Omega 3-Filled Fish Could Help Prevent Stroke, Memory Loss: Study

It’s often said that smell possesses the greatest ability to trigger memory, and even though fish can often be the most pungent of all foods, a new study suggests it can also possess the greatest ability to stave off memory loss and stroke.

The paper, out of The Medical Journal of the American Academy of Neurology, looked at 3,660 people 65 or older who underwent brain scans to detect silent brain infarcts, or small lesions in the brain that can cause loss of thinking skills, stroke or dementia.

Scans were performed again five years later on 2,313 of the participants, who were questioned about their level of fish intake.

The results?

People who ate broiled or baked tuna or other fish high in Omega-3 fatty acids at least three times each week had close to a 26 per cent lower risk of suffering infarcts when compared with those who generally avoided eating fish altogether.

Eating just one serving of that type of fish a week led to a 13 percent lower risk.

“While eating tuna and other types of fish seems to help protect against memory loss and stroke, these results were not found in people who regularly ate fried fish,” said Dr. Jyrki Virtanen of the University of Kuopio in Finland. “More research is needed as to why these types of fish may have protective effects, but the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA would seem to have a major role.”

Types of fish that contain high levels of DHA and EPA nutrients include salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines, and anchovies.

“Previous findings have shown that fish and fish oil can help prevent stroke, but this is one of the only studies that looks at fish’s effect on silent brain infarcts in healthy, older people,” said Virtanen.

The aforementioned silent brain infarcts, which can only be detected by brain scans, are found in about 20 percent of otherwise healthy elderly people.

Of course Omega-3s can be found in other foods including certain milks, eggs and breads, but it’s not clear at this stage whether those sources have the same protective effect on the brain.

To take a look at how many Omega-3s are in your favourite fish, click here.

And for more background and recommendations on Omega-3s, visit the American Heart Association.