Fast Food Equals Slow Brain

When a British neuropsychiatrist and specialist dietician radically overhauled the junk food laden diet of four overweight children, they found startling improvements in their mental performance.

Neuropsychiatrist Basant Puri's research had demonstrated a strong link between mental performance and a dietary supplement called EPA or fish oil. His theory is that good fat keeps cell membranes in the brain lubricated, thereby easing the transmission of signals between brain cells. Bad fats insinuate themselves into the brain, replace the good fats and dry up the cell membranes. This reduces the effectiveness of signal transmission over the synapses in the brain and hence mental performance. Basant teamed up with Paul Sacher, a dietician at the Great Ormond Hospital's Institute of Child Health, in a pilot experiment involving four British schoolchildren. Zach was 8 and weighed 112 pounds (50.8 kg), George and Rochel were both 11 and weighed 154 pounds (69.85 kg) each and 13-year-old Gareth weighed 168 pounds (76.2 kg). In addition to changing the children's diet to healthy foods, including significant portions of fresh fruit and vegetables, they added a dietary supplement of VegEPA, a fish oil supplement containing both Omega-3 and Omega-6 essential fatty acids. The children were also encouraged to exercise more often. Zach and Gareth appeared the most reluctant to participate in the experiment. A concerned Zach said: “I’m worried something bad might happen by eating too much fruit and veg.” Gareth insisted he be paid 100 pounds cash (almost $200 US) to exercise. For three months the kids ate more healthily, exercised more and took two capsules of VegEPA daily. At the end of that time, three out of the four had lost weight. The weight loss was expected. What could not have been anticipated was the amazing increase in brain function the children experienced. Puri put the children through a battery of tests on handwriting, memory, concentration and problem-solving. All of the children performed at a level at least one and a half years above the expected level for their age group. Puri then used a brain scanner to see if the children's brains had undergone any significant change in the three month period. He discovered abnormally higher levels of NAA than would be expected. NAA is biochemical and key indicator of brain development as it corresponds to the growth of nerve fibers within the brain. The amount of NAA increase found in the children's brains corresponded to what would occur over a three year period, not three months. The research study of Puri and Sacher has been documented in a film that is scheduled to air in Great Britain.