Fish Oil supplements may not be giving people the benefits they have been promised (Image: GETTY)
Fish oil supplements may not be giving people the brain health boost and protection that they take it for, according to a new study from Keck Medicine at the University of Southern California. The two-year study found ‘no meaningful benefits’ on memory, cognition, or protection against brain shrinkage linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
However, the study also found that these fish oil supplements did manage to successfully boost omega-3 levels in the brain, but this didn’t improve measures of brain health in older adults that had an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
“We all wish there was a silver bullet for preventing Alzheimer’s, but our findings showed that fish oil supplements do not appear to protect brain health,” said Hussein Naji Yassine, MD, director of the USC Center for Personalized Brain Health and lead investigator of the study, according to Science Daily.
“While omega-3s play an important role in forming brain cell connections needed for cognition, our results do not support fish oil supplements as a preventive measure against Alzheimer’s.”
These results challenge the long-held ideals that fish oils can help protect against Alzhiemer’s and may mean people need to shift their attention to known diet and lifestyle risk factors instead of relying on daily tablets.
Yassine added: “Staying healthy throughout life remains the most powerful tool we have for reducing Alzheimer’s risk, including regular exercise, quality sleep, and a balanced diet.
“Living a healthy lifestyle is the brain’s equivalent of getting regular car maintenance and high-quality oil changes. The brain is more likely to lose greater function if health issues in other parts of the body go unaddressed, in the same way that car engines stop working if regular maintenance is skipped.”
The study, which was published in eBioMedicine, followed 365 adults between the ages of 55 and 80 who rarely consumed fish in their daily diet. Fish are a major natural source of omega-3 fatty acids.
Nearly half of the participants had the APOE4 gene, which is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, although the researchers considered all of the people taking part ot be at an increased risk for the condition.
The participants were randomly assigned into two groups, one receiving high-dose omega-3 supplements and the other getting a placebo. The researchers wanted to see if these supplements actually made its way into the brain and they managed to prove this in just six months as the participants’ cerebrospinal fluid had increased levels.
Despite the supplement making its way to the brain, the expected improvements and benefits were nowhere to be seen. At the start and end of the two-year trial, participants had their memory, thinking abilities and brain scans analysed.
The supplement group didn’t perform any better on cognitive tests than the placebo group and their brain scans showed the supplements hadn’t slowed down shrinkage of the hippocampus which is a prime marker for brain aging and Alzhiemer’s.
The researchers plan to investigate why the omega-3s reached the brain but had no noticeable benefits. Based on earlier research, they believe it could be that omega-3s are more effective when consumed as part of an overall eating pattern or mediterranean-style diet rather than as a supplement.
