Omega-3s Help Fight Schizophrenia, Huntington’s, and Other Nervous-System
January 11, 2010
Natural News
By S.L. Baker
Research just published in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience provides evidence that adequate omega-3 fatty acids are needed for healthy nervous systems. That could explain why low levels of omega-3s are associated with the information processing difficulties experienced by people with bipolar, obsessive-compulsive, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders; schizophrenia; Huntington’s disease and other illnesses affecting the nervous system. What’s more, this research suggests that increasing dietary omega-3s may be a natural way to prevent and treat those conditions.
Scientists at the Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism studied two forms of omega-3 essential fatty acids found in certain foods including fatty fish and some algae: docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). The human body can only acquire these key nutrients by metabolizing their precursor, linolenic acid (LNA), or from foods or dietary supplements with DHA and EPA in a readily usable form.
EPA has been shown in numerous previous studies to have anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular protective effects DHA, although less studied, is also crucial to the body. In fact, it makes up more than 90 percent of the omega-3s in the brain, retina and the nervous system.
For their study, the research team fed four groups of pregnant mice and their offspring four different diets with no or varying types and amounts of omega-3s. Then, after the newborn mice grew into mature animals, the scientists recorded how they responded when exposed to a sudden loud noise.
This classic test of nervous-system function normally makes healthy animals flinch. However, if animals with a normal nervous system are exposed first to a softer tone before the loud one, they flinch much less. Scientists believe that’s due to an adaptive process known as sensorimotor gating which causes an initial stimulus to prepare the body for future stimuli.
The results of the tests showed that only the mice raised on DHA and EPA, but not their precursor of LNA, demonstrated normal, adaptive sensorimotor gating. These healthy animals responded in a significantly calmer way to loud noises if they had first heard softer tones. The mice in all other groups, however, were startled almost as much by the initial soft sound as by the loud noise that followed.
The reason? The scientists concluded that when DHA was deficient the nervous system was in an abnormal state that left the animals almost constantly startled and easily overwhelmed by sensory stimuli. “It only takes a small decrement in brain DHA to produce losses in brain function,” lead researcher Norman Salem Jr., PhD. said in a statement to the media.
The researchers think this important information may be very significant for humans — because weak sensorimotor gating is a hallmark of many nervous-system problems including Huntington’s disease, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. And they’ve suggested that omega-3s could have therapeutic potential for these and other diseases marked by nervous system problems.
Moreover, the research underlines the dangers of the typical American diet of processed foods and lots of meat — making it far higher in omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3s. That imbalance reduces the body’s ability to incorporate omega-3s and, as a result, “we have the double whammy of low omega-3 intake and high omega-6 intake,” stated Dr. Salem. “It is an uphill battle now to reverse the message that ‘fats are bad’ and to increase omega-3 fats in our diet.”
Editor’s note: NaturalNews is opposed to the use of animals in medical experiments that expose them to harm. We present these findings in protest of the way in which they were acquired.
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Good for Your Body Study Connects Fiber With Biology
November 23, 2009
Natural News
By S.L. Baker
You probably know that getting enough fiber in your diet can keep constipation at bay and it can lower high cholesterol levels, too. Now Australian researchers have found another reason why the indigestible part of plant-based foods, known as roughage, is good for you — it plays an important role in keeping your immune system healthy and in preventing specific diseases.
When fiber moves through the digestive tract it remains mostly unchanged, working as a type of internal broom. Then, in the colon, bacteria interact with roughage. Fermentation takes place, producing compounds called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) which are known to help soothe ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory gut condition. Probiotics and prebiotics, beneficial bacteria found in kefir, yogurt and nutritional supplements, affect the healthy balance of gut bacteria and have been documented to help the symptoms of two other inflammatory diseases, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
But what is the connection between fiber, “good” intestinal bacteria and the healing of disorders marked by inflammation? In a study just published in the science journal Nature, Sydney-based scientists say they’ve found the answer to that question. They’ve discovered a mechanism that explains how a plant-based diet rich in fiber works with beneficial gut bacteria and the immune system to promote health and potentially prevent a host of diseases.
Kendle Maslowski, a PhD student, and Professor Charles Mackay from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, working in collaboration with the Co-operative Research Center for Asthma and Airways, have demonstrated that a molecule dubbed GPR43 expressed by immune cells and previously shown to bind SCFAs reduces inflammation. They found that mice lacking the GPR43 gene have increased, unresolved inflammation in their bodies because their immune cells can’t bind to and use SCFAs.
So how does this information translate into helping human health? “We’re now beginning to understand that from the moment you’re born, it’s incredibly important to be colonized by the right kinds of gut bacteria. The kinds of foods you eat directly determine the levels of certain bacteria in your gut,” Maslowski explained in a statement to the press. “Changing diets are changing the kinds of gut bacteria we have, as well as their by-products, particularly short-chain fatty acids. If we have low amounts of dietary fiber, then we’re going to have low levels of short chain fatty acids, which we have demonstrated are very important in the immune systems of mice.”
Professor Mackay pointed out in the press statement that the notion what you eat might have profound effects on immune responses and inflammatory diseases has never been taken seriously enough. “We believe that changes in diet, associated with western lifestyles, contribute to the increasing incidences of asthma, Type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases. Now we have a new molecular mechanism that might explain how diet is affecting our immune systems,” he stated.
The scientists conclude that their current research provides compelling reasons to eat a diet rich in unprocessed whole foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds. “The role of nutrition and gut intestinal bacteria in immune responses is an exciting new topic in immunology, and recent findings including our own open up new possibilities to explore causes as well as new treatments for inflammatory diseases such as asthma,” said Professor Mackay.
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