#401 Oily Fish Good For Your Kids Brains

Life By Design Podcast

Don't make the mistake of thinking fish oil is good for you or your children. Fish oil is a vehicle to help deliver omega-3 fatty acids into your body, and because our current lifestyle and environment make that a challenge to get, fish oil might help. That's a real mouth full, but let us explain more concisely on today's episode. An interesting study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, aimed to see if there was a difference in health kids between the ages of 8 and 9 who received about 375 g/week of oily fish compared to poultry for 12 weeks. In total, 199 kids were tested. At baseline and endpoint, the authors assessed attention, processing speed, executive functions, memory, emotions, and behavior with a large battery of tests and questionnaires and analyzed erythrocyte fatty acid composition. The samples were fasting and collected by venipuncture blood. What we cover

• "We found that a high intake of oily fish tended to improve overall scores of cognitive performance and socio-emotional problems in healthy children."
• The results were dose dependent, meaning kids with higher levels of Long-Chain-Poly-Unsaturated-Fatty-Acids (Omega-3s, found in oily fish) did best.
• These results support the current hypothesis that omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish oil and oily fish) are good for the brain development of children and help prevent and avoid aggression and autonomic dysregulation.
• Give your children high-quality fish and fish oil. It's good for them and their brains.
• 1g total EPA / DHA is a suitable starting dosage.