Fatty Acids For The Eyes & Brain: The Good And The Bad

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Good For The Eyes; Good For The Brain

We’ve written before about omega-3 fatty acids, covering the basics and some lesser-known things:

What Omega-3 Fatty Acids Really Do For Us

…and while we discussed its well-established benefits against cognitive decline (which is to be expected, because omega-3 is good against inflammation, and a large part of age-related neurodegeneration is heavily related to neuroinflammation), there’s a part of the brain we didn’t talk about in that article: the eyes.

We did, however, talk in another article about supplements that benefit the eyes and [the rest of the] brain, and the important links between the two, to the point that an examination of the levels of lutein in the retina can inform clinicians about the levels of lutein in the brain as a whole, and strongly predict Alzheimer’s disease (because Alzheimer’s patients have significantly less lutein), here:

Brain Food? The Eyes Have It!

Now, let’s tie these two ideas together

In a recent (June 2024) meta-analysis of high-quality observational studies from the US and around the world, involving nearly a quarter of a million people over 40 (n=241,151), researchers found that a higher intake of omega-3 is significantly linked to a lower risk of macular degeneration.

To put it in numbers, the highest intake of omega-3s was associated with an 18% reduced risk of early stage macular degeneration.

They also looked at a breakdown of what kinds of omega-3, and found that taking a blend DHA and EPA worked best of all, although of people who only took one kind, DHA was the best “single type” option.

You can read the paper in full, here:

Association between fatty acid intake and age-related macular degeneration: a meta-analysis

A word about trans-fatty acids (TFAs)

It was another feature of the same study that, while looking at fatty acids in general, they also found that higher consumption of trans-fatty acids was associated with a higher risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration.

Specifically, the highest intake of TFAs was associated with a more than 2x increased risk.

There are two main dietary sources of trans-fatty acids:

  • Processed foods that were made with TFAs; these have now been banned in a lot of places, but only quite recently, and the ban is on the processing, not the sale, so if you buy processed foods that contain ingredients that were processed before 2021 (not uncommon, given the long life of many processed foods), the chances of them having TFAs is higher.
  • Most animal products. Most notably from mammals and their milk, so beef, pork, lamb, milk, cheese, and yes even yogurt. Poultry and fish technically do also contain TFAs in most cases, but the levels are much lower.

Back to the omega-3 fatty acids…

If you’re wondering where to get good quality omega-3, well, we listed some of the best dietary sources in our main omega-3 article (linked at the top of today’s).

However, if you want to supplement, here’s an example product on Amazon that’s high in DHA and EPA, following the science of what we shared today 😎

Take care!

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      Hanging can be done at home or at a park, with minimal equipment (a bar, a sturdy tree branch, etc).

      Note: the greater the diameter of the bar, the more it will work your grip strength, and/but the harder it will be. So, it’s recommend to start with a narrow-diameter bar first.

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    • Bold Beans – by Amelia Christie-Miller

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      We all know beans are one of the most healthful foods around, but how to include more of them, without getting boring?

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    • Are Brain Chips Safe?

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      Ready For Cyborgization?

      A bar chart showing the percentage of people who use social media, emphasizing its safety.

      In yesterday’s newsletter, we asked you for your views on Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs), such as the Utah Array and Neuralink’s chips on/in brains that allow direct communication between brains and computers, so that (for example) a paralysed person can use a device to communicate, or manipulate a prosthetic limb or two.

      We didn’t get as many votes as usual; it’s possible that yesterday’s newsletter ended up in a lot of spam filters due to repeated use of a word in “extra ______ olive oil” in its main feature!

      However, of the answers we did get…

      • About 54% said “It’s bad enough that our phones spy on us, without BCI monitoring our thoughts as well!”
      • About 23% said “Sounds great in principle, but I don’t think we’re there yet safetywise”
      • About 19% said “Sign me up for technological telepathy! I am ready for assimilation”
      • One (1) person said “Electrode outside the skull are good; chips on the brain are bad”

      But what does the science say?

      We’re not there yet safetywise: True or False?

      True, in our opinion, when it comes to the latest implants, anyway. While it’s very difficult to prove a negative (it could be that everything goes perfectly in human trials), “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”, and so far this seems to be lacking.

      The stage before human trials is usually animal trials, starting with small creatures and working up to non-human primates if appropriate, before finally humans.

      • Good news: the latest hot-topic BCI device (Neuralink) was tested on animals!
      • Bad news: to say it did not go well would be an understatement

      The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died

      The above is a Wired article, and we tend to go for more objective sources, however we chose this one because it links to very many objective sources, including an open letter from the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine, which basically confirms everything in the Wired article. There are lots of links to primary (medical and legal) sources, too.

      Electrodes outside the skull are good; chips on/in the brain are bad: True or False?

      True or False depending on how they’re done. The Utah Array (an older BCI implant, now 20 years old, though it’s been updated many times since) has had a good safety record, after being used by a few dozen people with paralysis to control devices:

      How the Utah Array is advancing BCI science

      The Utah Array works on the same general principle as Neuralink, but the mechanics of its implementation are very different:

      • The Utah Array involves a tiny bundle of microelectrodes (held together by a rigid structure that looks a bit like a nanoscale hairbrush) put in place by a brain surgeon, and that’s that.
      • The Neuralink has a dynamic web of electrodes, implanted by a little robot that acts like a tiny sewing machine to implant many polymer threads, each containing its own a bunch of electrodes.

      In theory, the latter is much more advanced. In practice, so far, the former has a much better safety record.

      I am right to be a little worried about giving companies access to my brain: True or False?

      True or False, depending on the nature of your concern.

      For privacy: current BCI devices have quite simple switches operated consciously by the user. So while technically any such device that then runs its data through Bluetooth or WiFi could be hacked, this risk is no greater than using a wireless mouse and/or keyboard, because it has access to about the same amount of information.

      For safety: yes, probably there is cause to be worried. Likely the first waves of commercial users of any given BCI device will be severely disabled people who are more likely to waive their rights in the hope of a life-changing assistance device, and likely some of those will suffer if things go wrong.

      Which on the one hand, is their gamble to make. And on the other hand, makes rushing to human trials, for companies that do that, a little more predatory.

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