FollowOmega-3 fatty acids have been considered as a great source of memory improvisers. But a new study suggests, fish may not be necessarily a complete brain food.
According to a new research, older women with higher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids did not have any better memory or thinking skills after six years than women with lower levels.
Since ages, experts have debated for the effectiveness of diet rich in fish. The results have been turned out to be mix. It is a general consideration that diet rich in fish is good for improving brain health. Fish high in omega-3 fatty acids include salmon, tuna, swordfish, mackerel and sardines.
Study
Researchers at the University of Iowa examined 2,157 women ages 65 to 80 who participated in the Women’s Health Initiative research trials for hormone therapy.
The scientists tested the participants for their thinking and memory skills (verbal memory, verbal knowledge, verbal fluency, visual memory, spatial ability, fine motor speed and working memory) for about six years.
At the beginning of the study, they had blood tests that measured the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood. It was a gauge of the fatty acids that they had consumed over the last two months. The blood tests were repeated for a subset of women one year into the trial, but not at the end.
Following are the findings of the study:
• There was no difference in thinking and memory skills between the women with high and low levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood at the time of the first memory tests.
• There was also no difference between the two groups in how fast their thinking and memory skills declined over six years.
• However, the women with high levels of omega-3s in their blood had slightly better fine-motor speed and verbal fluency.
The findings were published in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
