A Link Between Fatty Acids and ADHD?

According to this journal article, the way that  young children with ADHD (Attention-deficit hyperactive disorder) metabolize there essential fatty acids (mainly Omega 3 and 6's).  Both the children in the control and study group were essentially the same amounts of fatty acids, however, the study showed that the way they are metabolically processed is different.  Unfortunately, the study needs to examine fatty acid intake a bit more strategically in order to find out how much more fatty acids should be taken in order to help prevent this metabolic process so that the kids with ADHD can have normal fatty acid profiles.  Once this study is done, I hope it will shed some light on a "cure" for ADHD that would be more based on diet instead of throwing pills around like Adderall or Ritalin which are just temporary cures.  Maybe in the long run, a better diet filled with more fatty acids could stop the ADHD problems overall, and I hope a study is done to find this out!

Essential Fatty Acids and Cognition

According to a journal article I have found, essential fatty acids are extremely important in cognitive development all throughout human life.  I found it's important in pre-natal neurodevelopment, as well as, protecting against neurodegeneration in older adults.  Along with protecting against neurodegeneration, the study has shown that it could also positively reduce the risk of a patient suffering from a cognitive impairment later on in life.  Unfortunately, since further research needs to be done, the article doesn't provide a conclusion to how the essential fatty acids, mainly Omega-3 fatty acids, could be dosed to provide the proper amount to reduce the negatives of cognitive aging and protect against it.  I personally hope that more studies are done on essential fatty acids and cognitive health because what this article shows  , in my opinion is extremely promising and is definitely something that should be researched even further.

Omega-3s and Muscle Mass

When trying to stay or become more healthy, most people aim to gain lean muscle mass and loss fat mass.  They want the lean muscle mass because it burns more fat, appears leaner (so they look more in-shape), and it increases their metabolism so they can become healthy individuals overall (Livestrong).  A study was done on healthy adults that used fish oil as a supplement, mainly composed of Omega-3s, and it found that the adults that took the fish oil gained more lean muscle mass and lost more fat mass.  So for those looking to lose weight or to be healthier overall it would be obvious after reading this that one should look into taking a fish oil supplement.  If there is anything that can help people lose the bad weight and gain good muscle mass, I would definitely recommend taking it because I feel like there are a huge amount of people that could use the healthy effects of Omega-3 in their lives, whether its through diet or through supplementation.  A link to the article can be found here.  


Reference List:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/248773-define-lean-muscle-mass/

Omega-3s And Stroke Prevention

According to the CDC, every 40 seconds, someone in America suffers a stroke.  And every three to four minutes someone dies from a stroke.  For me, this is a very serious problem.  Especially since the CDC ranks it as the third most common cause of death to Americans behind coronary heart disease and cancer.  In my last post I talked about how Omega-3s are useful in preventing heart disease, and this week I found a journal article thats shows the eating plenty of fish, filled with essential fatty acids, can also help prevent strokes!  This article from the Journal of American Medicine Association states that "eating fish at least once a month reduces risk of ischemic stroke."  It would seem to me that eating something like fish, that contains huge amounts of essential fatty acids, that can lower risk for heart disease and stroke should be extremely important in every ones diet!  And if the fish itself can't be obtained, from the articles I have read,  a fish oil supplement seems to do the trick just as well.  I just hope this article I found can help people make some smarter health decisions when it comes to buying there foods.  Also, if fish or a fish oil supplement isn't obtainable please check out this link to another post of mine .  It has plenty of other options to obtain both Omega-3 and Omega-6 essential fatty acids.

Reference List:

http://www.cdc.gov/stroke/facts.htm

Fatty Acids and Heart Health

According to the Center for Disease Control, in 2006, heart disease accounted for 26% of American deaths for that year.  Essentially one in four Americans died from coronary artery disease.  Little do people know, Omega-3 fatty acids actually help prevent heart disease!  This journal article gives an overview of how studies have been used to show how effect Omega-3s are at preventing many heart problems.  For example, one of the studies in the article discuss how Omega-3s showed a 29% reduction in cardiac  arrhythmias (irregular electrical activity in the heart) in people that had already suffered a myocardial infarction( a heart attack).  The article also tells about how fatty acids were initially found to held heart health due to the fact that Greenland Eskimos who had a diet that mainly consisted of fish, high in Omega 3s, had significantly less deaths due to coronary heart disease than Americans.  All in all, it is very informative and goes to show that a simple way to protect your heart from disease is get more essential fatty acids in your diet!


reference list:


http://www.cdc.gov/HeartDisease/facts.htm

Fatty Acids a cure for PMS?

As a man I really have no idea what exactly women go through when suffering from Premenstrual Syndrome, but according to a news article on CBS these problems they go though could potentially be ended with a treatment containing Omega-6 fatty acids (Lionleic Acid, as mentioned in the article).  Apparently when combined with Vitamin E and other "essential oils" the fatty acids help reduce the problems of acne, bloating, weight gain, headaches, and even more problems that all women have to suffer through.  As a man I am completely glad I do not have to go through many of these problems that women do, but as scientific studies progress with Essential Fatty Acids, maybe women won't have to go through too many of these problems anymore either.

Fatty Acids and Diabetes

Diabetes is a problem that affects millions of people around the world.  It is a problem where the pancreas either does not produce insulin, it produces very little insulin, or the human body becomes insulin resistant (WebMD).  Because diabetes is such a big problem, doctors decided to try and see if Omega-3 fatty acids could have a positive effect in reducing the risks and problems associated with type 2 diabetes.  In a Chinese health study patients were given both marine and non-marine sources of Omega-3 fatty acids to see if one would be better than the other, or to see if both would cause the same results.  What they found completely astounded me.  According to the study, higher Omega-3 intakes were inversely associated with diabetes risk.  Meaning that consuming products that were high in Omega-3's actually put people at a lower risk to develop diabetes.  So I think it would be safe to say that in order to avoid getting diabetes, which according to WebMd over 50 million Americans are predisposed to getting, people need to get a higher level of Omega-3s into their diets!

A link to the study can be found here.

Reference list:

http://diabetes.webmd.com/guide/diabetes-causes