We often hear about the brain-boosting magic of oily fish, but what’s the science behind the health benefits of seafood?
Does hearing loss run in your family? If so, you might want to increase the oily fish in your diet. A new study suggests that consuming seafood (particularly oily fish such as sardines, salmon and mackerel) could possibly help stave off deafness in later life.
Earlier this week, Michael McBurney, a researcher at the University of Guelph, in Canada, presented intriguing findings at the American Society for Nutrition annual meeting. The scientist found that seafood rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as DHA and EPA, along with other nutrients, has significant health benefits. By studying data from more than 100,000 middle-aged people in the UK, he found that people with particularly high blood levels of DHA were 16 per cent less likely to have difficulty with their hearing compared with those who had relatively low levels.
While we still need to learn more about the connection between omega-3 and our hearing and study this link in clinical trials, McBurney explains that DHA is thought to play an important role in signal transmission between nerve cells, including the auditory nerves in the ear.
This role in transmission is one of the reasons it’s so essential to brain health, as we so often hear. Supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids has been shown to improve mental performance in people of all ages.