Eating fish appears to knock a few years off ones mental age. Elderly people who eat fish at least once a week have the mental functioning of a person three years younger than their chronological age, while those who ate fish twice weekly or more turn the clock back four years. Seafood is rich in omega-3 acids. One of these acids in particular, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), is essential for the development of the brain in early life. More recent research suggests DHA may be important for the elderly as well. Researchers from the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, USA, followed 3,718 people 65 and older for six years. All were interviewed at home three times in the course of the study. Participants who ate fish once a week showed a 10% slower decline in their mental function, equivalent to a three-year reduction in mental age, while eating fish twice a week or more slowed the decline by 13%, equivalent to four years. A separate analysis of omega-3 fatty acid consumption did not reveal any effect on cognitive function, but this may have been because their information was not precise enough. Nevertheless, the findings do suggest eating fish protects the brain, either through its own fatty acid content or by replacing foods high in saturated fat, like red meat.
Archives of Neurology,
December 2005