omega-3 was ADD Therapy for Adults and Children--Insulin control and omega-3

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Here's something I found on omega-3....

 

Fish and Nuts Are Brain Foods

Contain essential fats that improve memory

By Ross Grant

HealthScoutNews Reporter

 

TUESDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthScoutNews) -- The essential fats found in fish and nuts

help more than your heart.

They can also reduce memory loss and strokes, claims a new study.

" When we don't have enough omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in our system, it can

lead to a heart attack or a stroke. You're not getting enough oxygen to your

brain, and you are overloading your heart, " explains study author Vallie

Holloway, a researcher at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill.

Those two fatty acids, which are found in fish, nuts, seeds and some oils, are

needed for a long list of body functions. However, while the human body

manufactures most of the fats it needs, it does not make these two elements,

requiring people to get them from their diets.

A string of recent studies have linked these essential fats to healthy hearts

and blood vessels, but Holloway's study also targeted the effects of one of

them, omega-6, on brain function.

" I would like to either stop or retard Alzheimer's disease, " says the

researcher, who was to present her findings today at the American Physiological

Society's convention in San Diego.

Holloway studied 180 rats for a year to examine how their diets influenced their

blood pressure and memory. Half of the rats were bred to have high blood

pressure, and the other half were bred for low blood pressure. While all of the

rats were given a normal diet and a regular regimen of maze-running, half of

each group also got a supplement of omega-6 fatty acids.

The results were striking. The hypertensive rats that didn't get the omega-6

supplement saw their blood pressure increase as their brain function decreased.

At four months, the rats had already forgotten part of the maze, and at six

months their memory functions were badly deteriorated.

" It was like they were aging before your eyes, " Holloway says.

By contrast, the hypertensive rats that got the supplement realized a drop in

blood pressure and held onto their memory functions much longer. Rather than

four months, these rats started forgetting parts of the maze at six months.

Holloway explained her results by focusing on the fats that clog blood vessels.

In the feeder blood vessels in the brain, plaque buildup can cause clotting,

which leads to strokes and Alzheimer's. At the same time, clogging of the

arteries forces the heart to work harder in pumping blood, leading to possible

heart failure.

Ironically, the body has a mechanism to limit this buildup, but poor nutrition

often stands in the way, she says. When the brain senses an increase in the

blood pressure, it sends a signal through the blood vessels to dilate the vessel

walls, thereby allowing more blood to pass through. However, the process

requires omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, which are often in short supply in the

body, especially in old age.

" Basically your body doesn't produce enough of the chemical to dilate the blood

vessels, " Holloway says. " When we get older we need lots of things, and this is

one of them. "

Ann Yelmokas McDermott, a researcher at Tufts University's Friedman School of

Nutrition Science and Policy in Boston, argues the broader issue is finding the

proper balance between these two fats. People can't just take supplements of

both because they compete for the same enzymes within the body, she says.

" The omega-6 takes care of one set of problems, and the omega-3 takes care of

another set of problems. We need them both. But the ratio has to be correct, "

McDermott says. " The American diet is very high in omega-6 rather than omega-3

fats. It's thought that it should be the inverse for optimal health. "

She argues that we should take in one part omega-3 fats to four parts omega-6

fats. Yet the ratio for most American eaters is 9-1. In Japan, where more people

eat fish and live longer, the ratio is 1-1. In some European diets, the ratio is

12-1, McDermott says.

To find a better ratio, people can make a few simple substitutions in their

diets. For example, instead of safflower oil, which has 77 parts omega-6 to one

part omega-3, try canola oil, which is 2-1. Instead of margarine, 13-1, try

butter, 1.5-1.

" What does this research mean to human beings? It shows that food can affect

health and have medicinal properties, " McDermott says. " Our bodies can't create

these fatty acids themselves. So they're a big deal to our health. "

 

" Heartwork " <Heartwork wrote:

 

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>> Second is taking omega-3

>>fatty acid in the form of pharmaceutical-grade fish oil.

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>For veggies and vegans omega 3 fatty acids are found in flax seed oil.

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>BB

>Jo

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