Health Update: Omega-3’s Protect and Feed the Brain

RVAchironeuro • November 21, 2022

11.21.2022

 

Hello once again everyone:

Here is some great news for brain health. Keeping your Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acid (EFA’s) intake optimal results in better brain function and protects us again age-related decline (Alzheimer’s and other forms of cognitive decline). This study is unique because it looks at this issue in middle aged people rather than older populations that are more frequently studied in relation to brain function and health.

“Omega-3 fatty acid concentrations in red blood cells were linked with brain structure and cognitive function in midlife, an exploratory cross-sectional study showed.

In about 2,200 people with an average age of 46, a higher omega-3 index was associated with a larger hippocampal volume (the memory center of the brain) and better abstract reasoning, according to Claudia Satizabal, PhD, of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and colleagues.

In addition, APOE4 carriers (that have high risk of dementia) with a higher omega-3 index had a lower white matter hyperintensity burden, they reported in (the Journal)  Neurology.

“The new contribution here is that, even at younger ages, if you have a diet that includes some omega-3 fatty acids, you are already protecting your brain for most of the indicators of brain aging that we see at middle age,” 

  Omega-3 fatty acid levels also may protect older brains from environmental exposures like air pollution. Studies have linked pro-inflammatory diets, which are low in Omega-3’s, to (lower) brain volume and other markers of (unhealthy) brain aging in older people.”

Bottom Line: It is important to make sure your food plan has adequate Omega-3 EFA’s and that you keep your Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio optimal. The earlier in life that you do this, the better, but it helps at any age. This is important for multiple reasons:

  1. We need Omega-3 EFA’s for proper brain function as DHA is essential to normal function and health of all brain cells.
  2. Omega-3’s also possess powerful anti-inflammatory actions that are also critical for optimal healthy aging of all brain cells and the body as well.
  3. Too many Omega-6 type of EFA’s is highly inflammatory. We do need some Omega-6 EFA’s, and this means that even if you have adequate Omega-3’s but too many Omega-6’s in your diet that you will tilt towards inflammation and degeneration of healthy cells. The typical American diet is way too heavy in processed and damaged Omega-6’s and it is important to know your ratio so that you can adapt your food plan to a more anti-inflammatory status to protect your health. Plus, you can find out your Omega -6:3 ratio by a simple blood test which we do thorough LabCorp. To read more about Omega-6 issues, click the link below.

 

 

By Mark Smith December 22, 2025
Health News Update: Tending Your Temple 12.22.25 Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas to you! Health Update: Predictable Crisis Hello everyone: As we celebrate this Holy time and the start of a new year, I want to just speak to you heart to heart. Most of us know that our physical body has been deemed to be the Temple for us to experience this worldly life. Additionally, we are meant to be stewards and caretakers of this awesomely wrought and magnificent Temple. While this may mean different things to each of us, most of us agree that taking care of the Temple involves a health promoting lifestyle. From interviewing thousands of patients, I have seen that deep within each of us there is a feeling or a knowingness of how well we are tending our Temple. And what emerges from these discussions is that most of us have never been taught or shown or educated on the concept of the need to be good stewards and how to do that. For me as a healthcare practitioner, science allows me to peer into God’s creation and be filled with awe and wonder. And yet as great as science has gotten at treating the leading causes of death and disability, it seems to have forgotten that recovery depends upon our innate healing abilities which in turn depends upon our food choices. Chronic unhealthy food choices really do affect your quality of life as well as what diseases or disabilities you may get, along with your ability to recover from them or to even prevent them. On top of that, science now recognizes how food choices have shifted over time and how this is leading to environmental destruction and contributing to climate change. The old saying “Let Food Be Thy Medicine” now applies to each of us as well as the planet. We Have Created a Predictable Crisis Nowhere can this be as easily seen as with the mismatch we are creating between what our body needs and what we are feeding it. Poor food choices, lack of physical activity, and stress drive the leading causes of death and disability. These facts are undeniable, and science has verified this many times over. What do we think will happen when we put diesel fuel into the gas tank? What are we thinking when we put drive-through into a Holy Temple? Each of us can do better and we all should try every day. Poor nutrition is now known to be the leading cause of death and chronic illness…and thus massive and needless suffering. Today, 8 out of 10 of the causes of death and disability are chronic inflammatory degenerative illnesses that are caused, perpetuated, aggravated, and sustained by food choices. Our societies current reactive approach to health care, without improving the underlying health of the patient, is expensive and has led us to the era of predictable yet unnecessary chronic illness, death, and disability. I am truly fortunate to have witnessed people recover their health through simple dietary upgrades. These people were patient, committed, and took one small step at a time until they had transformed their health, their kitchen, and in many cases, they assisted in the transformation of their entire family to better health and wellbeing. This transformation is available to you, too. If you have a chronic health condition, or want to avoid one, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by going predominantly plant based. Go into this upgrade with a 100% commitment for 6 months and see how it goes. Don’t you owe it to yourself to live a life congruent with your true nature? Shouldn’t we have the self-respect to make the best choices as to how we tend our Temple? Simply by making your food choices compatible with your nature, it is possible for you to massively improve your health and simultaneously feel better about your stewardship of the Temple and the planet that sustains it. Consider for a moment, how good it will feel to live in alignment with your true Nature. If you can imagine that, then you can achieve it! All of us here at Richmond Chiropractic Neurology wish everyone a healthy, safe, happy, and loving Holy Day and Blessed New Year!
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