Eating fish found to prevent mental decline AND brain shrinkage....

Today's Post: Thursday, 12-1-2011

We’ve already posted on exercise having a similar effect. Studies found that people who walk 6 miles a week or get comparable exercise or more each week avoid the brain shrinkage completely sedentary people get.

There are two reasons for this. Exercise literally causes your body to release BDNF, a growth messenger that causes you to grow new brain cells. And, exercise slows aging too.

The new research on eating broiled or baked fish is as strong or stronger.

People who ate fish cooked in a way other than frying one or more times a week not only were scanned and measured to keep their grey matter when non fish eaters did not. They kept their working and short term memories in a way non fish eaters did not.

Those are the memory functions that are critical to keep to avoid mental decline and Alzheimer’s like effects.

The research was done at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

The researchers also controlled for age, physical activity, and other factors. They didn’t in other words think they found this effect because fish eaters exercised more. Apparently even sedentary fish eaters showed this effect.

The NewsMax story on this also said that studies found that omega 3 oils from fish also slow the aging process and enable your brain to work faster.

And they noted a Dutch study found the older people with the highest blood levels of omega-3 oil measured much higher in cognitive tests.

We also have research already that one of the omega 3 oils in fish, DHA, is unusually beneficial and protective to your brain. That research separately found that people with high intakes of DHA tend to have better cognitive function and less mental decline. (The other omega 3 oil from fish, EPA, also strongly reduces high levels of inflammation which is also protective.)

The fish that have high levels of omega 3 and are so far mostly OK for your health to eat include wild caught fish that live in colder waters.

Wild caught salmon works. So too do the smaller fish that are now wild caught since it’s too difficult to farm them such as sardines, herring, and small mackerels.

Farmed fish are unusually high in pollutants to the point they are not safe to eat in my view – including farmed salmon. (And, in a restaurant, if they have salmon on the menu instead of wild caught salmon, it’s almost certainly farmed salmon.)

So far, you can also take purified fish oil omega 3 supplements. Nordic Naturals is a company that now provides these that is unusually well thought of. Some experts think Carlson’s is as good. I get and take the omega 3 supplements from Nordic Naturals now.

I also eat wild caught Alaskan salmon three times a week.

Like regular exercise, in addition to being protective for your brain, eating wild caught fish and taking omega 3 supplements is also protective for your heart. Doing so lowers high triglycerides and high inflammation which lowers your risk of heart disease.

So there were already good reasons to exercise regularly, eat wild caught fish high in omega 3 oils, and take purified fish oil or algae based omega 3 oil supplements.

Now, along with eating or taking turmeric (or the curcumin in it), taking vitamin D3, avoiding tobacco smoke, and using extra virgin olive oil, we now know eating fish and exercise also keep you mentally sharp and competent.

And, both regular exercise and eating fish once or more each week each literally keep your brain full sized!