Does Fish Oil Actually Support Brain Health?

Something’s Fishy: The lure of fish oil is largely due to its omega-3 fatty acids, which play important roles in cardiovascular and brain health. For people who don’t consume much fish, supplements have offered an alternative delivery system. But a recent study has found that fish-oil supplements may not be delivering the cognitive benefits we’d previously thought.
 
The Study: Researchers at the University of Southern California created a two-year clinical trial with 365 adults at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease who rarely ate fish. They were randomly assigned to receive a placebo or a fish-oil supplement containing 2,000 mg of DHA, one of the omega-3s that’s crucial for brain and neuron structure and function. Researchers assessed the participants’ memory and measured the amount of DHA in spinal fluid at several points in the trial. 

The Takeaway: The supplements did deliver omega-3s to the brain, but the supplement-based fatty acids had little impact once they got there — even at high doses. They didn’t prevent hippocampus shrinkage or improve memory or cognitive function. 

Keep in Mind: Determining why this happened was outside the scope of the research, but researchers said a healthy lifestyle — diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management — is your best bet for protecting the brain.