Fish for your brain

My mother always told me that fish was “brain food”. Of course the form that it took in my diet at the time was fish sticks. Although I do still crave them from time to time, there are lots of other forms more readily available these days.

Some recent studies bear out that fish is good for your brain (the studies looked primarily at fish oil supplements, although fish in the form of fish is better for you). A recent article summarized several of those studies. Studies in prisons demonstrated a decrease in violence coincident with supplementing with fish oil. Other studies showed improvement in depression. And still others demonstrated improvement in ADHD and autism symptomatology.

Omega-3 oils, one of the major components of fish oil, appear to facilitate the function of certain neurotransmitters improving cellular communication in the brain, which leads to the salubrious effects mentioned above.

So for your brains sake, eat fish regularly. At the very least supplement with fish oils, maybe even the cod liver oil that was used on kids routinely years ago. Of course eat a good, balanced, varied diet as well. Stay healthy and live longer. And, Lord knows, we can all use just a little something “extra” for our brains.