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Omega-3s: Are “Brain-Boosting” Effects Scientifically Backed?

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Re: Omega-3s: Are “Brain-Boosting” Effects Scientifically Backed?

#11

Post by weavie »

simonh wrote: post #8

So basically once your body has all the nutrients it needs to grow or make the things it needs to make, it makes them. Even more extra stuff it doesn’t need, it doesn’t use. Makes sense. This also appears to apply to the immune system. There’s zero evidence that supplements that are supposed to “boost your immune system” do any such thing. Yes your immune system functions best if you have good nutrition, but that’s i…

I guess the argument would be that you don't know for sure whether your diet does provide all the nutrients your body needs, so supplements could be used to fill in any gaps. The assumption being that your body will just dispose of any excess safely.

Re: Omega-3s: Are “Brain-Boosting” Effects Scientifically Backed?

#14

Post by humbleferret »

pprotas wrote: post #7
n2j3 wrote: post #6

cost of 100 omega 3 capsules (in .gr): ~10 euros, fish and nuts cost about 18 euros per kilo and tend to spoil.

Omega 3 capsules can also spoil, right?

> Omega 3 capsules can also spoil, right?

Yes, they do. An old study suggests an average of 20% of omega-3 fish oil products had excessive oxidation. Or in other words, rancid.

https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article/80/1/138/6...

Re: Omega-3s: Are “Brain-Boosting” Effects Scientifically Backed?

#15

Post by The_Colonel »

n2j3 wrote: post #6

cost of 100 omega 3 capsules (in .gr): ~10 euros, fish and nuts cost about 18 euros per kilo and tend to spoil.

Eating a lot of fish also brings some risks from microplastic and other pollution, especially if you don't pay attention to where it comes from.

Re: Omega-3s: Are “Brain-Boosting” Effects Scientifically Backed?

#16

Post by mistercow »

I don’t understand the author’s reading of the literature they cite. They refer to “isolated studies” and then link to a systematic review of 25 studies. They also linked to the same review twice for both memory and attention, which I assume is a mistake, because the review only supports the claim about memory.

But none of these studies are about “brain-boosting”. They’re about preventing or reversing cognitive decline, which is perhaps related, but ultimately different.

No fault to the author of this post for being unable to find evidence focused on healthy adults; anyone who has looked into the evidence around nootropics can tell you that pretty much nobody wants to study that. But it’s important to be clear about what the evidence actually says, and what it doesn’t speak to.

Re: Omega-3s: Are “Brain-Boosting” Effects Scientifically Backed?

#17

Post by AmericanChopper »

weavie wrote: post #11
simonh wrote: post #8

So basically once your body has all the nutrients it needs to grow or make the things it needs to make, it makes them. Even more extra stuff it doesn’t need, it doesn’t use. Makes sense. This also appears to apply to the immune system. There’s zero evidence that supplements that are supposed to “boost your immune system” do any such thing. Yes your immune system functions best if you have good nutrition, but that’s i…

I guess the argument would be that you don't know for sure whether your diet does provide all the nutrients your body needs, so supplements could be used to fill in any gaps. The assumption being that your body will just dispose of any excess safely.

If you spend enough time looking into what micronutrients you need, you eventually figure out that it is actually pretty hard to get them all through diet. But there is essentially no end to the scientifically backed list of beneficial supplements you might choose to take, so if you want to start, there’s not really a rational place to stop, and it can spiral out of control quite quickly. I think the better approach is just to eat a varied diet.

Re: Omega-3s: Are “Brain-Boosting” Effects Scientifically Backed?

#18

Post by mamonster »

I mean, that's kind of the gist of supplements as a whole, you only take them if you cannot replicate it using a normal diet/lifestyle.

The biggest example for this IMO is Vitamin D. If you can spend time in the Sun regularly every day, you won't ever need to touch vitamin D. But how realistic is that for most people ?

The only supplement I've encountered so far that has a noticeable effect that cannot be reproduced with any realistic diet is creatine.

Re: Omega-3s: Are “Brain-Boosting” Effects Scientifically Backed?

#19

Post by mjburgess »

One of the major problems translating "science to advice" is the need to specify a risk/reward model for the person being advised.

If P(TheScience) = 0.01, but P(GeneralInjury|TheScience) = 0.00000000000...1, and P(GeneralBenefit|TheScience) = 0.5 .... then most people should do "what the science says".

Of course there's P(MyBenefit|TheScience) and P(MyInjury|TheScience) which makes rendering general advise often impossible/unethical.

There's a class of people (eg., neurodivergent, autoimmune problems, etc.) for whom P(MyInjury|...) is "anti-correlated" with P(GeneralInjury|...)

...which leads to more pronounced mistrust regarding medical interventions.

Re: Omega-3s: Are “Brain-Boosting” Effects Scientifically Backed?

#20

Post by newsclues »

simonh wrote: post #8

So basically once your body has all the nutrients it needs to grow or make the things it needs to make, it makes them. Even more extra stuff it doesn’t need, it doesn’t use. Makes sense. This also appears to apply to the immune system. There’s zero evidence that supplements that are supposed to “boost your immune system” do any such thing. Yes your immune system functions best if you have good nutrition, but that’s i…

I think the "boost your immune system" things are just common deficiencies in modern people.

If most people don't get enough vitamin C or D in regular life, then the advice to boost their immune system with a sufficient does to be non-deficient would function to boost their immune system to a normally healthy level.

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