Protect your brain and prevent or treat CARB syndrome by knowing your blood omega-6/omega-3 ratio
and by consuming adequate amounts of omega-3 fatty acids
fish oil caps (Krill)
Omega-3 fats are critical for normal brain function and as you now know, people with CARB syndrome already have some degree of brain dysfunction. One important element in managing “Sugar-Brain” or CARB syndrome is to pay attention to the relative amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 fats in your body.
A study in the February 28th addition of the journal Neurology looked at the issue of omega-3 fats in the brain. They looked at 1,575 patients in the Framingham study in my home state of Massachusetts. They measured red blood cell levels of DHA and EPA, the most important omega-3 fatty acids, and then they performed MRI scans and various tests of mental function on these patients. They discovered that those with the lowest levels of omega-3 fatty acids tended to have smaller brains and they performed poorer on the mental tests than those with higher omega-3 levels.
In other words your brain needs a lot of omega-3 fats to function normally.
It’s very important to know the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids in your body. Throughout our evolutionary history humans typically had a ratio of about 1/1. During modern times this ratio has increased to about 16/1 primarily because we consume so many omega-6 fatty polyunsaturated fatty acids from vegetable oils, especially corn oil and soybean oil. Junk food, most processed foods and fast food is loaded with these types of fat. This situation got worse when we listened to the “experts” and replaced saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat from vegetable oils.
Omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory actions whereas omega-6 fatty acids tend to promote inflammation, accelerating diseases such as hypertension, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, obesity and various forms of arthritis. That’s why it’s important to get adequate amounts of DHA and EPA, the most important omega-3 fats, in your diet. The easiest way to do so is to eat lots of fatty fish but because of the mercury contamination problem, taking omega-3 supplements is a good way to go. On days when you don’t eat fish I recommend taking three or four high-quality fish oil capsules daily. If your triglyceride levels are above 150 your should increase this amount to at least six capsules daily.
It’s best to store fish oil capsules away from light and once the bottle is open, place it in the refrigerator to avoid rancidity. Another good option is to take krill oil capsules. Unlike standard fish oil supplements, high quality krill oil supplements also have high levels of astaxanthin, a novel marine anti-oxidant. Dr. Mercola sells a number of high-quality krill oil products on his web site: http://www.mercola.com.
Home blood testing kits for the omega-6/omega-3 ratio are available at: http://www.genesmart.com.
So protect your brain and prevent or treat CARB syndrome by knowing your blood omega-6/omega-3 ration and by consuming adequate amounts of omega-3 fatty acids to keep the ratio as close to 1/1 as possible. Be well!