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Ageing may be inevitable, but it’ll be accompanied by less defects if you have more fish fatty acids [scientific name: n-3 fatty acids] in your blood. Gerontologists at the Second University of Naples came to this conclusion after studying 1300 elderly Italians. Fish fatty acids inhibit ageing processes in the body’s movement equipment.
The researchers are on the lookout for nutritional interventions that can help to keep the ageing population in western countries healthy and independent. They were interested to know whether fish fatty acids have a longevity effect. To find out they measured the concentration of a series of food fatty acids in the blood of their group of elderly Italians. The average age of the group was 69, and the oldest subject was 104.
The geriatricians also measured how fit their test subjects were. In the first round of measurements the researchers noticed that the fitter subjects had more fish fatty acids in their blood than less fit subjects.
The more fish fatty acids the researchers found in the blood of their elderly subjects, the less physical decline they showed. Plant food-based omega-6 fatty acids do not have a negative effect, as long as there are sufficient amounts of fish fatty acids circulating in the elderly bodies.
Fish consumption is fairly low in the region where the Italians recruited their research subjects. The fish fatty acids that the researchers measured therefore probably do not come from fish, but from plant sources of n-3 fatty acids, such as linseed and nuts. These contain the n-3 fatty acid ALA. Enzymes in the body convert ALA into the ‘real’ fish fatty acids, EPA and DHA.
How fish fatty acids retard ageing processes in the body’s movement apparatus the researchers do not yet know. They speculate that the fish fatty acids diminish the catabolic inflammatory processes that intensify as the body ages.
Source:
Rejuvenation Res. 2009 Feb;12(1):25-32.
The researchers are on the lookout for nutritional interventions that can help to keep the ageing population in western countries healthy and independent. They were interested to know whether fish fatty acids have a longevity effect. To find out they measured the concentration of a series of food fatty acids in the blood of their group of elderly Italians. The average age of the group was 69, and the oldest subject was 104.
The geriatricians also measured how fit their test subjects were. In the first round of measurements the researchers noticed that the fitter subjects had more fish fatty acids in their blood than less fit subjects.
The more fish fatty acids the researchers found in the blood of their elderly subjects, the less physical decline they showed. Plant food-based omega-6 fatty acids do not have a negative effect, as long as there are sufficient amounts of fish fatty acids circulating in the elderly bodies.
Fish consumption is fairly low in the region where the Italians recruited their research subjects. The fish fatty acids that the researchers measured therefore probably do not come from fish, but from plant sources of n-3 fatty acids, such as linseed and nuts. These contain the n-3 fatty acid ALA. Enzymes in the body convert ALA into the ‘real’ fish fatty acids, EPA and DHA.
How fish fatty acids retard ageing processes in the body’s movement apparatus the researchers do not yet know. They speculate that the fish fatty acids diminish the catabolic inflammatory processes that intensify as the body ages.
Source:
Rejuvenation Res. 2009 Feb;12(1):25-32.