Most vitamins and minerals come from a healthy diet. From colorful fruits and vegetables to dark leafy greens, plant foods are great for your health. But instead there is one “essential nutrient” found in fatty fish. It’s omega 3.
Pam Mason, Ph.D., nutritionist and researcher at the Health and Food Supplement Information Service (HSIS), said: They play a role in brain function throughout life.
“Minimizing cognitive decline is a key focus for older women, and omega-3 fats are an essential nutrient.
“Lower omega-3 status is associated with lower cognitive function in younger women and may predispose older women to cognitive decline as it provides a lower baseline at which brain health may decline.” There is a possibility.”
The bad news is that many women lack this brain-boosting nutrient.
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Omega-3 fatty acid intake is recommended for women of all ages in a new HSIS report, “Seven generations of women’s dietary hazards: how nutritional deficiencies threaten women’s health across the life cycle.” was found to be lower than
“These findings are consistent with those found in the US National Dietary Survey, which show that women have lower intakes of omega-3 fatty acids than men,” Dr. Mason said.
Doctors suggest that one of the reasons behind this discrepancy may be that women eat less oily fish.
According to Harvard Medical School, this type of fish is a major source of fatty acids, along with vegetable oils, nuts and flax seeds.
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The NHS recommends eating one serving of fatty fish once a week. However, the health service also notes that most people do not consume this amount.
What are good food sources of omega-3?
In case you didn’t know, fatty fish include:
- herring (broater, kipper, hilsa)
- pilchers
- salmon
- sardine
- splat
- trout
- mackerel.
If fish isn’t your thing, your doctor also suggested other sources of omega-3s.
she said:
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“For those who want a vegan or vegetarian source of omega-3 fatty acids, seeds such as flax seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, or nuts such as walnuts contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).
But the expert cautioned that this type of omega-3, known as ALA, needs to be converted to EPA and DHA in the body.
Since this conversion is often “inefficient,” he also suggests combining plant foods with omega-3 supplements.
What do the studies say?
One study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that higher blood levels of omega-3s are associated with a lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Additionally, a study in the journal Neurology found that low levels of DHA reduce brain size and are associated with “signs of accelerated brain aging.”
Dr. Mason added: “In an analysis of five large studies in which he followed a total of 23,688 older participants (88% of whom were female) for 3.9 to 9.1 years, he found that memory and cognitive performance increased with increasing fish intake. We found that it slowed down.”
However, the Alzheimer’s Society says, “There is no strong evidence that omega-3s themselves are behind this benefit.”
The charity explains that fish as part of a healthy diet likely reduces the risk of cognitive decline, but “the jury is still out on omega-3s.”
