Omega-3 fatty acid may aid memory

nospam@example.com (Sultan H. Rahaman, M.D.) — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 07:38:45 -0800

DHA: The Mind Mender - omega-3 fatty acid may aid memory

Is there something fishy going on in your brain? If not, perhaps there should be. Research now shows that eating fish and other foods rich in DHA may boost your brainpower.

At a time when we've become so fat-phobic, it's tough to remember that some fats are beneficial. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 essential fatty acid, is one of those good fats that health experts say we could eat more of.

DHA helps maintain the flexibility of cell membranes, which facilitate communication between brain and nerve cells. High levels of DHA in the brain are associated with optimal brain function--from mental sharpness to memory to mood regulation--while low levels have been linked to Alzheimer's disease, attention deficit disorders and depression. A recent study published in The Lancet showed that in cultures where people consume more fish, there were fewer cases of depression.

"The lining of every brain cell is made of fat and fatty acids, and a good chunk of the fatty acids are DHA," explains Ray Sahelian, M.D., author of Mind Boosters (St. Martins, 2000). "It's important that we consume DHA in our diet. Otherwise, the body will substitute other fatty acids, like saturated or monounsaturated fatty acids. Consequently, receptors on cell membranes don't work as efficiently, and the nerve cells don't communicate as well."

A recent Japanese study, published in the journal Mechanisms of Aging and Development, makes the point. Scientists fed mice a diet of 5% sardine oil. After 12 months, the mice were able to navigate mazes much faster than were mice eating a diet containing 5% palm oil. And when their brains were later analyzed, those mice consuming sardine oil had much higher levels of DHA than the others.

DHA also appears to be heart protective, lowering levels of triglycerides, which have been linked to heart disease. And it's essential for good vision--recent research appearing in the Archives of Ophthalmology found that people who ate more fish had fewer incidences of age-related macular degeneration, which is the leading cause of blindness in older people.

Good DHA supplementation starts at birth, as it is abundant in breast milk. You'll also find DHA in salmon, halibut, mackerel, sardines and striped bass as well as flaxseed oil and fish oil supplements.

AmeriSciences Omega Max (www.amerisciencesproducts.com)

Benefits & Features

Maintains healthy triglyceride levels that are already in the normal range and helps promote healthy neurological and cardiovascular systems
Promotes healthy eyesight
Helps fetal brain and nervous development during pregnancy
Supports the immune system

Supplemental Facts

Serving Size: 2 softgels
Servings Per Container: 30	Amount per Serving	% Daily Value
Vitamin E (as d-alpha tocopherol)	4 IU	13%
Molecularly Distilled Fish Oil (derived from sardine, anchovy, mackerel)	2000 mg	*
Provides EPA (elcosapentaenoic acid)	720 mg	*
Provides DHA (docosahexaenoic acid)	480 mg	*
Total EPA & DHA Omega-3 Fatty Acids	1200 mg	*
* Daily value not established
OTHER INGREDIENTS: Gelatin, purified water, glycerin, methacrylic acid copolymers, triacetin, triethyl citrate, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, vanilli.

Contraindications

Keep out of the reach of children. Consult your physician before taking this product if you take blood thinning medications, or if you anticipate surgery.

Directions For Use:

Take two (2) to three (3) softgels daily, preferably with meals, or as recommended by a physician.

Green tea extract may slow Huntington’s disease

nospam@example.com (Sultan H. Rahaman, M.D.) — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 12:04:57 -0700

Breaking News on Food in Central & Eastern Europe

Green tea extract may slow Huntington’s disease
By Stephen Daniells

09/08/2006- The green tea extract, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), may slow the accumulation of proteins that cause Huntington’s disease, German scientists have reported.

The news adds to a growing body of science on the health benefits of green tea, with consumption linked to a lower risk of certain cancers, increased weight loss, and protection against Alzheimer's.

Huntington’s disease, along with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, belong to the family of neurodegenerative diseases caused by protein misfolding. The incurable disease is hereditary and has a prevalence of 1 in every 15,000 people. In Germany, about 8,000 cases are currently known, in the UK the figure is reported to be about 5,000, and in the US the figure is about 30,000.

The disease is characterize by jerky, uncontrolled movements, an unsteady gait and grimaces leading to its original common name of Huntington’s chorea (from the ancient Greek for “dance”).

In 1993, scientists discovered the gene that encodes the mutant protein, the so-called huntingtin protein. A mutation in this protein results in elongation of parts of the protein called polyglutamine chains, which cause the overall huntingtin protein to lose its normal structure. These mutant proteins can not be disposed of by the body and accumulate in the brain of sufferers, eventually being toxic to the nerve cells in the brain.

The new research, led by Professor Erich Wanker from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin-Buch (MDC), looked at the effect on EGCG on the aggregation of these mutant proteins in vitro, and found that the green tea extract could interfere with the very early events of this process.

The research is published in the September issue journal Human Molecular Genetics (Vol. 15, pp. 2743-2751), and presented by Dagmar Ehrnhoefer this week at the international conference “Neurodegenerative diseases: molecular mechanisms in a functional genomic frameworks” in Berlin.

“We demonstrate that the green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) potently inhibits the aggregation of mutant huntingtin protein in a dose-dependent manner,” wrote lead author Dagmar Ehrnhoefer.

Professor Wanker’s group used laboratory-based experiments to show that the green tea extract inhibited misfolding of the huntingtin protein in vitro, as well as using fruit flies genetically modified to over-express the mutant protein. The latter experiments showed that the degeneration of the flies’ photoreceptor and motor function improved.

“These results indicate that modulators of huntingtin misfolding … like EGCG are likely to reduce polyglutamine -mediated toxicity in vivo,” concluded Ehrnhoefer.

Further research is needed, particular to discern if the bioactive doses needed to produce these protective effects could be obtained from drinking green tea, or by taking supplements.

The researchers themselves appear to be heading down a pharmaceutical route. Nevertheless, the results are in-line with a growing body of research that reports neuroprotective effects of green tea and its extracts.

Green tea is said to contain over four times the concentration of antioxidant catechins than black tea (green tea leaves that have been oxidized by fermentation), about 70 mg catechins per 100 mL compared to 15 mg per 100 mL for black tea.

Consumer awareness of the benefits of green tea and green tea extracts continues to rise with growing numbers of studies, from 430 papers in 2000 to almost 1500 in 2003, reporting benefits of the main compounds, catechins.

This has seen European demand surge, having reached 500 metric tonnes in 2003. Companies such as DSM, with its Teavigo boasting 95 per cent purity of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and Taiyo International, with its Sunphenon claiming more than 90 per cent purity, position themselves firmly in specific catechin markets.