How much does DHA help your cognitive function?

[BonzaiDuck]

Docosahexaenoic Acid -- a particular type of Omega-3 "fish oil".

Some information suggests that 600 mg per day for 6 months will help your brain function as if it were three years younger.

Do you have firsthand experience with this supplement? A knowledgeable friend revealed to me that he'd been taking it for ten years.

I wish I had taken my mother's interest in Omega-3 more seriously.

 

[lxskllr]

I eat more canned fish than the average American, and have done so for years. I feel no different, and subjectively, I can't keep track of things the way I used to. Words don't come as easily as they used to, I forget what I wanted to look up in the 30 second trip to the computer, and complicated construction jobs I could keep track of in my head, I forget the details of, and have to look at the prints.

There's no A/B testing, so maybe it would be worse if I didn't eat a lot of fish. Maybe not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Stiff Clamp]

DHA isn't formulated to penetrate the blood-brain barrier.
If you yearn for any other fatty-acids designed to boost brain function, I would seek out phosphatidylserine, citicoline, and choline/inositol blend. Phosphatidylserine aids memory. Citicoline generally boosts blood flow to the brain. They do make a good combo.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

DHA isn't formulated to penetrate the blood-brain barrier.
If you yearn for any other fatty-acids designed to boost brain function, I would seek out phosphatidylserine, citicoline, and choline/inositol blend. Phosphatidylserine aids memory. Citicoline generally boosts blood flow to the brain. They do make a good combo.

And so I have, after scrutinizing the Qunol advertisement on the TEE VEE. I and my PC physician opine that Prevagen is a placebo. But Qunol isn't Prevagen, and it contains at least some of the substances you mention.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I eat more canned fish than the average American, and have done so for years. I feel no different, and subjectively, I can't keep track of things the way I used to. Words don't come as easily as they used to, I forget what I wanted to look up in the 30 second trip to the computer, and complicated construction jobs I could keep track of in my head, I forget the details of, and have to look at the prints.

There's no A/B testing, so maybe it would be worse if I didn't eat a lot of fish. Maybe not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My Moms, whom I've memorialized in threads here around the time of her death in October 2023, had a chosen diet of a bear sow. She daily fed herself generous portions of red sockeye salmon, blueberries and various nuts. It almost seemed as though she was making a deliberate effort, for watching some PBS show about Grizzlies, but I can verify that I never caught her looking under rocks for moths to eat.

She apparently had anxieties about dementia and general cognitive decline. Two years after her passing, I'm still sorting through file boxes of computer printouts and other documents she saved during this current century. When she'd been diagnosed with "mild dementia" in 2012, she was collecting printouts on reducing chances of Alzheimers, while she discontinued her regular doctor appointments because she "didn't like what they were telling her." So one such article mentioned DHA or docosahexaenoic acid from Omega-3.

Since another health-conscious friend in New Mexico mentioned taking it for the last ten years @ 600 mg /day, I decided to add it to my pillboxes along with Qunol.

The fish which you habitually consume is healthy for a lot of reasons. That's why I regularly buy 3 lbs of catfish at the grocery so I can coat the filets in buttermilk and seasoning flour and them freeze them so they're all ready for the oven or the frypan -- the latter not so good because of the cooking oil. A little special treatment with a spray-can of PAM makes dry-frying just as good as the traditional fry pan. Of course, salmon is probably much better than catfish or sea-bass.

Today I visited a marvelous restaurant which has flourished in my town for many decades -- Joe's Italian Restaurant. We'd been comparing the menu with another place called Mamma MIa. Joe's has this "Pacifica" seafood linguine just loaded with jumbo shrimp, clam, crab and other stuff -- with a sauce that rivals my own -- something I had always thought was beyond supreme.

But you can argue that shellfish -- seafood -- isn't fish in the proper sense of the word.

So with the carbs I consumed from the pasta and garlic cheese-bread, I must interrupt my communication here so I can take my 2-mile walk. I HOPE I can do two miles.