically-backed methods, and it’s paying dividends for thousands upon thousands of people.

One of the things I recommend in my book is supplementing with omega-3s , be it in pill form or in the foods we eat.  The omega-3s found primarily in fish are loaded with benefits for the brain, heart, immune and digestive systems.  Its benefits are so far-reaching, that it’s often referred to as the “miracle fat.”

And it was this “miracle fat” that researchers from four universities supplied approximately 300 overweight and hypertensive volunteers with.

To analyze the effects of omega-3s on the volunteers, the researchers had the participants consume one of several omega-3 diets over the course of eight weeks, all of which were energy-restricted:  a cod diet, a salmon diet, a fish oil diet or a control diet.  The people who ate the fish (lucky them!) ate 150 grams of their respective fish three times a week, the salmon one containing about 2.3 grams of omega-3s per day, the cod about 0.3 grams of omega-3s per day.  Those on the fish oil supplements had about 1.3 grams of omega-3s per day.

By the study’s conclusion, not only had the participants on the fish diets dropped weight – nearly 12 pounds on average – but their blood pressure levels dropped as well.

Any blood pressure level that’s over 120/80 is in the worry stage, but anything over 140/90 is the red alert stage.  So when researchers found that these hypertensive participants had dropped their systolic and diastolic pressure levels by 4.4 and 7.4 mmHg, respectively, you can imagine the relief they felt (not to mention the participants themselves).  And that was after just two months – imagine the benefits on the participants a year from now!

This was a joint study conducted by several world-renowned universities, including the University of Iceland and the University of Navarra.  It will soon be published in the journal Nutrition , but it can be found in its pre-published form on their Web site.

When it comes to omega-3s, the benefits just keep evolving.  They’re a lot like a movie or book that you’ve seen or read over and over again, where every time you go back to it, you get a new wrinkle, a new permutation that you didn’t recognized before.

The best sources for omega-3s are through fish, salmon being among the most abundant.  But as this study demonstrates, even cod – a rather bland, flaky fish that is comparatively lacking in omega-3s – can bring down those blood pressure levels.
Bottom line: Get these miracle fats into your system and let them work their wonder!

Source:
nutraingredients.com

Consumption of fish has brain boosting benefits.

When I was a young tike, I used to watch a pretty good amount of Sesame Street.  Unlike today’s crop of shows geared for children, Sesame Street had—and has—some redeeming qualities, as various segments in their hour programs taught young kids how to read, write, and eat healthy (except for maybe those “C is for Cookie” bits performed by the Cookie Monster).

For whatever reason, I remember one particular segment that showed a young boy out with his father on an ice fishing expedition.  I think I remember the segment because, being a pre-schooler at the time, it’d never dawned on me that people actually went out fishing in the dead of winter.

At any rate, by the end of the segment, the boy says something that I’ve always remembered: 

…And boy, do I like fish!

Weird thing to remember, huh?  To this day, I don’t know why I’ve remembered this innocuous comment, but it segues nicely into a new study that was recently released in the March issue of the journal Acta Paediatrica.

According to the study, teenage boys that eat fish once a week or more perform better on cognitive tests than infrequent fish finaglers. 

But the positive effects on brain function aren’t relegated to short-term improvements in spatial and factual knowledge, as previous studies have demonstrated.  These scientists tested how, or if, the brain improved three years down the road.  In other words, how did the boys’ brain function fare by their 18th birthdays?

The results?  Brain boosting benefits of fish last (too bad the same can’t be said for fish freshness).  The Swedish researchers found that boys who ate fish more than twice a week averaged a score that was 12 percent higher than boys who ate fish less than once a week.  That was on overall intelligence scores, though.  When the results were broken down to verbal and visuospatial skills (for example, the skills we use to decipher what puzzle piece fits with another), fish fans scored 9 percent higher on the former and 11 percent higher on the latter (again, as compared to those who ate fish less than once a week).

And before you go off thinking this was a small scale study that didn’t take into account contributing factors, well, factor this:  the study involved approximately 4,000 15-year-old boys, 58 percent of whom ate fish, 20 percent  on a regular basis (by “regular basis” I mean more than once a week).  And to make sure as few things as possible skewed the results, the researchers’ took into account possible contributing factors among all the volunteers, like the parents’ education level, how often they exercised, and where they lived (presumably because certain locales have better educational systems than others).

The results were so convincing to the researchers, it caused the study’s head honcho, Dr. Maria Aberg, to say something rarely heard among the scientific elite:  that there was a “very clear association” between regular fish consumption and improved cognition in boys’ late teen years (If you’re a regular reader of my columns, you know how often scientists hedge their bets with words like “may” and “possible,” so as not to put themselves in a corner should  their results turn out to be flawed.  Not the case here).

This is not to say that the good researchers from the University of Gothenburg have all the answers, though.  For instance, while salmon and mackerel are loaded with omega-3s – the long chain of fatty acids presumed to be the catalyst in turning fish food into brain food – they’re not convinced the leaner side of fish doesn’t provide the same brain benefit.

If your teenage boy hasn’t loved fish since pre-pubescence, chances are he’s not much of a fan of it today.  My advice is to have at it for dinner anyway.  He may not be a fan of salmon, but perhaps he’s a nut for halibut.  He may not crave crab, but perhaps he’s in love with lobster.  He may hate haddock, but he may adore albacore.

The point is, the more fish he’s exposed to, the greater the chances he’ll like one of them. 

Whatever that fish happens to be, his brain will eat it up!      

Source:
ScienceDaily