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What's the big, fat deal? - benefits of fatty fish in diet - Brief Article

Better Nutrition, Dec, 2000 by James J. Gormley

why fatty fish and DHA may be just what the doctor ordered

When I went to a press conference at Rockefeller University on April 3, 1997, called "Keeping Your Brain In Shape: New Insights Into DHA," I hardly expected that the research presented there would excite me enough to write a book (DHA, A Good Fat--Essential for Life, 1999) and to become a firm believer in the "our fat consumption is way out of balance" and a firm skeptic of the tired old "low-fat, no-fat, low cholesterol" mantra.

Well, now with new research out, and the very real possibility that our FDA Office of Special Nutritionals may--finally--soon recommend the inclusion of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and arachidonic acid (AA) in term infant formula sold in the U.S., it is especially appropriate to take a second look at the facts.

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THE NEWEST RESEARCH

2000. Eileen E. Birch, Ph.D., and colleagues, from the Retina Foundation of the Southwest, recently carried out a study of healthy, term infants, who received either: (1) infant formula supplemented with DHA, (2) infant formula supplemented with DHA and arachidonic acid, or (3) control formula which provided no essential fats.

Supplementation with DHA and arachidonic acid resulted in a seven-point improvement in the Mental Development Index (MDI). In addition, both the learning (cognitive) and physical (motor) skills segments of the MDI showed a "significant developmental age advantage" for the groups supplemented with DHA and AA. The results (published in the March 2000 issue of the journal, Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology), led the authors to conclude that "early dietary supply of DHA was a major dietary determinant of improved performance" on the mental development test.

2000. Another study, in this case a review published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition by Dutch scientist, Gerard Hornstra, looked at levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), including DHA, in pregnancy and in newborns.

The research bears out the fact that "neonatal PUFA status can be" improved if mothers-to-be supplement with polyunsaturates, especially DHA and AA, during pregnancy. The authors found that mothers who consumed trans fatty acids (e.g., traditional stick margarine) had lower levels PUFA levels, as did their newborns.

1997. A study by Michael Davidson, M.D., and colleagues, which appeared in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, looked at DHA supplementation (1,250 mg or 2,500 mg a day) on HDL, LDL and triglyceride levels in people with combined hyperlipidemia (high LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels).

Significant improvements were seen in triglyceride levels (up to a 21 percent reduction) and good cholesterol, or HDL, levels (6 percent increase). The overall results "suggest that dietary supplementation with [1,250 mg] of DHA per day [...] may be an effective tool to aid in the management of hypertriglyceridemia."

1996. Julie Conquer and Bruce Holub, from the University of Guelph, in Ontario, carried out a study to look at the influence of supplementation with an algae-source form of DHA on blood DHA levels, the estimated reconversion of DHA to EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and risk factors for heart disaease in vegetarians. In this trial, healthy vegetarians consumed nine capsules a day of either alage-source DHA (1,620 mg) or corn oil for 6 weeks. The DHA-supplemented group brought up their blood (serum) DHA levels by 246 percent and their by platelet levels by 225 percent. The authors concluded that "DHA supplementation markedly enhanced the DHA [levels], provided for the formation of much-needed EPA, and lowered the total and LDL cholesterol levels."

1996. Finnish researchers, J.J. Agren, and others, looked at the effects of fish, fish oil and DHA in a healthy group of college students. The diets were one of the following: (1) nearly five fish meals a week; (2) fish oil and DHA. Triglyceride levels went down in all groups, except the control group. In addition, the post-meal (postprandial) total triglyceride levels were significantly lowered in 15 weeks by the fish/fish-off diet.

1995. In the November 1, 1995, JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), David S. Siscovick, M.D., M.P.H., and others, tried to ascertain whether dietary intake of omega-3 fats (like DHA) from seafood is associated with less risk of a primary cardiac arrest. In fact, seafood-derived omega-3s provide a 50-70 percent reduction of primary cardiac arrest.

1994. George Billman, Haifa Hallaq and Alexander Leaf looked at whether EPA and DHA could prevent ischemia-caused malignant cardiac arrhythmias. In seven of the eight animals, the use of DHA-rich fish oil completely prevented ventricular fibrillation, a serious heart dysfunction.

A BIG FAT CONCLUSION?

Well, the conclusion would have to be that the good fats, including DHA, are finally getting their just desserts. Gone is the failed no-fat paradigm. Gone is the omega-6 vegetable oil fat obsession. What we have left is a recognition that we need a balance of fats in the diet, and that a diet rich in Arctic. North Atlantic fish and DHA (as a supplement) should help most people rebalance their fat profiles.

What's the big, fat deal? - benefits of fatty fish in diet - Brief Article

Better Nutrition, Dec, 2000 by James J. Gormley

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