The vital role that fish consumption, and omega 3-rich fish oils in particular, play in the development and well being of the human brain has been the constant theme of academics such as Professors Michael Crawford, Alex Richardson and Basant Puri for decades.

They compare the truly alarming rise in mental health and behavioural problems amongst children and adults in most of the developed world with plummeting fish consumption and hugely increased use of omega 6 oils from seeds. Backed by an increasingly convincing body of evidence, they maintain that that an adequate consumption of the correct balance of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids is essential for brain development in small children and for the maintenance of good mental health in older children and adults.

Studies in which depressed and mentally unstable adults are treated with fish oils are promising but some of the most significant results have been with ADHD children.

The 2005 Oxford Durham trial of 117 primary school children with both ADHD and DCD (Develop-mental Coordination Disorder) showed significant improvements in behaviour, reading and spelling amongst the children taking the fish oil supplement. (The results were published in Pediatrics 2005, 1360-1366 - Richardson AJ & Montgomery P - The Oxford Durham Trial: a randomised, controlled trial of dietary supplementation with fatty acids in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder).
More information from www.fabresearch.org

The recently published results of a similar, but larger, trial carried out in Adelaide, Australia, builds on the findings in Durham. ADHD symptoms in the children on the fish oil supplement reduced from the ‘upper range’ of clinical to ‘mildly’ clinical over the 30 weeks of the trial. The researchers also compared the effect of taking a broad spectrum multivitamin/mineral supplement with the effect of the fish oil and found that the multivitamin had no apparent effect on the children’s symptoms whereas the fish oil did. (Sinn N & Bryan J 2007. Effect of supplementation with polyunsaturated fatty acids and micronutrients on ADHD related problems with attention and behaviour. Journal of Developmental & Behavioural Pediatrics, 29(2), 82-91)

In both trials the improvement in children’s symptoms on fish oil
supplementation compared favourably with improvements achieved using methylphenidate (Ritalin).

In both trials the fish oil used was Equazen’s eye q™ capsules - see the offer below. eye q™ combines omega 3 EPA from marine fish oils with omega 6 GLA from first pressing evening primrose oil - with no added casein, gluten, lactose, sweeteners or other chemicals.

For more information on Equazen check www.equazen.com

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