Our members often tell us that they’ve noticed they eat more sustainable seafood since becoming Skipper Otto members. Making healthy choices for you, your family and those you feed is not always the easiest thing to pull off, so a big congratulations to those who have found ways to work more seafood into their diet! Science proves that eating fish once a week actually does thicken your brain, while also decreasing your risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia! It turns out, seafood is actually the ultimate brain food!
More Fish = Bigger Brains
In 2014, Dr Cyrys Raji, performed a study which was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that found that people who ate fish regularly had bigger brains and, thus, decreased risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
“If you eat fish just once a week, your hippocampus—the big memory and learning center—is 14% larger than in people who don’t eat fish that frequently. 14%. That has implications for reducing Alzheimer’s risk,” Raji said. “If you have a stronger hippocampus, your risk of Alzheimer’s is going to go down.”
“In the orbital frontal cortex, which controls executive function, it’s a solid 4%,” Raji said. “I don’t know of any drug or supplement that’s been shown to do that.” (The Atlantic, This is Your Brain on Fish.)
People who eat fish at least once a week have larger grey matter volume in the red/yellow areas. (Raji et al., American Journal of Preventative Medicine).
What About Supplements As Brain Food?
Interestingly, the study also found that consuming Omega 3’s in supplement form did not have the same effect on your brain size. The effects are only present when the fish is baked, steamed, boiled or raw – but not fried or in supplement form! This is important to keep in mind when you’re thinking about how to prepare your fish for you and your families’ brain food!
How Much Fish Should I Eat?
So, how much fish is enough to increase your brain size? It is recommended that you consume fish at least once a week! Not only can it increase your brain size by up to 14%, but it also provides 100% of your recommended dietary Vitamin D and lowers your risk of heart disease by 15%! With numbers like this, eating fish at least once a week is a no-brainer (pun intended!).
Seafood Recipes and More!
If you haven’t done so already, we recommend looking at all the great recipes on our blog for a good place to start for some culinary inspiration. Seafood doesn’t have to be intimidating to cook, and there’s a whole world of delicious (and nutritious!) ways to prepare it. We’re always adding great recipes to our blog, as well as sharing them on social media. Next time you have an ordering opportunity in your area, stock up on enough fish to ensure that it’s easy for you to stick to your healthy eating goals right through until the next time you place an order!
