Lots of stories about fish in the news this week. The first one discussed that while we know that fish oils are incredibly important for brain health, the current scientific evidence is not clear on whether or not fish oils alone can decrease depression.
On The Good Mood Diet, you know that we don’t rely on any single food to change who you are or how you feel. Fish is included in the diet for brain health and to promote fat loss. If you use a fish oil supplement instead of eating fish, you might not get quite as much bang for your buck, but those fish oils are still very important for brain health.
Here’s a quote from the article:
Omega-3 fatty acids, especially abundant in oily fish, and also found in nuts, seeds, and leafy green vegetables, "are involved in chemical messaging in the brain, and help regulate blood vessel activity and aspects of the immune system that affect the central nervous system," according to the report in Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, a publication of the British Medical Journal Group.
The second article this week was a British-American study about children whose mothers ate at least 3 servings (12 oz.) of fish weekly during pregnancy and had higher scores of mental function during their early years. The new study found that maternal seafood intake during pregnancy of less than 12 oz. a week was associated with increased risk of children being in the bottom 25 percent of verbal IQ at 8 years of age and with sub-optimum performance on tests of social behavior, fine motor activity, communication and social development.
"For the baby's development, at the level of 12 ounces a week during pregnancy, the beneficial effects of the nutrients in fish far outweigh the risk," said Dr. Joseph Hibbeln. He is a clinical investigator at the U.S. National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and lead author of a report on the study in the Feb. 17 issue of the journal The Lancet.
Clearly, no matter who you are, fish is great brain food!
Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner