Is Seafood and Fish Good for Your Brain?

He is saying that one of the oldest recipes known in the Mediterranean – found by the ancient Greek Athenaeus in “Deipnosophistae” – is a recipe for fish (grilled fish sprinkled with grated cheese). For thousands of years, seafood has played an important role in Mediterranean cuisine, health and culture. In fact, nutritional research over the past 20 years has shown the increasing importance of including fish and seafood in an overall healthy diet. This was evident when a nutrition science panel convened in 2008 to update the original Oldways Mediterranean Diet Pyramid.

“One of the most significant updates was to make fish and seafood more prominent on the Mediterranean diet pyramid,” explains Oldways President Sara Baer-Sinnott.

Today, nutrition researchers recognize seafood as a key food group in brain-healthy diets such as the MIND diet and the Mediterranean diet. But what exactly does the research tell us about the link between seafood, cognition, mood and brain structure?

DHA, or docosahexaenoic acid, is an omega-3 fatty acid that is a building block for our brain. In other words, just as calcium is related to our bones, DHA is related to our brain.

“The foods we eat make us who we are by changing the composition of our brain,” explains Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, omega-3 expert, psychiatrist and Benjamin Meeker Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Bristol in the UK.

Seafood is the main source of DHA in the diet, so it’s no wonder scientists are noticing links between eating seafood and brain health. Seafood also contains protein, essential vitamins and minerals, and EPA, or eicosapentaenoic acid, another type of omega-3 fatty acid that supports brain health.

A research body found that EPA and DHA reduce small proteins in the brain that promote inflammation and are associated with depression, Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline. Another study, in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that people who eat fish regularly have larger brains than those who don’t. This study found that eating fish – baked or broiled – is associated with greater amounts of gray matter in brain areas responsible for memory and cognition in healthy elderly people.

Eating fish at least twice a week may protect delicate blood vessels in the brain from subtle damage that can lead to mild cognitive impairment, dementia or stroke, according to research published in Neurology in 2021 , adding to the growing evidence that seafood supports brain health.

Omega-3 levels can be measured in the body as a marker of the amount of seafood and/or omega-3 supplements people eat.

“Higher levels of omega-3 measured in plasma or red blood cells are associated with a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s and dementia,” explains William Harris, president of the Fatty Acid Research Institute. His research quantifies these relationships in large cohort studies. Although there has not yet been a large randomized controlled trial measuring seafood intake or omega-3 fatty acid intake as a way to prevent dementia, Harris explains that at this point, given the consistency of the evidence, “hold back on omega-3. fatty acids would not be ethical in a randomized controlled trial.”

“The most pressing and urgent thing in people’s lives are the behaviors and emotions that arise when the brain is critically and nutritionally deprived,” says Hibbeln. In other words, nurturing our brain is as important to our mental health as it is to our cognitive health.

An analysis of double-blind randomized controlled trials involving more than 10,000 patients across 35 studies found that giving patients EPA-rich omega-3 fatty acids was capable of clinically significant effects that, in cases certain, more than what you would see from it. antidepressant medication.

Almost 20 years ago, the American Psychiatric Association concluded that the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA have a protective effect on mood disorders such as major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. And yet today, Hibbeln says, the mental health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids are “under-known, under-utilized and under-applied” within the larger medical community.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults eat at least 8 ounces of seafood per week, but emphasize that individuals who are pregnant or breastfeeding should not exceed 12 ounces per week. on a variety of seafood from options that are lower in methylmercury. However, in the more than 20 years since cautionary advice regarding mercury and seafood was first issued in the US, numerous studies have begun to paint a newer picture of this relationship.

Methylmercury was identified as a neurotoxin when dangerously high levels from industrial contamination events in the 20th century were linked to overt adverse effects on the brain and nervous system, particularly in young children. Although clear harm from extreme exposures has not been reported again, significant research has since been conducted to better understand the relationship between seafood consumption during pregnancy, exposure from normal background levels of methylmercury in that seafood and neurodevelopment in children.

More than 30 such studies have now analyzed data from more than 200,000 mother-child pairs. The studies found little evidence that the neurodevelopment associated with such consumption was harmed. Instead, the research shows more than 50 events of benefits for children’s neurodevelopment, including improvements in IQ, from women’s consumption of seafood compared to children whose mothers ate less or no seafood during pregnancy.

In other words, the benefits of eating seafood outweigh any potential risks.

“What we see consistently in those studies is that more than 12 ounces per week is better than less than 12 (ounces per week),” says Philip Spiller, former director of the Office of Food Marine within the United States Food and Drug Administration at the time. and lead author of a recently published study that analyzed the research findings. “The evidence is strong enough that messages to pregnant women should emphasize the likelihood of benefits for their babies’ neurodevelopment, that more is better than less, and that careful behavior should no longer be emphasized to avoid a risk not found in the studies.”

As it stands, nearly 90% of Americans fall short of the recommended amounts of seafood according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

“If you obsess over mercury you’re missing the big picture,” says Tom Brenna, PhD, professor of pediatrics, chemistry, and nutrition at the Dell School of Medicine and College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, and Professor Emeritus at Cornell University. “Overall the studies show a big benefit, so the risk is not eating a lot of seafood.”

Seafood cooks faster than chicken, yet this brain-healthy food group is surprisingly underutilized in home kitchens. At the supermarket, seafood can be found in fresh, frozen and canned forms – all of which can be used in delicious and nutritious meals. For those new to seafood, or any food for that matter, remember that taste preferences are not set in stone. Trying seafood often and in different forms is a great way to develop a taste for this popular protein source.

When identifying seafood options higher in omega-3 content, Harris suggests remembering the acronym SMASH, which stands for salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines and herring. “Twice a week, have a meal with one of these,” Harris suggested, noting that one of his options is salmon.

Baer-Sinnott recommends taking cues from heritage diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, to experience how seafood fits into healthy eating patterns rooted in tradition and culture. “Eating fish and seafood twice a week is good for your health and it’s easy and tasty too,” says Baer-Sinnott. “With all this evidence, why wouldn’t you?”

“Pick a fillet, throw some olive oil right in the pan and cook it a bit on each side. Don’t overthink it,” Brenna asserts. A sea of ​​culinary possibility awaits.