Yesterday’s post covered some of the benefits of Omega-3’s and Omega-6’s; with some explanation of how fish oil benefits us. Interestingly, I read this article in the Wall Street Journal this morning, and have some comments about it:
February 2, 2010
A Study Finds Mental Benefit of Fish Oil
Eighty-one young people, ages 13 to 25, were identified with high risk symptoms of schizophrenia. Forty-one of them were placed on 4 fish oil ‘pills’ and the rest were placed on placebo look-alikes. One year later, 2 of the 41 (5 %) in the treated group were diagnosed with schizophrenia, and 11 of the 40 (28 %) in the placebo group were given the same diagnosis. The study is printed in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, with the lead author from the University of Melbourne in Australia. The researchers speculate that omega-3 fish oils may help brain cells to repair and stabilize. Dr. Wozniak of Harvard Medical School is hoping psychiatrists will start to recommend this to their patients because of the potential benefits and little risk.
Dr. Gardner’s comments: It’s great seeing this study in the mainstream literature. Nerve support has been just one of many benefits of fish oils, whether it is directly helping the fat content in the nerve cell membrane or the myelin sheath surrounding the nerve, or by its anti-inflammatory action through which it is helping decrease inflammation in blood vessels. Niacin was the first effective treatment for schizophrenia, but was unfortunately discarded when anti-psychotic medications hit the market soon after and received much better marketing. ‘Orthomolecular’ medicine (the use of vitamins and minerals in medicine) was also mocked at that time, even though Linus Pauling, the only person to ever receive 2 Nobel Prizes by himself, was advocating it.
Since fish oil can help schizophrenia, this stresses the importance of the essential fatty acids for all nerve conditions. In your zeal for fish oil, don’t forget the need for the omega-3 parent compound, alpha-linolenic acid, found in flaxseed oil. The omega-6 oils found in borage oil and evening primrose are also critical for membrane function in every cell of the body.
My doctor says I can get all the vitamins and minerals I need from my food. What is your opinion on this?
I used to say the same thing to my patients, back in the days before I studied healthy alternatives. It is the party line of allopathic medicine, although that is starting to change. Here's the bottom line, and I'll follow up with some info on what allopaths are now doing:
3 responses so far ↓
1 Tiffany // Feb 4, 2010 at 11:48 am
Thanks so much for the daily dose of good info.
2 Marek // Feb 6, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Good article. I normally recommend around 25g/day of flaxseed oil to my clients, of which I would expect around 16% to be converted into the long-chain omega-3s (EPA and DHA). For those who are likely to have trouble converting - nutritional deficiencies, chronic illness, over 50 - I would instead use around 6g fish oil. Both do the job.
3 Amanda // Apr 10, 2010 at 9:51 pm
My 8 month-old daughter has been diagnosed with Epilepsy. She initially had a”status epilepticus” episode (more than likely due to dehydration, but was treated for possible HSV Encephalitis, although no cultures were positive, her MRI showed a little inflammation on the left temporal lobe) and since has been placed on Keppra. She’s still having an absence/petite mal seizure every couple weeks so the neurologist keeps increasing her dosage. I can tell it’s altering her mind and I would like to experiment with alternatives to anti-epileptics. Would you suggest, any type of omega/fish oil supplementation to control seizures? Currently, I exclusively breastfeed her. If I were to include these oils in my diet, would it make a difference in her?
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