Fish on the Brain
From what I hear talking to teachers and parents of young children, there is a lot of dyslexia and ADHD and such among school-aged children these days--more, it seems, than even when our kids were in grade school. What's changed? Improved diagnosis? More of the one-eyed brain sucking baby-sitter? Food additives?
Here's some good news:
Last year, for example, researchers at Oxford published a study of 117 children suffering from dyspraxia(8). Dyspraxia causes learning difficulties, disruptive behavior and social problems. It affects about 5% of children. Some of the children were given supplements of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, others were given placebos. The results were extraordinary. In three months the reading age of the experimental group rose by an average of 9.5 months, while the control group's rose by 3.3. Other studies have shown major improvements in attention, behavior and IQ.
This piece from Z-net goes on to tell that over the past thousands of years as we've migrated to farming societies living away from the coasts of continents, we have shifted drastically in our food mix from about equal amounts of O-3 and O-6 to our current average diet of 17 times more O-6 (found in vegetable oils.) Lack of Omega-3 fatty acids plays a role in a wide range of neurological problems. So let's just get smart and eat more fish.
But the global fish stocks are disappearing with heart-breaking rapidity due to over-fishing, heavy metal and other pollutants, and general ill health of the oceans. However...
And this is a big if uncertain however...it seems that a lowly algae may become the source of Omega-3 supplements for our diet, producible in large enough quantities and soon enough to make a difference. Where do you think the tuna, salmon, halibut and cod got theirs? From eating little fish that ate smaller fish that ate algae!
So, this just reinforces my hopes and I'll just say this one word, Benjamin: (no, not plastics) ALGAE. I predict one day we'll be able to harness the primary energy source of the sun and convert algal photosynthesis into a clean form of energy; we'll use them for food; use them to produce nutrients like amino acids and vitamins; and heck, maybe even keep them as house pets. Meanwhile, I guess I'll just eat almonds--and the purslane (weed) from the garden and put some flax seed on my morning cereal.