The McCarrison Society - NL 40/1: Special Generating Healthy Brains Edition

NL 40/1: Special Generating Healthy Brains Edition

Article Index
NL 40/1: Special Generating Healthy Brains Edition
Chairman's comments
GHB Special Report On The McCarrison Society
GHB:Report by Conference Organiser Rev Simon House, MA
GHB: Preconception to late adolescence:
GHB: From past to present: evolution and epigenetics
GHB: CLEAVE LECTURE Nutrition, the brain and mental ill health
GHB: Our changing diet; deficits and disorders
GHB: Genomic imprinting for brain development and behaviour
GHB: 'Brainfoods': Modulating brain structure and function
GHB: The effects of maternal anxiety or stress during pregnancy
GHB: Cornerstones in the Psychobiological Development of Mankind:
GHB: A psycho-soma integration perspective
GHB: 'New Parenting', psychotherapy, prenatal
GHB: Attention deficit disorders
GHB: Priorities in Research Funding
GHB:Into the future; avoiding the cost of folly
GHB: References
News
Mind What You Eat
McCarrison meeting with Sustain
Future Events

Page 7 of 22

GHB: CLEAVE LECTURE Nutrition, the brain and mental ill health.

Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, MD – Chief of Outpatient Clinic, Lab of Membrane Biophysics and Biochemistry, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, US Public Health Service Commander.

Here was American hi-tech at its best, directed to the best of purposes, health and sanity. In Michael Crawford’s word, as he presented the Cleave Cup – ‘Stunning’. With powerful statistics Joe exposed the damaging effects of our Western diets on mental health. Pinpointing fallacies in current misleading guidelines, he revealed the epidemiology and nutritional mechanisms of these intakes and their interrelated effects.

The benefits in gestation of omega3s and the false scare of mercury.

Dr. Hibbeln focused on the last century’s heavy shift in Western diet away from omega3 oils to omega6, which has recently been confused by the issue of pollutants. Clearing this confusion first, without diminishing the general threat of pollution, he showed that the scare in seafood of methyl mercury, released from power stations, had been assessed as for the bluefin tuna. But even in the tuna, for every 0.01g of methyl mercury there are 2500g of omega3. There were two studies: The Seychelles study showed no adverse effects. And for the Faeroe Islands if you allow for the content of pilot whale, which anyway is low in selenium, it shows no general problem (How many McCarrison Society members eat pilot whale? – Ed.)

In contrast the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) involving over 14,000 children, shows children to be benefiting from higher levels of prenatal and postnatal maternal omega3s, despite the levels of mercury from fish. Those on the highest fish diets compare favourably with those on the lowest in these respects:

Fine motor control at 3 ½ years – slightly but significantly higher by 0.3%.

Pathological behavioural disorder – down from 14 to 8%.

IQ at 8 years – 6% higher.

Suboptimal IQ at 8 years – down by 1/3rd, (34% to 22%) – this being a lifetime predictor of serious problems of aggressive disorders, alcoholism and others.

Verbal IQ at 8 years – up 6 points, 104 to 110.
All these are despite any higher intake of methyl mercury from fish, and for fish intakes well above the official 2004 FSA advice.

The mechanism of these gains is revealed in three studies:

DHA & AA supplemented formula milk, compared with standard, for piglets correlated with nearly double the neurotransmitters, in particular serotonin, which is vital in signalling neuron migration and development of brain connections.

DHA-supplemented rat pups correlated with greater hippocampal population of neurons, greater neurite length and number of branches, able to sustain the later pruning process.

Human tissue study. The membrane walls of Americans are full of omega6’s; Japanese full of omega3s, allowing membrane shape-changing at 1000-fold the rate for signal transmission. Meanwhile membranes releasing omega6s into the system lead to the high US levels of thrombosis and mental disorder, unlike Japan, and 107 genes alter their expression, in the central nervous system included.

Ideally we should change the omega6/3 balance radically more in line with our evolution – 3 or even 2:1 – but the situation is driven between two multi-
billion industries, soy on the one hand, and on the other anti-inflammatory drugs, aspirin etc, which could amount to a disincentive. Today’s US and GB diets often have a ratio of omega6/3 between 10 or 20:1, boding ill for our cell membranes.

(Note: front-line researchers currently regard the omega6:3 ratio of cell membranes in red blood cells as a marker of health of individuals: for it will be reflected in almost all the other cells in the body. These delicate intracellular membranes are comprised of a bi-lipid layer of long chain polyunsaturated fats and proteins – making a super-sophisticated mesh. Should the omega6:3 ratio be wildly out – as in omega6:3 of 10:1, sometimes even 20:1, this is regarded as a predictor of current state of health and future health. Ed).

The dangers in the shift from omega3s to omega6s.

The West suffers not just from low intakes of omega3s, but also their displacement by omega6s.

US soy production in the last century rose from virtually nothing to 20% of energy intake – 10% being linoleic acid – based on Hibbeln’s study of 987 foods.

Correspondingly, energy from omega6 linoleic consumption rose 8 times as fast as omega3 alpha linolenic - from green leaves and fish - (2.7% to 7% against 0.3% to 0.8%) whereas, in our evolutionary diet, omega6 - from seeds and meat - had often been limited by availability.

The results on health of this shift are visible in a series of statistics:

In the 50 years 1935-85 depression rose 100-fold (1 per 100,000 to 1 per 1000).

Between high- and low-consumers of fish there is a difference in depression rates of 50-fold.

The addition of omega3s to treatment with anti-depressives correlates with several times the effect.

Mortality and morbidity, including cardiovascular, depression and homicide, correlate with linoleic consumption, whereas cross-nations studies show homicide to correlate inversely with seafood consumption.

In a young persons’ prison3,4 supplements with fish oils, vitamins and minerals over 9 months reduced violent behaviour by a third. In three months, DHA & EPA alone reduced aggressive behaviour among alcoholics also by one-third, especially important since alcohol reduces DHA levels, as does smoking.

Finding the right RDA for omega3s.

How can we gauge the level at which a nation needs to consume omega3s, to recommend a daily allowance (RDA)?

We note that aiming within 97% of the optimum for omega3 will still keep well away from any adverse risk of excess while minimising the specific cardiovascular and psychological mortalities and disorders which have been assessed: cardiovascular, stroke, types of depression, and homicides.

The desirable level, judged by lowest incidences of these problems, is the equivalent of Japan or Iceland, but adjusted for the national intake of linoleic acid. As a valuable standard Hibbeln chose Japan’s omega3 proportion of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA), that of 60%.

We must then allow for the adverse effects of each nation’s consumption of omega6s, and increase their omega3 RDA accordingly. The table of nations’ omega3 intakes and other HUFA intakes tells us the factor by which to increase the RDA to attain the target of 60%. We find that to balance out the huge national variations in linoleic intake leads to 10-fold national variations in requirements for omega3.

Limiting our intakes of linoleic acid would also lower our requirements of omega3s and reduce our excessive demands on threatened fish stocks.

Fish, health and peace.

Finally, considering the colossal benefits of fish-rich diets, Joe Hibbeln expressed the view that surely some observant sages in history must have spotted the connection before.

Sure enough there was the evidence all over. There seems to be no culture, no religion without the association of fish and health and peace. So universal is this symbolic use that the symbol itself, as if by Pavlovian reaction alone, seems to convey a sense of health and calm.

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