By Andrea Pelin,
Project Weight Loss Editor in Chief
January 11, 2008The brain can be protected against Parkinson`s disease through a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, according to a recent study conducted at the Université Laval.
Parkinson`s disease appears when the neurons responsible for producing dopamine die. Dopamine is a chemical compound that works as a neurotransmitter and plays a key role in the movement control. Currently, there is no medication able to stop the process. Usually, the Parkinson`s disease may be diagnosed when fifty to eighty percent of the neurons that produce dopamine are already dead.
The Université Laval research team observed the effects of an omega-3 rich diet on mice and hopes that their findings may help slow down Parkinson`s progression and prevent the disease.
The study`s results showed that mice which had larger omega-3 fatty acids intake seemed to be immune to a toxic compound that has the same damage to the brain as Parkinson`s disease. This compound has the purpose to destroy the neurons that produce dopamine and works faster than the disease itself, according to Frederic Calon, the study`s supervisor.
On the other hand, the mice who followed an ordinary diet had the characteristic symptoms of the Parkinson`s disease when they were injected with the toxic compound. The mice had a fifty percent decrease in dopamine levels and lost thirty one percent of the dopamine-producing neurons.
The analyses showed that the brain which is rich in omega-6 fatty acids may be an ideal ground for Parkinson`s disease. Omega-6 fatty acids are found in animal fat and may play a key role in the development of arthritis, Alzheimer`s, or cardiac disease.
The recommended ratio between omega-6 and omega-3 acids should be four to one while the average Western diets have up to twenty times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3`s.
The findings also pointed that the DHA, a particular form of omega-3 fatty acids, had replaced the omega-6 fatty acids in the brains of the mice that followed the omega-3 rich diet.
The daily recommended dose of DHA is of at least 250 mg, while in North America, the average intake is up to eighty mg per day, according to Calon.
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