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In addition to helping protect us from heart disease and cancer, a
balanced diet and regular exercise can also protect the brain and ward
off mental disorders.
"Food is like a pharmaceutical compound that affects the brain,"
said Fernando Gómez-Pinilla, a UCLA professor of neurosurgery and
physiological science who has spent years studying the effects of food,
exercise and sleep on the brain. "Diet, exercise and sleep have the
potential to alter our brain health and mental function. This raises
the exciting possibility that changes in diet are a viable strategy for
enhancing cognitive abilities, protecting the brain from damage and
counteracting the effects of aging."
Gómez-Pinilla analyzed more than 160 studies about food's affect
on the brain; the results of his analysis appear in the July issue of
the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience and are available online at www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v9/n7/abs/nrn2421.html.
Omega-3 fatty acids — found in salmon, walnuts and kiwi fruit —
provide many benefits, including improving learning and memory and
helping to fight against such mental disorders as depression and mood
disorders, schizophrenia, and dementia, said Gómez-Pinilla, a member of
UCLA's Brain Research Institute and Brain Injury Research Center.
Synapses in the brain connect neurons and provide critical
functions; much learning and memory occurs at the synapses,
Gómez-Pinilla said.
"Omega-3 fatty acids support synaptic plasticity and seem to
positively affect the expression of several molecules related to
learning and memory that are found on synapses," Gómez-Pinilla said.
"Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for normal brain function.
"Dietary deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids in humans has been
associated with increased risk of several mental disorders, including
attention-deficit disorder, dyslexia, dementia, depression, bipolar
disorder and schizophrenia," he said. "A deficiency of omega-3 fatty
acids in rodents results in impaired learning and memory."
Children who had increased amounts of omega-3 fatty acids
performed better in school, in reading and in spelling and had fewer
behavioral problems, he said.
Preliminary results from a study in England show that school
performance improved among a group of students receiving omega-3 fatty
acids. In an Australian study, 396 children between the ages 6 and 12
who were given a drink with omega-3 fatty acids and other nutrients
(iron, zinc, folic acid and vitamins A, B6, B12 and C) showed higher
scores on tests measuring verbal intelligence and learning and memory
after six months and one year than a control group of students who did
not receive the nutritional drink. This study was also conducted with
394 children in Indonesia. The results showed higher test scores for
boys and girls in Australia, but only for girls in Indonesia.
Getting omega-3 fatty acids from food rather than from capsule
supplements can be more beneficial, providing additional nutrients,
Gómez-Pinilla said.
Scientists are learning which omega-3 fatty acids seem to be
especially important. One is docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, which is
abundant in salmon. DHA, which reduces oxidative stress and enhances
synaptic plasticity and learning and memory, is the most abundant
omega-3 fatty acid in cell membranes in the brain.
"The brain and the body are deficient in the machinery to make
DHA; it has to come through our diet," said Gómez-Pinilla, who was born
and raised in salmon-rich Chile and eats salmon three times a week,
along with a balanced diet. "Omega-3 fatty acids are essential."
A healthy diet and exercise can also reduce the effect of brain injury and lead to a better recovery, he said.
Recent research also supports the hypothesis that health can
be passed down through generations, and a number of innovative studies
point to the possibility that the effects of diet on mental health can
be transmitted across generations, Gómez-Pinilla said.
A long-term study that included more than 100 years of birth,
death, health and genealogical records for 300 Swedish families in an
isolated village showed that an individual's risk for diabetes and
early death increased if his or her paternal grandparents grew up in
times of food abundance rather than food shortage.
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