Omega-3 and Parkinson’s Disease
The press release had a curious title: “Omega-3 fatty acids protect against Parkinson’s.” The certainty suggested an experiment, but Parkinson’s is too rare to study prevention experimentally. The press release turned out to be about a rat study that used a drug called MDPT to cause brain damage that resembles Parkinson’s. Rats given a high-omega-3 diet suffered much less damage — apparently none — from the drug.
Rats given the high omega-3 diet had much less omega-6 in their brains than control rats — one more reason, in addition to the Israeli Paradox, to think that omega-6 may be just as bad as omega-3 is good. Omega-3 may act by displacing omega-6 (they are almost identical physically).
The results could have been taken to suggest both (a) eat more omega-3-rich foods, such as fish and (b) eat less omega-6-rich foods, such as most nuts and vegetable oils, but only the first recommendation reached the public.
December 15th, 2007 at 3:57 am
Suggesting that people avoid nuts seems counterproductive. Nuts are among the only foods for which consumption is consistently and dramatically linked to lower heart disease (and all-cause) mortality in epidemiologic studies, and lab and animal studies are also suggestive of protection from vascular diseases.
December 15th, 2007 at 4:53 am
Thanks, David, that’s a good point. I was aware of experiments suggesting that walnuts — which are high in omega-3, one of the few nuts that is — have heart-protective effects. But I’d forgotten about the studies you mention. I found this in a 1999 paper: “Perhaps one of the most unexpected and novel findings in nutritional epidemiology in the past 5 y has been that nut consumption seems to protect against ischemic heart disease (IHD).” It’s also true that while vegetable oils are high in omega-6, nuts contain far more than fat. Vegetable oils are close to the sum of the fats they contain; nuts aren’t.
December 15th, 2007 at 11:54 am
http://ifitandhealthy.com/healthy-diets-the-mediterranean-diet/
When it comes to a fatty acid composition of oils, the best omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is found in flaxseed, canola, walnut, olive, and avocado oils.
Omega-6:Omega-3 Ratio in oils:
Flaxseed – 0:24
Canola – 2:00
Walnut – 5:08
Olive – 13:1
Avocado – 13:0
In nuts, the best omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is in walnuts, macadamia, pecans, cashews, and pine nuts.
Omega-6:Omega-3 Ratio in nuts:
Walnuts – 4:2
Macadamia – 6:3
Pecans – 20:9
Pine – 31:6
Cashews – 47:6
If you have a choice, it is a good idea to use nuts and oils with a good omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.
March 20th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Thanks to Peter! I’ve been looking for that nut info all over the Internet.