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Omega-3 Fatty Acids and You

It's no secret that fatty acids are key building blocks to a healthy brain. What you may not know is that certain fatty acids have been shown to actually boost intelligence and an imbalance of fatty acids may be linked to hyperactivity, depression and anxiety. Children's diets today may be inadequate for their basic needs. Some believe children are suffering behavioral and learning disorders because their diets are deficient in essential nutrients needed for their brains to function normally.

One such essential nutrient: Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oils.

Omega-3's are called "essential" fatty acids because our body needs these fats for brain development and function, but our body does not manufacture them, therefore they must be obtained through our diet. Western diets contain very little Omega-3 fatty acid due to high processed diets. Hydrogenation, the process used to give foods a long shelf life, removes these essential acids (check your labels for hydrogenated oil). Some 40% of children show significant improvements in reading and spelling when given fish oil supplements.

HOW DOES IT WORK? (4)

How Do Omega-3 Fatty Acids Work The brain, which is composed of an astonishing 60% fat, needs adequate amounts of these fatty acids for mental health. Electrical signals traveling through the brain get passed from one brain cell, or neuron, to the next - much like the baton handed between runners in a relay race. In the changeover, a signal needs to leave one brain cell at a point called the synapse and cross a physical gap before entering the neighboring neuron.

For signals to enter a neuron, they need to pass through the walls that surround them. These walls, known as cell membranes, consist almost entirely of fats. About 20% are essential fatty acids like Omega-3s. Embedded in brain cell membranes are structures called ion channels that open to allow the flow of electrical signals into the cell or close to prevent the flow. They perform this function by changing their shape.

One theory is that a specific Omega-3 fatty acid called Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which is found in grass fed beef, egg yolks, and in oily fish such as sardines and tuna, makes the membrane that holds these channels more elastic, making it easier for ion channels to change shape.

How Do Omega-3 Fatty Acids Work Omega-3's also help fortify the myelin sheaths, which helps increase the speed at which impulses propagate along the myelinated fiber. Myelination also helps prevent the electrical current from leaving the axon. When myelin degrades, conduction of signals along the nerve can be impaired or lost, and the nerve eventually withers. With fortification due to supplemented Omega-3's, a stronger path can be made for impulses to be pass.

ADD/ADHD

Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have problems paying attention, listening to instructions, and completing tasks. A possible cause for the low fish oil status of the ADHD children may be impaired conversion of the fatty acid precursors LA and ALA to their longer and more highly unsaturated products, such as EPA and DHA (fish oil fats).

It appears that children with ADHD just are not able to chemically convert the plant omega-3, ALA to fish oil very well. "If you don't feed brain cell membranes enough of the right type of fat, the messages can be short-circuited and garbled. That may mean a disturbance in mood, concentration, memory, attention, and behavior," writes Miracle Cures author Jean Carper.

The problem is further worsened when omega-6 fats are consumed. Many children in Western diets, tend to have at least twenty times more omega-6 fats (from meat and dairy) than omega-3 fats-an unhealthy ratio of 20:1. A balanced ratio of the two fatty acid families (omega-3 and omega-6) is necessary for a healthy brain, which is structurally composed of a 1:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3. This imbalance can be corrected by eating more omega-3-rich fish and flax seed oil, by eating less sugar, and by completely avoiding trans fatty acids found in partially-hydrogenated oils, margarine, and shortening.

DOES IT WORK?

Researchers studied close to 120 British children (ages 5-12) who were judged to be normal but were labeled underachievers and believed to have dyspraxia--a condition that encompasses problems with motor skills and coordination that frequently overlaps with dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism.

Half of the children analyzed were given fish oil supplements over three months, while the other half were given placebos of olive oil. After three months, the placebo group was also given the supplements.

THE RESULTS
  • Children who took fish oil supplements made about three times the amount of progress in their reading skills than those who took the placebo.

  • Similar boosts in progress were seen in the placebo group when they switched to active supplements.

Further, while none of the kids involved in the study had been diagnosed with ADHD, one-third of them demonstrated enough problems to place them in this category. However, after three months of taking fish oil, half of them showed such significant improvements that they no longer fell into this category.

"Omega-3 oils, specifically fish oil, is probably the single most important nutrient for a child with ADHD to take." Says Dr. Mercola.


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  • "Effects of dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on brain gene expression" by Klara Kitajka *, Andrew J. Sinclair, Richard S. Weisinger, Harrison S. Weisinger, Michael Mathai, Anura P. Jayasooriya, John E. Halver, and Laszlo G. Puskas *, || April 2, 2004
  • "The Dramatic Effect of Fish Oil on Learning & Development" in Pediatrics May 2005, Vol. 115, No. 5: 1360-1366
  • "Does Your Child Have ADHD? Consider Fish Oil Over Ritalin by Dr. Burgess American Journal Clinical Nutrition January 2000:71(1), 327-330
  • "The Omega wave"
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/articles/
    intelligenceandmemory/omega_three.shtml
  • http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?n=66694-omega-epa-adhd
  • http://www.newstarget.com/z016353.html


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