Can this simple substance prevent Alzheimer’s disease?
Here’s the bad news: Alzheimer’s disease is now expected to tripleduring the next couple of decades. Yes, you read that right, triple!
Already, around one in 10 people who are 65 and older in the U.S. have it, putting the latest figures at around 5.5 million Americans now living with this memory-robbing disease.
But here’s some good news: Researchers have identified a compound that appears to have the power to keep your brain healthy, your memory intact and your problem- solving skills in top form.
It could be a way to stop Alzheimer’s in its tracks!
And that’s really good news.
Scientists are saying that they’re just beginning to explore the significance of what this easy-to-find essential fatty acid can do.
You, however, don’t have to wait for any more studies or even one more day to start safeguarding your brain with it — and start aging better!
Just a couple of weeks ago, I told you about a very important discovery from Harvard researchers. They found that omega-3 fatty acids play a “critical role” in keeping your blood brain barrier, which protects your brain from toxic substances, intact.
Now, scientists are expanding that omega-3 brain-protection theory.
Recent findings from UCLA Medical Center, along with the University of South Dakota, have given new meaning to the expression “food for thought”!
They did brain scans of close to 200 volunteers, examining 128 brain regions and comparing the results to the participants’ levels of two omega-3 fatty acids found in food, EPA and DHA.
Some showed better brain blood flow on their scans than others — and those people had two things in common. One, they scored higher on tests that measured their “neurocognitive status,” meaning memory, attention, ability to solve problems and formulate language (thinking on your feet!).
And second, they all had excellent blood levels of those two very important omega-3 fatty acids, what the researchers called a high “omega-3 index.”
The editor-in-chief of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, Professor George Perry, called this study a “major advance” in showing how “nutritional intervention” can keep our brains healthy.
Previous research done on animals had gone so far as to find that omega-3s are not only very potent anti-inflammatories, but they also can keep away the brain plaques that are thought to be the key signs of Alzheimer’s.
On its own, this new study is amazing enough. But there’s more!
Other recent research from the University of Illinois also looked at volunteers’ blood levels of omega-3s, as well as omega-6 fatty acids (more on those in a minute).
The researchers describe the brain as a “collection of interconnected parts” that all age at their own pace. And, unlike a bottle of fine wine, some parts tend to age faster.
That’s true even in “healthy aging,” they said. Think of those (perfectly normal) “senior moments.”
But by properly balancing both omega-3 and omega-6, the team said, you can help slow the aging of some very important brain regions, including two that play a big part in problem solving and memory.
The difficulty with omega-6, however, is that a lopsided intake of 6 to 3 is one of the big problems with the typical Western diet, which is often tilted at 20:1 — or higher — on the side of omega-6.
Many experts say that 3 and 6 should be equally balanced, with any margin of error on the side of omega-3s.
Too much omega-6 in your diet is linked to autoimmune and heart diseases, asthma and many types of cancer. And you always want to get your omega-6 from healthy sources — such as organic beef, eggs and dairy — and not from highly processed and genetically engineered oils such as corn, soy and cottonseed.
As for omega-3s, there are many excellent food sources, which include fatty fish like wild salmon and sardines, cold pressed flaxseed oil, chia seeds and walnuts.
And taking a high-quality fish-oil supplement daily (around 1,000 milligrams) is an excellent way to make sure your brain is getting all the benefits those omega-3s, EPA and DHA have to offer.
“Can omega-3 help prevent Alzheimer’s disease? Brain SPECT imaging shows possible link” IOS Press, May 19, 2017, ScienceDaily, sciencedaily.com
