Fish Fuels the Brain

BabyPeanut · Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:39 am Post subject: Fish Fuels the Brain

Since this is the "news" forum and the number 3 top health story on the news wires now is about fish and the brain I thought I'd share some notes. The wire story is a derivative of a new study that finds that older people who eat fish regularly reduce their amount of cognitive decline.

DHA is an essential fatty acid (EFA). EFAs are the current name for what used to be called "vitamin F". "Essential" means you cannot produce it in your body but you need it. One of the uses for DHA is building and maintain the nervous system (including the brain.) Human milk is high in DHA.

The reason fish have high levels of DHA is that they eat plants that have high levels of DHA. Due to the rising cost of diesel the price of fish is going up and up. I think it will be much cheaper to use DHA directly from algae. A company named Martek has emerged as the most agressive in the DHA-from-algae market; they have bought out most of the competition. They do not sell directly to consumers, they make a product called Neuromins[tm] that is remarked by many nutritional supplement companies. The Neuromins product has recenly been added to many baby formula products.

aflurry · Intermediate Crude Joined: Mar 28, 2005 Posts: 839

There are two themes here that I'd like to weigh in on.

First, as you say, fish - as well as all kinds of other nuitritious whole foods - are becoming increasingly difficult to get. Part of the reason for this may be increased production costs due to fuel prices, but overwhelmingly it is because we have fished the oceans bare and poisoned the endvironment for the remaining stock. In a recent survey of large deep sea fish, they were at 10% of the levels surveyed in the 1950's. And industrial fishing had been going pretty strong for a long time before the 1950's. We are at a dangerouns precipice with regard to the viability of the oceans. The fish we do get are poisoned with heavy metals. It's a good idea to be careful about the types and origins of the fish you get, if you can even trust what the sources tell you. Here is eveidence of the damage done on the upslope of the oil curve, and i predict that the downslope will not assuredly mitigate the damage done... on the contrary.

Second, I always think it is preferable to get your nuitrition from food rather than extracted into supplements. If you observe the wide ranging claims of so-called nuitrition experts and note the fundamental changes and flipflops that occur all the time, you get the impression that people really have very little idea of what constitutes good nuitrition. Studies are plagued by commercial interests. The body is complex, other environmental, genetic, and behavioral factors color results. It is very difficult to pinpoint causation to a specific compound in an environment like this.

It's funny, concern over the state of nuitrition led me to my interest in Peak Oil, specifically the article in Harpers magazine by Richard Manning called "The Oil We Eat" and his book, titled "Against the Grain; How Agriculture has Hijacked Civilization." Though he does not speak specifically about PO, he addresses the various ways in which we are bumping up against the limits of growth. And specifically outlines the strong link between oil, industrial agriculture, and economic power. Beatiful writer. Heartbreaking subject matter.

I have been reading materials published by the Weston A. Price Foundation
particulrly cookbooks and diet books by Sally Fallon based on the research of Weston A. Price. You can read an intro to his research here:
Intro

The Foundation exists partially as a resource for people looking for sources for fresh eggs, raw milk, pasture raised meat and fresh organic produce. Check it out. It's interesting anyway.

Kooka · Heavy Crude Joined: Aug 03, 2005 Posts: 119

aflurry · Intermediate Crude Joined: Mar 28, 2005 Posts: 839

Elfstrom · Tar Sands Joined: Mar 09, 2005 Posts: 53 Location: Toronto

Elfstrom · Tar Sands Joined: Mar 09, 2005 Posts: 53 Location: Toronto

On topic ... it turns out that the brains of animals contain an excellent source of EFA's, including DHA. There is some speculation that once we cracked open the skulls and feasted on brains, twe actually became smarter because of all those concentrated omega-3's. See Loren Cordain's work, especially his paper Grains: Humanity's Double-Edged Sword and his book The Paleo Diet.

skateari · Intermediate Crude Joined: Sep 26, 2004 Posts: 548

I've been taking a suppliment called Nordic Naturals; Omega-3 which contains:

330mg EPA
220mg DHA

& some other Omega 3's which total nearly 700mg of Omega-3's

Its seem to be pretty good stuff to me, anyone else have recomendations?

Dukat_Reloaded · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Jul 31, 2005 Posts: 1011

It's all hype, a new study allways comes out saying "lean beef is good" "fish is good" "eggs are good" "milk is good" etc. Did you know the fish & livestock industry are the leading industry sector on the dow industrials, second is gold & silver. It's just companies & investors trying to make more money or boost their stockprice. It's the same as reading a news artical claiming "brand xxxx is good for you new scientific study finds".

skateari · Intermediate Crude Joined: Sep 26, 2004 Posts: 548

Let me guess dukat, you work in the gold/silver industry?? Always wanna be #1 huh

Thanks for your very scientific and proof, fact and documented arguement on why Omega-3's, including DHA and EPA is not good for you and is scam. Thanks for such an enlightening post

rogerhb · Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:15 pm Post subject: Re: Fish Fuels the Brain

There is a theory that mankind owes it's brains to eating fish in the first place.

Now where has all that North Sea cod gone?
_________________
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand, wrong answers." - Henry Louis Mencken

eric_b · Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:19 pm Post subject: Re: Fish Fuels the Brain

This is old news, BabyPeanut

Emphasize essential, because these fatty acids cannot be synthesized by the body,
and must come from the diet.

One big problem with 'western' diets is the majority of the oil available has been 'hydrogenated'
so it doesn't spoil, and to extend its shelf life. This also unfortunately removes most
of the health benefits of the oil. If the hydrogenation process were to be discovered
today it would likely be banned by the FDA. It's a bit of an abomination - food companies
love it because oil will not go rancid after being hydrogenated - it's done for economic,
not health, reasons.

See:
http://www.cyberparent.com/nutrition/hydrogenated1.htm

The two primary essential fatty acids are omega-6 (LA, linolentic acid) and omega-3
(ALA, alpha linolenic acid). Most people do not get enough omega-3 acids in the diet.
It's the balance between these two acids, in the diet, that's essential to health.
Sources of omega-3 acids include green leafy veges, flaxseed oil, canola oil and walnuts.

See:
http://www.barleans.com/literature/flax/108-natmedonline.pdf

Most people can convert the omega-3 from plant sources into DHA and DEA internally.
However, not all people can do this efficiently, and that's why fish oil, which already
contains DEA and DHA is considered a better source than 'raw' omega-3 (ALA). Also
note that hempseed oil is one of the most balanced sources of omega-3/omega-6
acids. You need the cold pressed stuff - non-hydrogenated. Places like wholefoods
have it. Non-hydrogentated oil is perishable, and needs to be kept refrigerated.
A tablespoon or two of this oil, or a couple of grams of screened fish oil are good thing
to add to the diet.

omega-3 is essential for maintaining brain and eye health, the immune system,
hormone balance, cadio health... the list goes on and on. Many common diseases
may be triggered by a life-long deficiency of these nutrients.

Certain fish are an excellent source of DEA/DHA, but as has been noted there are
now too many people eating fish from Oceans that are quite depleted. Plant sources
are preferable even though DHA/DEA (from fish oil) may be better utilized by the body.

A good book to look at is _Fats the heal, fats that kill_, by Edo Erasmus
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0920470386/103-3905816-1934201?v=glance

Dukat_Reloaded · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Jul 31, 2005 Posts: 1011

If you want to save money on expensive fish like salmon, buy bottles of cod liver oil, high in vitamin A, D and has lots of those fatty acids you were talking about. I like the taste of codliver oil, though I never buy it, my mother used to shove it down my throat daily and I was the only boy in school who's mother made him lamb brain sandwiches Sad

BabyPeanut · No, it's about a study in Oct 10, 2005.

Dukat_Reloaded · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Jul 31, 2005 Posts: 1011

I would have to say that study is bogus. Firstly they do not say how many participants were in the study. I would say that the 13% decline in mental health has nothing to do with fish, rather it's overall diet. Health consious people look after themselves better, usually don't smoke or drink or eat fast food, and they also view fish as healthy so they eat it. Now on the other side of the coin you have fat mac who's been eating greasy takeout food all his life drinking moonshine and puffing pot rarely eats fish because he thinks greasy beef burgers & chicken taste better. Now you can see how this study could be misleading and I'm sure this study has an agenda for someone.

On the front page of www.peakoil.com there is a story of how oil prices are effecting the fishing industry.