DHA supplements are so important to brain health as a consequence of all the omega-3 efas, DHA, or docosahexaenoic acid is the one which is most prevalent in the brain. Although numerous studies have not shown that omega-3 fatty acids can help cure Alzheimer’s, there is a link between getting the right quantities of omega-3 essential fatty acids in your diet and not developing Alzheimer’s in the first place. Not only has a link between omega-3’s and Alzheimer’s been found, but a link between omega-3’s and strokes exists, too!
The challenge with omega-3 efas is we can’t manufacture them in our bodies from other substances. We have to get our omega-3’s from our diets. This is a difficult issue, because our diets don’t contain the omega-3’s they used to. One big way people get omega-3’s nowadays is through eating fish, specifically cold water fatty fish. So, you would probably expect that folks who eat a lot of fish don’t develop as many problems like strokes as individuals who don’t. And usually this is basically the case…but not always.
In America, we have an area called the “stroke belt”. This is a part of the South where stokes are statistically more prevalent than in other areas. Specifically, the stroke belt includes North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana. What’s odd about the stroke belt is people who live there are more apt to eat more servings of fish in a given week than folks in the rest of the country. So, you should expect people in the South to have less instances of strokes, not more.
Scientific study has been looking into this. And have determined that although people in the South eat more fish, they are more likely to eat fried fish. Apparently frying destroys a number of the omega-3 efas in the fish. So, it’s not just eating fish that counts. It’s how we cook it.
Another issue might be the species of fish eaten. Omega-3 efas are much more usual in fish that come from cold, Northern waters. Fish like tuna, by way of example, tend to have a much higher omega-3 fatty acid concentration than fish from tropical waters. Additionally, farm raised fish of any species have less omega-3’s than fish caught wild. Fish don’t make omega-3 fatty acids. They get them from their diet. Additionally , the diet of farmed fish is usually deficient in omega-3’s.