Are You Starving Your Brain?
It is really rare that I get a client in who is eating an adequate amount of quality oily fish and yes, you all get sick of hearing me tell you to eat more lol!
But there is good reason why! I want to focus on brain function here but to be honest the benefits reach right through from mental health to cardiovascular health and even reduced systemic inflammation. There’s not a lot in the body that doesn’t benefit from eating more oily fish.
The reason oily fish is so great? Omega 3’s! They can be found elsewhere as well so you can totally mix it up but oily fish is a total winner as far as the right balance of omega 3 is concerned.
Here are 5 great reasons to feed your brain with mackeral or sardines more than once a month!
Omega 3 improves socioemotional function. This means it can help you function emotionally in the world and not lose your ever loving sh** at daily life. Ok, so nothing is perfect and I can’t guarantee that….but it will help!
It is known to be brain protective and reduce your risk of Alzheimers and dementia. Alzheimers and dementia are linked poor cardiovascular health. Amongst a variety of reasons is blood circulation to the brain and inflammation. Omega 3 in fish can help reduce the risk factors involved here.
Improve your cognitive function and cognitive flexibility by eating more oily fish. Brain fog is a massive complaint my clients have from all ages! Crazy I know but that’s how it is. If you have noticed a decline in your clarity of thinking, your memory generally, finding it hard to recall those names when it used to be easy…have a look at what you can eat to help. I can guarantee oily fish needs to be right up there!
Developing brains of children need omega 3! There is absolutely no doubt about this. They especially support the development of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Part of the role of the frontal lobe is planning and organising, talking and understanding speech, voluntary movement (fine and gross), as well as understanding and controlling our behaviour around others. The temporal lobe jobs including receiving auditory communication, encoding and accessing memories, processing emotions and some aspects of visual perception.
Omega 3’s preserve cell membrane health and facilitate communication between brain cells. How awesome is that? Those with only 2 brain cells to rub together can benefit but those who regularly lose their sh** at those with only 2 brain cells can benefit too as per #1 on this list! That was a loaded joke. Apparently, I’ve been eating my oily fish as my brain was firing then lol! Did you keep up?
Which oily fish? These days I suggest mackeral, sardines and anchovies. Wild salmon is a good option but farmed is a difficult one as the farming is not only pretty cruel but they get fed a lot stuff that is less than ideal for health. Tinned tuna is often heavy metal heavy, including mercury, which longer term can actually damage brain function. Limit this to once a week.
You can definitely get some omega 3 from plants but you only need 2 serves of oily fish a week to hit your target. I always get clients to go for 3 however as digestive capacity varies. Plant based sources like seeds contain large amounts of omega 6. We do need omega 6 but if it is out of balance with omega 3 it can cause inflammation. If you are looking for plant based omega 3 then absolutely go for chia seeds, linseed or flaxseed (seed and oil), hemp seeds and walnuts.
Do you need a supplement? If fish turns your stomach then absolutely look to a supplement. You want to make sure the company tests for heavy metals and that it does not repeat on you. If it gives you fishy burps it is likely oxidised and of little use to you. Quality is expensive so you do want to spend on this one. It is cheaper to buy the fish in all honesty.
Vegan? You will struggle to get the right balance of omega 3 to 6 as so many seeds are omega 6 heavy. I would absolutely look to an algae supplement to get your omega 3’s.
And of course, if you are concerned about your brain fog, mental health or want to prevent dementia/Alzheimer’s then book an appointment. I have many, many other ways to help you. There are many reasons for brain function not being what it should be. And many different approaches that need to be matched to you’re individual needs. I’ve only touched on a couple here. But the bottom line is I can help. All you need to do is make the appointment!