
Omega-3: Intervention for childhood behavioral problems? (2015) - prostoalex
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150515134827.htm
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is_this_valid2
Endocannabinoids are produced by the body when Omega-3 is consumed.

Too much Omega-6 seems to limit the body's ability to utilize Omega-3.

Reducing inflammation (which is good for hyper-inflammation, which pollution
can cause or worsen) is one function of the endocannabinoid system (ECS).

A search for `Omega-3 endonannabinoids` on GScholar:
[https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C43&q=ome...](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C43&q=omega-3+endocannabinoids)

The Omega-3 wikipedia page lists a number of foods sorted by Omega-3 content
in descending order:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega-3_fatty_acid#Dietary_sou...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega-3_fatty_acid#Dietary_sources)

The top two sources (flax and hemp) are plant based and thus have ALA but not
the DHA or EPA that some animal sources have.

Fish don't produce Omega-3: they eat algae and then the PUFAs (polyunsaturated
fatty acids) are stored in fat.

Fish and cheap fish oil may have other contaminants due to pollution in our
lakes, streams, and oceans.

It's important to eat a balanced diet. Eating anti-inflammatory (and anti-
oxidant) foods is one way to regulate hyperinflammation.

Any form of combustion (burning carbon matter) produces carbon monoxide. CO is
terrible for most living things in part because the unbound oxygen binds to
whatever it finds (oxidization).

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adrianN
I wonder how much of the association of poverty with crime can be explained by
poor nutrition.

~~~
elric
Poor nutrition, more likely to live in more heavily polluted areas. Can't be a
good combination. We now have a pretty good understanding of how bad leaded
gasoline was. Maybe in another fifty years we'll look back at junk food and
wonder "how could we have been so stupid"?

I think it would be wise to increase funding of nutritional science. Many of
the most basic controversies remain unresolved (fat, sugar, salt). The most
bizarre conditions can sometimes be treated using supplements of seemingly
unrelated nutrients (behavioural problems: omega 3, migraine: b2). But sample
sizes are always small, double blind studies are hard and rare, there are tons
of confounding factors.

~~~
eitland
> I think it would be wise to increase funding of nutritional science. Many of
> the most basic controversies remain unresolved (fat, sugar, salt).

Yep, just be careful. We are just now recovering from the phase where one
actual scientists mislead others to think that fat was bad and sugar wasn't
:-/

In the eighties many children died because of SIDS because of one scientist
who convinced others that infants shouldn't sleep the way they had always
slept - face up.

etc etc.

~~~
johnkpaul
Yes completely! Medicine has done wonders but also has some serious skeletons
in the closet when it comes to medical reversals.

I’ve found this book to be fascinating and super enlightening about what has
gone wrong even in recent history.

[https://www.amazon.com/Ending-Medical-Reversal-Improving-
Out...](https://www.amazon.com/Ending-Medical-Reversal-Improving-
Outcomes/dp/1421417723)

I’m hopeful one day that fat demonization will be formally reversed.

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vga805
Omega-3 is not a single thing. There are three important acids, ALA, EPA, and
DHA. The first can be found in some plant sources, I mostly get it from flax,
soy, and kale.

The latter two are only found in fish, and for the vegetarians, algae. A few
people have mentioned cod liver oil. I supplement with an algae oil, it
contains the omega-3s and I believe avoids the worry of toxic metals.

~~~
marton78
> avoids the worry of toxic metals.

And, more importantly, of overfishing. When I looked into supplements a year
ago l, the algae capsules named "Opti3" had the highest EPA & DHA / Cost ratio
and are fully vegan.

~~~
hkyeti
Yup, go straight to the source (where fish get theirs)

~~~
735tsdfe44
The fish or marine invertebrates synthesize EPA and DHA by consuming
microalgae that {1}do not contain both.

{1}
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24152561](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24152561)

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winter_blue
Wow, this is amazing. My parents use to give me 2 or 3 capsules of cod liver
oil daily growing up (since I was 4 or 5). I didn't know realize it had such a
huge health benefit. The other daily supplement I took was liquid Feroglobin,
an iron supplement.

I'm feeling thankful that they were so health-conscious.

~~~
noja
How is cod liver oil made? Is it extracted from cods livers? :)

If yes, is there a risk of heavy metal poisoning?

~~~
Someone
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cod_liver_oil#Manufacture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cod_liver_oil#Manufacture).

And the liver is a filter, so heavy metals and PCBs do accumulate there, yes.
I wouldn’t know whether that is a big concern.

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dntbnmpls
"The researchers caution that this is still preliminary work in uncovering the
role nutrition plays in the link between brain development and antisocial
behavior. The changes seen in the one-year period of the experiment may not
last, and the results may not be generalizable outside the unique context of
Mauritius."

Wish articles/research papers/etc would put such warnings at the beginning of
the article rather than towards the end.

Also if omega-3 is truly a miracle "food" then can't we simply compare the
populations that consume a lot of omega-3 ( fish primarily ) vs those who
don't? Can't we compare nations that consume a lot of fish vs those that
don't? Are one more antisocial than the other? Are the children better behaved
in one vs the other? Are the brains healthier/more developed in one compared
to the other? If the answer was yes, maybe then we should do further research
on omega-3?

~~~
pdfernhout
Another study (from 2006):
[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/oct/17/prisonsandp...](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/oct/17/prisonsandprobation.ukcrime)
"Omega-3, junk food and the link between violence and what we eat ... Research
with British and US offenders suggests nutritional deficiencies may play a key
role in aggressive behaviour ... Demar has been taking part in a clinical
trial at the US government's National Institutes for Health, near Washington.
The study is investigating the effects of omega-3 fatty acid supplements on
the brain, and the pills that have effected Demar's "miracle" are doses of
fish oil. The results emerging from this study are at the cutting edge of the
debate on crime and punishment. In Britain we lock up more people than ever
before. Nearly 80,000 people are now in our prisons, which reached their
capacity this week. But the new research calls into question the very basis of
criminal justice and the notion of culpability. It suggests that individuals
may not always be responsible for their aggression. Taken together with a
study in a high-security prison for young offenders in the UK, it shows that
violent behaviour may be attributable at least in part to nutritional
deficiencies. The UK prison trial at Aylesbury jail showed that when young men
there were fed multivitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, the number
of violent offences they committed in the prison fell by 37%. Although no one
is suggesting that poor diet alone can account for complex social problems,
the former chief inspector of prisons Lord Ramsbotham says that he is now
"absolutely convinced that there is a direct link between diet and antisocial
behaviour, both that bad diet causes bad behaviour and that good diet prevents
it." ..."

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akavel
Oh, so cool, from first impressions it looks like solid good scientific method
at work:

\- 200 participants, which is not super many, but already something to at
least start talking about in terms of statistics & non-fluke probability;

\- your gold standard of: "put forward a theory, then run an experiment that
can falsify it" (vs. e.g. retroactive)

\- according to the article's title, randomized, double-blind, and placebo-
controlled.

I didn't read the actual article, and I'm not a scientist myself or good
enough in statistics to be able to validate it further for no errors, but the
initial signals already make me so happy that in nutritioning there are people
trying to do good science! <3

~~~
tsco77
I've seen similar studies bouncing around. The results are always kinda
promising, maybe.

The important thing here is fish burps.

Omega 3 pills are relatively inexpensive with the really only negative side
effect being fish burps. So maybe it does work for aggression, antisocial
behavior (heart disease, protection from Nuero cognitive disorders later in
life), or maybe it doesn't. But if all it costs is a few bucks and some fish
burps, isn't it worth trying?

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jerome-jh
Omega-3 can also be had from unprocessed vegetable oils, especially
colza/rapeseed. But because not only omega-3 matters, a mix of olive and colza
oils is advised for a good balance of omega-3-6-9.

I have not read the full article. It just reminds me of my mother's view where
food decides everything else.

~~~
vga805
EPA and DHA can be had from plants? Which ones? Rapeseed only has ALA. As far
as I know, those other omega-3s are only found in fish or algae oil.

~~~
amelius
ALA converts to EPA and DHA to some extent.

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9637947](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9637947)

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slicktux
It’s important to note that not all omega 3 is equal; plant derived omega 3
(ALA) is hard for the body to synthesize and use where animal derived omega 3
(EPA & DHA) is easier to synthesize for use.

