Fishing Expedition

     I grew up Catholic, and back then Catholics were not allowed to eat meat on Fridays. Honestly, I forget why. But in our house it meant that my mother served fish every Friday night. She wasn’t a particularly good cook, my mother, so we had fish sticks or fish cakes from the freezer, or frozen scallops, or some limp white pasty material covered in breadcrumbs. Every once in a while we got swordfish. Actually, I even as a kid I thought swordfish was pretty good, grilled with lemon, butter and capers.

     My mother was Catholic, but my father was not. He didn’t have to eat fish on Fridays, and sometimes he'd get a hamburger instead. But this would raise a ruckus among us four suddenly rebellious kids, so it didn't happen often. Besides, my dad was the smart one in the family. And he would tell us that fish is brain food. It makes you smart. And in his mind, being smart is about the best quality you could find in a human being.

     How smart we all became is up for debate. But whatever intellectual failings we have, it isn’t for lack of fish.

     Now that I've grown up, I actually like seafood. Or, most of it. I can't quite stomach squid or eel or catfish (can anybody?). But I like lobster and shrimp, flounder and cod and snapper and tuna and tilapia. And now I've found out that my dad was right. I read in the Tufts University “Health & Nutrition Letter” that at least in certain circumstances, seafood is indeed brain food.

     Researchers from Tufts University, in a nine-year study of close to 500 older adults, found that those consuming at least three servings of fish a week were at significantly lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. And studies from the Rush University Memory and Aging Project concluded that people who “consumed fish once a week or more had a 60 percent less risk of Alzheimer’s disease compared with those who rarely or never ate fish,” according to researcher Martha Clare Morris.

     You do have to be cognizant of possible allergic reactions. I was once at a Christmas party, scarfing down the shrimp cocktail, when I broke out into hives. It turns out I have a mild allergy to shrimp, and apparently an allergic reaction to shellfish is not all that uncommon. I took some Benadryl and was fine, but I have to watch the amount of shrimp I eat -- and make sure to pair it with other foods.

     Also, the levels of mercury found in seafood can sometimes be a concern. The Rush University researchers did find that those who consumed a lot of fish had higher levels of mercury in their brains. But in older adults higher mercury levels were "not associated with any of the neuropathologies associated with dementia."

     Young children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as women intending to become pregnant, are still advised to limit their consumption of fish high in mercury – especially tilefish, shark, swordfish, mackerel and white (albacore) tuna. But according to this research, for older adults the benefits of seafood far outweigh the risks from mercury. And the benefits are not limited to the brain. For example, the American Heart Association also advises regularly consuming seafood -- at least two meals a week.

     It seems that fish oil or fish extract does not offer the same benefits as consuming real fish. One five-year trial of more than 3000 participants reported no benefit from supplements. Apparently the process of how fish benefits our brains and our bodies is more complicated than just delivering a few pills from a bottle.

     Once again science has confirmed something our parents -- and apparently the Catholic church -- knew all along. So I try to eat plenty of fish. I'm just careful about the shrimp. And still avoid those frozen fish sticks.