Hi Mikey,
MikeyG wrote:After reading your post and due to my mother's concerns with the dire cognitive consequences that many associate with a low-fat diet,
I am not sure what those are. If you mean, the health consequences associated with the typical American "low fat" diet, or the typical American Heart Association "low fat" diet, that on average is 30-35% fat, 10-12% saturated fat, 200-300 mgs of cholesterol, 12-15 mgs of fiber, and filled with refined processed, low fiber, carbohydrates and sugars/sweeteners, yes I would be very worried.
But, if you are talking about the low fat diet recommended here, that is very similar to the one that many of the longest lived healthiest populations follow, I do not know of any, if the guidelines and principles are followed. The Okinawans and rural Japanese and Chinese along with the rural Tarahumara and Pima Indians of Mexico,(and many other cultures) do not have problems with "dire cognitive consequences" and just the opposite.
MikeyG wrote:Dear Jeff, Though it is full of anecdotal evidence, research is referenced for each section.
The link to his reference page can be found here:
http://www.instincttoheal.org/article.php3?id_article=15#sommaire_9I believe Ch. 9 is where he discusses the potential value for Omega-3 consumption in the treatment of mental disorders. .
With all due respect to them and to you....
Anyone can list references and citations, knowing you will not pursue their accuracy.
As I have said,
my position is that there should be some good evidence for anything we do, whether it is a food, a diet, a herb, a medicine, a supplement, a treatment, or anything. We should also be aware of the potential harm and/or side effects.
Good evidence, means peer reviewed published studies in mainstream scientific journals.
Anyone can came out and make virtually any claim they want. The burden of proof is not really on us to disprove everyone of them and all their claims but the real burden of proof is on them to substantiate their products, diets and their claims. And with more than short term unpublished data or anecdotal info. If they get shut down for one diet, they just rearrange a few things and come right back out with a new diet making the same extra-ordinary claims.
in addition, extra-ordinary claims require extra-ordinary proof.
The burden is on them, not me. There is nothing there to convince me otherwise.
There is some evidence that essential fats are important in treating mental health issues (i.e, depression, bi-polar, etc) but not cognitive decline, and even then, it is not conclusive and some of it is conflicting as to where the benefit is coming from. Some say EPA, some say DHA, some say both, some say EFAs and some say there is no effect (See below). But remember, this is in people who follow poor diets, not optimal healthy diets. The first thing to do is to follow an optimal diet.
Now, there are many dietary and lifestyle factors, that may contribute to cognitive decline and ignoring those, and just taking a pill, is not an effective approach.
Either way, most of the recommendations you here being made are way beyond what is actually known.
On the other hand,
aerobic exercise, has a much better proven track record of being effective for mental health and cognitive function as does doing mentally challenging tasks. In fact, aerobic exercise has been shown as the only way to regenerate nerve tissue and function
MikeyG wrote:Thanks so much for your consideration and I hope that you're having an amazing day.
I am. Thanks!
In Health
Jeff
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007 Feb;1097:171-4.
Role of aerobic fitness and aging on cerebral white matter integrity.
Neuroimaging research suggests that cerebral white matter (WM) integrity, as reflected in fractional anisotropy (FA) via diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), is decreased in older adults, especially in the prefrontal regions of the brain. Behavioral investigations of cognitive functioning suggest that some aspects of cognition may be better preserved in older adults who possess higher levels of aerobic fitness. There are only a few studies, however, investigating potential mechanisms for the improvements in aerobic fitness.
Our study suggests that greater aerobic fitness may be related to greater WM integrity in select brain regions. PMID: 17413020
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2006 Nov;61(11):1166-70.
Aerobic exercise training increases brain volume in aging humans.
BACKGROUND: The present study examined whether aerobic fitness training of older humans can increase brain volume in regions associated with age-related decline in both brain structure and cognition.
METHODS: Fifty-nine healthy but sedentary community-dwelling volunteers, aged 60-79 years, participated in the 6-month randomized clinical trial. Half of the older adults served in the aerobic training group, the other half of the older adults participated in the toning and stretching control group. Twenty young adults served as controls for the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and did not participate in the exercise intervention. High spatial resolution estimates of gray and white matter volume, derived from 3D spoiled gradient recalled acquisition MRI images, were collected before and after the 6-month fitness intervention. Estimates of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2) were also obtained.
RESULTS: Significant increases in brain volume, in both gray and white matter regions, were found as a function of fitness training for the older adults who participated in the aerobic fitness training but not for the older adults who participated in the stretching and toning (nonaerobic) control group. As predicted, no significant changes in either gray or white matter volume were detected for our younger participants.
CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that cardiovascular fitness is associated with the sparing of brain tissue in aging humans. Furthermore, these results suggest
a strong biological basis for the role of aerobic fitness in maintaining and enhancing central nervous system health and cognitive functioning in older adults.
PMID: 17167157
Aerobic Fitness Reduces Brain Tissue Loss in Aging Humans
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 58:M176-M180 (2003)
Background. The human brain gradually loses tissue from the third decade of life onward, with concomitant declines in cognitive performance. Given the projected rapid growth in aged populations, and the staggering costs associated with geriatric care, identifying mechanisms that may reduce or reverse cerebral deterioration is rapidly emerging as an important public health goal. Previous research has demonstrated that aerobic fitness training improves cognitive function in older adults and can improve brain health in aging laboratory animals, suggesting that aerobic fitness may provide a mechanism to improve cerebral health in aging humans. We examined the relationship between aerobic fitness and in vivo brain tissue density in an older adult population, using voxel-based morphometric techniques.
Methods. We acquired high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging scans from 55 older adults. These images were segmented into gray and white matter maps, registered into stereotaxic space, and examined for systematic variation in tissue density as a function of age, aerobic fitness, and a number of other health markers.
Results. Consistent with previous studies of aging and brain volume, we found robust declines in tissue densities as a function of age in the frontal, parietal, and temporal cortices. More importantly, we found that losses in these areas were substantially reduced as a function of cardiovascular fitness, even when we statistically controlled for other moderator variables.
Conclusions. These findings extend the scope of beneficial effects of aerobic exercise beyond cardiovascular health, and
they suggest a strong solid biological basis for the benefits of exercise on the brain health of older adults.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Mar 2;101(9):3316-21. Epub 2004 Feb 20.
Cardiovascular fitness, cortical plasticity, and aging.
Cardiovascular fitness is thought to offset declines in cognitive performance, but little is known about the cortical mechanisms that underlie these changes in humans. Research using animal models shows that aerobic training increases cortical capillary supplies, the number of synaptic connections, and the development of new neurons. The end result is a brain that is more efficient, plastic, and adaptive, which translates into better performance in aging animals. Here, in two separate experiments, we demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge, in humans that increases in cardiovascular fitness results in increased functioning of key aspects of the attentional network of the brain during a cognitively challenging task.
Specifically, highly fit (Study 1) or aerobically trained (Study 2) persons show greater task-related activity in regions of the prefrontal and parietal cortices that are involved in spatial selection and inhibitory functioning, when compared with low-fit (Study 1) or nonaerobic control (Study 2) participants. Additionally, in both studies there exist groupwise differences in activation of the anterior cingulate cortex, which is thought to monitor for conflict in the attentional system, and signal the need for adaptation in the attentional network.
These data suggest that increased cardiovascular fitness can affect improvements in the plasticity of the aging human brain, and may serve to reduce both biological and cognitive senescence in humans.
PMID: 14978288