The Natural Dietary Add-On That May Help Prevent Dementia

One more benefit of the natural dietary add-on that may help prevent dementia by clearing waste from the brain.

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One more benefit of the natural dietary add-on that may help prevent dementia by clearing waste from the brain.

Omega-3 fatty acids help to clear waste from the brain, new research concludes.

This includes the amyloid peptides that are linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

Omega-3 is found in:

  • fish oil
  • margarine,
  • milk,
  • and yoghurt.

The conclusions come from a study on mice in which some were given omega-3 supplementation.

The results showed that the supplementation increased the clearance function of the glymphatic system.

The glymphatic system clears waste from the central nervous system — and mostly operates in the brain.

Thoru Pederson, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal

“These now-famous fatty acids have been the subject of major studies both in academia and industry.

Just when we thought we had heard everything, here is something new, and it is provocative indeed.

This study should not turn attention away from the roles of these substances in maintaining vascular health, but neither should they restrict our view.

The brain is an extremely vascularized organ, while we might also bear in mind that omega-3 fatty acids may impact neurons, glia, and astrocytes themselves.”

Whether or not omega-3 helps prevent dementia continues to be controversial.

However, omega-3 has been linked to maintaining IQ levels with age and even reducing anxiety.

Other research has suggested that omega-3 needs to be combined with B vitamins to help the body deal with mental decline.

The study was published in the The FASEB Journal (Luo et al., 2016).


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This site is all about scientific research into how the mind works.

It’s mostly written by psychologist and author, Dr Jeremy Dean.

I try to dig up fascinating studies that tell us something about what it means to be human.

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Author: Jeremy Dean

Psychologist, Jeremy Dean, PhD is the founder and author of PsyBlog. He holds a doctorate in psychology from University College London and two other advanced degrees in psychology. He has been writing about scientific research on PsyBlog since 2004. He is also the author of the book "Making Habits, Breaking Habits" (Da Capo, 2013) and several ebooks.