Benefits Associated with Nutrients from Seafood

Benefits Associated with Nutrients from Seafood
The high nutritional quality of seafood makes it an important component of a healthy diet.

While protein is an important macronutrient in the diet, most American already consumes enough and do not need to increase their intake.

Fats and oil are also part of a healthy diet, but the type and amount of fat can be important - for example, with regard to cardiovascular disease.

Many Americans consume greater than recommended amounts of saturated fat as well as cholesterol from high-fat protein foods such as beef and pork.

Many seafood selections are lower in total and saturated fats and cholesterol than some more frequently selected anima protein foods such as fatty cuts of beef, pork and poultry and are equivalent in amount of fat to some leaner cuts of meat.

Since it is lower in saturated fats however by substituting seafood more often for other animal foods, consumers can decrease their overall intake of both total and saturated fats while retaining the nutritional quality of their protein food choices.

Seafood is also a primary source of EPA and DHA in the American diet.

The contribution of the nutrients to improving health and reducing risk for certain chronic disease in adult has not been completely elucidated.

There is evidence however, to suggest there are benefits to the developing infants such as increasing length of gestation, improved visual acuity and improve cognitive development.

In addition, there is evidence to support an overall benefit to the general population for reduced risk of heart disease among those who eat seafood compared to those who do not, and there may be benefits from consuming EPA and DHA for adults at risk for coronary heart disease.
Benefits Associated with Nutrients from Seafood

Fatty fish consumption found to slash risk of dementia, Alzheimer's

Fatty fish consumption found to slash risk of dementia, Alzheimer's
A new Tufts University issue of the journal Archives of Neurology has found that people with diets high in fatty fish run a significantly lower risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

The study examined the diets and dementia levels of nearly 900 men and women who participated in the Framingham Heart Study. Researchers followed the participants for nine years, and found that 99 people developed dementia, including 71 who developed Alzheimer's disease.

The researchers examined the participants' blood levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) -- a polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acid -- and found that those with the highest DHA levels had a 47 percent lower risk of developing dementia, and a 39 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's, compared to participants with lower blood DHA levels.

"If you have a high level of DHA, a fatty acid found in fish, it reduced your risk of dementia by about half," said the study's lead researchers, a senior scientist and director of the Lipid Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

Omega-3s have long been lauded as beneficial to cardiovascular and circulatory system health. "Just as fish is good for your heart, it's probably food for your brain as well," researcher said.

Researcher study found that blood levels of DHA can differ depending on the liver's ability to convert ALA (alpha-linolenic acid, another fatty acid) into DHA. However, the greatest influence on blood DHA levels was the amount of fish consumed.

The Framingham participants who ate the most fish per week had the highest blood levels of DHA, while those who ate the least fish had much lower levels. Though researcher believes supplementing the diet with fish oil capsules would be as effective as eating fatty fish -- such as mackerel, herring, lake trout, sardines, salmon and albacore tuna -- some experts believe more study is needed to determine the link between fish oil supplements and prevention of dementia.

According to consumer health advocate Mike Adams, author of "The Seven Laws of Nutrition," researcher's study shows that the oils found in fatty fish can protect the nervous system from degenerative damage. "But what most people don't know is that those same healthy oils can also be found in many plants, including chia seeds, flaxseed, avocados and macadamia nuts," Adams said.
Source: www.naturalnews.com
Fatty fish consumption found to slash risk of dementia, Alzheimer's