Misplaced your keys? Can't place that face? Study findings
suggest that you may be able to lessen the frequency of these
"senior moments' simply by eating more fish. And the more fish you
eat, the bigger the effect, according to research conducted in
Norway.
Investigators found that elderly men and women who more
frequently ate fish scored better on memory, visual conception,
spatial motor skills, attention, orientation, and verbal fluency
tests.
"All six cognitive tests were performed better by those who ate
fish," principal author Dr A. David Smith of the University of
Oxford, UK, said Health. Furthermore, he added, the effect was
stronger as fish consumption increased up to a limit of about 80
grams per day.
Smith and colleagues assessed cognitive ability and the average
daily amount of fish and seafood in the diets of 2,031 men and
women, between 70 and 74 years old, recruited from the general
population of Western Norway.
Overall, 1951 of the study participants reported eating 10 or
more grams per day of fresh, frozen, or canned fish and seafood, or
fish products such as cod liver and fish oil, the investigators
report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The
remaining 80 participants ate less than 10 grams daily.
Study participants who reported more frequent consumption of
fatty or lean fish as their main meal performed significantly
better in five of the six cognitive tests, compared with those who
did not eat fatty or lean fish.
Processed fish or fish sandwiches were likewise associated with
better performance on three of the cognitive tests, the
investigators note. By contrast, seniors who consumed only fish
oils performed better on just one of the tests.
The investigators propose the need for additional research to
determine whether the cognitive benefits from fish and seafood
consumption depend on the type, the species of fish or on the
preparation.
"Secondly, we need to discover what components of fish are
important," Smith said. Since we found that lean fish was as good
as fatty fish, it may not just be the omega-3 fatty acids that
confer cognitive benefit, he commented.
(Agencies via China Daily November 23, 2007)
