Omega-3 fatty acids have received a lot of attention these last few years, because of the health benefits these oils can provide.
Why might omega-3 fatty acids help protect your brain from Alzheimer's?
Omega-3 is thought to be a very potent neuro-protective agent. That means it can help the brain stay "young” by reducing inflammation and helping neurons communicate with one another.
Alzheimer’s sisease is basically a manifestation of what can occur when the brain is unable to regenerate after years and years of trauma. When damage begins to occur, misfolded proteins accumulate, creating a positive feedback mechanism. This simply means that damage triggers a cascade of fast and faster damage.
When we ingest omega-3, our body is able to digest the fatty acid into a compound known as docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA. This very important compound works on a number of different pathways in the brain.
They are all extremely detailed and complicated pathways and don’t worry, I won’t even try to put you through that lecture. What we do know, in a very easy to digest summary, is that the body uses DHA throughout our lifetime.
Numerous studies have shown that DHA can reduce the risk of hypertension, heart attacks, atherosclerosis and some types of cancers. All these processes can put extensive stress on the body and lead to inflammatory changes that can culminate in Alzheimer's later on in life.
As you can see, DHA can be very beneficial. Just because it can help reduce the risk of brain damage, though, that does not mean increasing taking very high doses, beyond the body's requirements, is extra beneficial.
One study done to determine if increasing the dose of DHA could be helpful in preventing the future development of Alzheimer's found that in 402 patients given DHA to prevent cognitive decline did not have better results compared to patients who were not given supplementation. In these patients, levels of DHA were in the normal ranges at the start of the trial.
Low levels of omega-3 and the link with dementia and Alzheimer’s
One fact that is no longer debated in medicine is that patients with a low omega-3 fatty acid intake have a much higher risk of brain degeneration than patients with an adequate intake of this compound. We know that omega-3 is a very important protective factor against numerous health conditions. Some of the most noteworthy would be hypertension, diabetes and cognitive decline. These are important to focus on because these are some of the most common modifiable risk factors that can also predispose a patient to developing Alzheimer’s disease later on in their lifetime.
One study found that reaching the recommended daily intake of omega-3 every day would reduce your chances of death from coronary artery disease by 40 percent. This is a level that even expensive medications fail to reach, and it's why everyone should take omega-3.
Sadly, even if the health benefits of omega-3 seem to be resounding in terms of prophylactic care, the Western diet appears to be increasingly deficient in omega-3.
More and more people tend to exclude fish from their diets for whatever reason. It could range from not enjoying the taste to worrying about mircoplastics or mercury that build up in fish tissue. Regardless of the underlying fear, fish consumption is in decline in western nations.
All in all, the results of omega-3 on the brain are interesting to say the least.
If you do not have enough omega-3 in your diet, not only do you put yourself at risk for Alzheimer's in the future directly, but you are also more likely to suffer from co-morbidities like hypertension that can make your Alzheimer's potentially more severe.
Unfortunately, supplements that exceed the recommended daily dose of omega-3 do not seem to make a difference at all in reducing your odds of developing Alzheimer's any further. Nevertheless, make sure that you are routinely incorporating fish into your diet or using omega-3 supplementation.
Omega-3 from animal sources is better digested into our bodies, but if you do not wish to eat fish for whatever reason, something is better than nothing. This is especially true if you follow a western diet because as you can see, you are likely not hitting your daily targets of omega-3.