If you're getting older and worried about your brain health you're not alone. So many people, as they get older, start to realise that their memory isn't as good as it used to be and they don't seem to think as clearly.
Hence the proliferation of websites offering various games, tests and puzzles all designed to help exercise your memory and brain. How boring it is to spend a half hour or an hour every day doing brain exercises.
However it would seem that exercises are not the only way to improve your brain health. There is a growing body of evidence that a low level of Omega 3 in your system contributes to poorer brain function and memory.
In fact the growing scientific data supports conclusions that low levels of Omega 3 in your system can increase the incidence of depression, increase the likelihood of mood disorders, reduce your memory and even age your brain faster.
As much as it seems unlikely, there is now solid scientific evidence that the Omega 3 essential fatty acids are extremely important to overall brain health.
The Omega 3 fatty acids are found primarily, though not exclusively, in fish. The 2 most important of these fats are DHA and EPA.
Unlike most fat, which is considered to be unhealthy, particularly saturated fat, Omega 3 fats are healthy fats, in fact evidence is mounting that they are not only healthy but crucial to a wide range of health conditions.
There's many studies linking Omega 3 with good brain health. The most recent of these, published in the journal Neurology, in February 2012, looked at 1575 people, with an average age of 67, and no evidence of dementia.
The levels of Omega 3 in their blood were measured, and they were given various exercises and tests to perform to measure memory and cognitive performance.
And it was discovered that the people who had the lowest levels of Omega 3 in their blood also exhibited the lowest levels of memory and cognitive performance. Not only that but they also exhibited slightly smaller brains, in fact it was estimated that their brain showed evidence that they had aged more than the brains of people with much higher levels of Omega 3 in the blood.
Whilst there is much more work to do about the link between Omega 3 and brain health, intuitively these conclusions make sense, because the brain is made up largely of fat, and a large proportion of that is DHA, the most important of the Omega 3 fats.
Science, over the last 30 or 40 years, is beginning to understand that an adequate intake of the Omega 3 essential fatty acids DHA and EPA is a huge part of maintaining good health, not just your brain but your heart and cardio vascular system as well as being important for maintaining good health generally.
As DHA and EPA are found in greatest proportions in fish it never hurts to eat more fish, though fish is getting more expensive and some of it is now contaminated, leading to warnings by the government.
Most people prefer to improve their DHA and EPA intake using fish oil supplements, which is a cost-effective and simple way of getting Omega 3 fats in your diet every day.
Find out more about the link between Omega 3 and brain health and to find out more about how to choose between all the available brands of Omega 3 supplements on the market, and which supplements I have chosen to take myself.
By all means keep up the brain exercises, if you can. If you love chess that's great. But I certainly got tired of the exercises very quickly.
Hence the proliferation of websites offering various games, tests and puzzles all designed to help exercise your memory and brain. How boring it is to spend a half hour or an hour every day doing brain exercises.
However it would seem that exercises are not the only way to improve your brain health. There is a growing body of evidence that a low level of Omega 3 in your system contributes to poorer brain function and memory.
In fact the growing scientific data supports conclusions that low levels of Omega 3 in your system can increase the incidence of depression, increase the likelihood of mood disorders, reduce your memory and even age your brain faster.
As much as it seems unlikely, there is now solid scientific evidence that the Omega 3 essential fatty acids are extremely important to overall brain health.
The Omega 3 fatty acids are found primarily, though not exclusively, in fish. The 2 most important of these fats are DHA and EPA.
Unlike most fat, which is considered to be unhealthy, particularly saturated fat, Omega 3 fats are healthy fats, in fact evidence is mounting that they are not only healthy but crucial to a wide range of health conditions.
There's many studies linking Omega 3 with good brain health. The most recent of these, published in the journal Neurology, in February 2012, looked at 1575 people, with an average age of 67, and no evidence of dementia.
The levels of Omega 3 in their blood were measured, and they were given various exercises and tests to perform to measure memory and cognitive performance.
And it was discovered that the people who had the lowest levels of Omega 3 in their blood also exhibited the lowest levels of memory and cognitive performance. Not only that but they also exhibited slightly smaller brains, in fact it was estimated that their brain showed evidence that they had aged more than the brains of people with much higher levels of Omega 3 in the blood.
Whilst there is much more work to do about the link between Omega 3 and brain health, intuitively these conclusions make sense, because the brain is made up largely of fat, and a large proportion of that is DHA, the most important of the Omega 3 fats.
Science, over the last 30 or 40 years, is beginning to understand that an adequate intake of the Omega 3 essential fatty acids DHA and EPA is a huge part of maintaining good health, not just your brain but your heart and cardio vascular system as well as being important for maintaining good health generally.
As DHA and EPA are found in greatest proportions in fish it never hurts to eat more fish, though fish is getting more expensive and some of it is now contaminated, leading to warnings by the government.
Most people prefer to improve their DHA and EPA intake using fish oil supplements, which is a cost-effective and simple way of getting Omega 3 fats in your diet every day.
Find out more about the link between Omega 3 and brain health and to find out more about how to choose between all the available brands of Omega 3 supplements on the market, and which supplements I have chosen to take myself.
By all means keep up the brain exercises, if you can. If you love chess that's great. But I certainly got tired of the exercises very quickly.
