Fish Oil as Healing Brain Food By Dianne Craft, MA, CNHP

Sometimes a subject comes up that is so wide reaching in its impact that it cant be ignored. As a special educator for over thirty years, and a nutritionist, I am always on the lookout for ways to relieve suffering in kids who are struggling with learning or behavior. It has come to the point that evidence of the impact of fish oil on the brain and nervous system of these struggling children is so large that I think it deserves its own article. Recent Trends The incidence of children diagnosed with food allergies notice all the gluten!free and dairy! free items in grocery stores as of late"#, asthma, autism, Aspergers, Sensory $rocessing %ysfunction, A%%, A%&%, dysle'ia, and dysgraphia has increased greatly in the past five years. There is a disproportionate amount of boys in this increase. ()*A School of +edicine has found that boys have a three times higher need for %&A than girls., -hy is this occurring" *ets e'plore this more. Depression The incidence of depression has skyrocketed in children and adults since -orld -ar II. The )enters for %isease )ontrol and $revention reported that ,, percent of Americans over the age of ,. take anti!depressants. -hat is going on" /esearchers report that blood levels of inflammatory markers such as )!reactive protein are fre0uently elevated in those diagnosed with depression. )ould inflammatory changes in the brain be one of the main drivers behind our epidemic of depression" This may also e'plain why anti!depressant medications often dont work for people with depression. 1mory (niversity in Atlanta confirmed the depression2inflammatory connection. 3ortunately, there are natural ways to reduce inflammation. The most effective way includes a diet high in 4mega 5 fatty acids, specifically %&A in fish oil.. %r. +ichael 6orden, a practicing psychiatrist in 6ew 7ork, uses essential fatty acids, particularly fish oils, for his patients who are suffering from depression. (sing fish oil in addition to medication, and sometimes without medication, %r. 6orden reports impressive relief from depression among his patients.5 *ikewise, %r. Andrew Stall, a physician from &arvard, has found that the %&A in fish oil has proven to be e'tremely helpful in patients suffering with post!partum depression, bipolar, A%%, and A%&%.8 Autis +any studies implicate inflammation of the white matter of the brain as a common thread in children diagnosed on the autism spectrum. &owever, one very uni0ue aspect of fish oil is its effect on the ga9e aversion that afflicts so many children who have autism. The rods in the retina of the eye are very responsive to the supplementation of %&A. %r. +ary +egson, a developmental pediatrician in /ichmond, :irginia, has found that the reason children with ga9e aversion will seem to look away from a parents face is because when looking directly at the face, all they see is a white block. Thus, they use their peripheral vision to at least get a glimpse of what they are looking at. -ith proper amounts of naturally occurring :itamin A and % in cod liver oil, this ga9e aversion disappears or is greatly reduced. %r. +egson states strongly that it is important that synthetic :itamin A in the form of retinyl palmitate not be used.;#

Interestingly enough, I have found this also to be the case in the children in my consultation practice who come to me with ga9e aversion. I have always found that with the proper amounts of %&A, for which I use a specific cod liver oil, the ga9e aversion is eliminated or reduced by <; percent. In fact, at the autism conferences at which I speak, I have =before and after> pictures of children with autism, showing the lack of ga9e aversion after giving this vital nutrient. In addition to affecting ga9e aversion, parents report increased sociali9ation, speech, bladder control, and sensory processing after even a short time of implementing this supplementation. It has also helped many children who are struggling with A%&%, dysle'ia, and bipolar disorder.? Trau atic Brain !n"ury

$robably the most dramatic healings reported after the introduction of high amounts of fish oil have come from the healing of traumatic brain injuries that were not responding to other treatments. -hen $eter @hassemis son was lying in a coma after a severe car accident, the doctors reported that though his son had survived the accident, he likely would be in a non!reactive state for the rest of his life. This dad reached out to an Army )olonel, %r. +ichael *ewis, for help. %r. *ewis, 3ounder of the Arain &ealth 1ducation and /esearch Institute, urged him to talk with his sons doctors about using the same protocol that was used for a young man who had e'perienced this same type of traumatic brain injury. In that case the young man, /andal +c)loy, was the sole survivor of a mine disaster in -est :irginia. +c)loy, .?, had been trapped in the mine for forty!one hours while the air around him filled with no'ious methane and carbon mono'ide. &is brain was riddled with damage from these potent to'ins. +c)loys doctors were looking for ways to stem the tide of inflammation and cell death occurring in his brain, and they embarked upon an unorthodo' treatment regimen that included high doses of fish oil. %r. Bulian Aailes, one of +c)loys doctors said that =the concept was to attempt to rebuild his brain with what it was made from when he was an embryo in his mothers womb. &igh doses of 4mega!5 fatty acids fish oil#, since they mirror what is already in the brain, would facilitate the brains own natural healing process. These fats are literally the bricks of the cell wall in the brain.> %r. Aailes referred to the 6ational Institutes of &ealth research that suggests that 4mega!5 fatty acids may inhibit cell death and could help in reconnecting damaged neurons. -orthy of note is that in addition to massive cell death, the protective sheath around +c)loys nerve cells had been stripped. The sheath, called myelin, allows brain cells to communicate with one another. Ama9ingly, three months after saturating his brain with high doses of fish oil, +c)loy was walking and speaking. Armed with this success story, $eter @hassemi urged his doctors to try this same, safe protocol with his son. The result" Three months after his accident, Aobby @hassemi was well enough to attend his high school graduation. Aobby saidC =The whole place was cheering for me. . . . I took my graduation cap off and waved it around.> $eter @hassemi said, =&is brain was damaged, and this was food for the brain.> %r. *ewis concludedC =The message that Im trying to get across is, theres more you can do. If you add the fish oil, we can then begin to let the brain heal itself a little more efficiently.>D Dysle#ia In .EEE, %r. Bac0ueline Stordy began to research the connection between %&A and dysle'ia. She performed a double!blind, placebo!controlled study in which she studied children with A%%, dysle'ia, and dyspra'ia. She found that when a protocol amount of %&A from fish oil# was given over a three!month period, statistically significant improvements

were made in these childrens focusing ability, reading ability, and coordination and balance.< Teeth Too$ If you have a child who suffers with multiple cavities, no matter what you do, you will be interested in %r. -eston $rices research. A dentist, %r. $rice found that one way to prevent cavities from forming in the mouths of his young patients was to make sure that they had ade0uate levels of :itamin % and the all!important :itamin F.. :itamin F. helps to form the dentin, the porous tooth material underneath the enamel of the teeth. This vitamin can be found in fermented foodsG butterG meat from grass!fed cowsG hard cheeses, such as @oudaG and a soybean!fermented food called 6atto, as well as in supplements. As we know, good ol cod liver oil is a great source of both :itamins A and %.H -hat can moms do to help their child get these brain!healthy fats" Aegin to reduce the bad fats that block healing by including more good fats into a childs daily diet with simple measures such as adding some avocado in sandwiches, using real butter instead of margarine especially if the butter is from pasture!fed cows#, eating real mayonnaise, eating more whole grains and legumes versus white flour several days a week, and lastly, making raw vegetables and a salad an everyday part of your childrens diet. If you choose to give a supplement such as cod liver oil, fish oil, or :itamins %5 or F., it is best to check with the childs doctor before beginning any supplement program. 3or a list of the amounts of fish oil, :itamin %5 and :itamin F. that were used in these and other studies, just type =3ish 4il Article> in the subject line of an email message to me at this addressC craftIecentral.com. Dianne Craft has a masters degree in learning disabilities. She speaks widely at homeschool conventions across the country. Her books, Arain Integration Therapy +anual, /ight Arain $honics $rogram, and her DVDs, (nderstanding J &elping the Struggling *earner, Teaching the /ight Arain )hild, Smart FidsK -ho &ate to -rite, and The Aiology of Aehavior have helped hundreds of families remove learning blocks in their struggling children at home. Visit her website, http !!www.diannecraft.org, for many articles on children and learning and to download her free Daily "esson #lans for the Struggling $eader and %riter. 1ndnotesC ,. +elvyn -erbach, +.%. 6utritional Influences on Illness. .. %rs. Fay Budge and +a'ine Aarish!-reden, =&ealthy diet shown to cut risk of depression,> www.denverpost.com, 4ctober .5, .E,.. 5. +ichael 6orden, +.%., Aeyond $ro9ac. 8. Andrew Stoll, +.%., The 4mega!5 )onnection. ;. +ary +egson, +.%., =The Aiological Aasis for $erceptual %eficits in Autism,> www.megson.com. ?. %ianne )raft, +A, )6&$, =1ssential 3atty Acids and the Arain,> www.diannecraft.org2article!EEH.htm. D. Fate /heaume!Alue, 6.%., The )alcium $arado'. <. A. Bac0ueline Stordy, $h.%., &merican 'ournal of Clinical (utrition, :ol. D,, Ban .EEE. H. Stephanie Smith, =3ish 4ils for Arain Injury,> www.cnn.com. )opyright .E,5, used with permission. All rights reserved by author. 4riginally appeared in the 3ebruary .E,5 issue of )he *ld Schoolhouse+ ,aga-ine, the family education

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