NB. This webinar has been rescheduled for Thursday 17th August.
In 1972 the then Dr Michael Crawford published evidence that the brain required arachidonic (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) specifically, for its growth, structure and function. ARA derives from Omega 6 fatty acids, DHA from Omega 3 fatty acids. For optimum function the brain also needs Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), another Omega 3 derived fatty acid.
Since the brain is made up of over 60% fat this makes total sense. Both DHA and EPA are hard to get from plant based foods and are therefore derived mainly from fish, especially oily fish, and marine algae.
In the 1970s, following research* which suggested that plant based Omega 6 oils were helpful for cardiovascular and heart health in general, the food industry focused on plant based ingredients (soya, rape, sunflower etc) dramatically raising the level of Omega 6 fatty acids in the average diet. This change in diet altered the optimum essential fatty acid ratio of 1:1 or 1:2/3 Omega 3 to Omega 6 to 1:10 or as much as 1:20 Omega 3 to Omega 6 in the most extreme cases.
As Professor Crawford pointed out then, and has been pointing out ever since, this was effectively depriving our brains of the Omega 3 fatty acids that they depend on for their health. His initial predictions were met with scepticism but as mental health over the whole of the western world has deteriorated over the subsequent 50 years, he has been proved tragically right. The cost of treating mental health issues in the EU is now greater than the cost of heart disease and cancer combined.
There is also a question as to whether our excess consumption of Omega 6 fatty acids and the imbalance between our Omega 3 and Omega 6 consumption may be implicated in the signifcant rise in allergy and autoimmune conditions which are now thought to affect up to 10% of the population. Inflammation appears to be a critical factor in most autoimmune conditons and while Omega 3 is anti-inflammatory, Omega 6 is pro-inflammatory.
FAB Webinar and Q&A
If you want to know more, on August 3rd Professor Crawford will be running a webinar for FAB Research on the worldwide decline in brain health and what we can do to restore it. Do not miss it!
Book here for Feeding Humanity Webinar with Professor Michael Crawford – 6pm 17th August.
You might also like to listen to Professor Crawford talking on the Food Programme’s ‘Feeding your Brain: A Users Guide’.
* By chance, in the early ’70s I was running a catering business in London and one of the venues where we worked was the Museum of London.
Around the time his research was published we were asked by the museum to talk to a Dr Crawford who was organising a dinner for his professional peers in which he wanted to emphasise the importance of fish eating for brain health. Sadly I no longer have the menu we devised but I know that it started with garum (Roman fish sauce), worked its way through a mediaeval fish pie which layered salt code with raisins and dried fruit, and ended with Victoria winkle and cockle street vendors.
Many years later I was also privileged to work with Michael as a member of the McCarrison Society – named after another pioneering nutritionist, Sir Robert McCarrison.
It will be a great pleasure to see him again on the 17th August.
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He’s one of my great heroes. I remember trekking along a bleak road to see him at his lab way back in the late 80s. Good to hear he is still spreading this vital knowledge.
Mine too – he should be more celebrated.
Yes, absolutely! One of my key mantras over the past 30 years is that the change in essential fatty acid status over that time is a big part of the reason why I am seeing so much more anxiety and depression. Low fat diets have a lot to answer for in my view as that is a really key reason why people are not taking in enough of the right fats. That said, I am seeing in test results that it is less about the lack of omega 3 now. In fact I am seeing quite a few people with not enough omega 6 more than I am seeing omega 3 deficiency, so something seems to be shifting. It’s the balance between them and having enough of both that is crucial. I am wondering if the source/quality of our omega 6s is at fault and we are not metabolising it/able to use it in the body as well. Crap processed veg/seed oils??
Really interesting observation there, Micki – and I suspect that crap over processed oils have more than something to do with it.
No doubt he will be mentioning our new book THE SHRINKING BRAIN on which we’ve been working on for more decades than I care to remember…
The Shrinking Brain (book, 2023)
by Michael Crawford and David E Marsh.
To be published soon.
This book describes the role of the environment in the evolution of the brain, its recent decline and solutions for our children of the future.
I very much hope he will David – and I look forwrad to its publication.
Professor Crawford, now in his 90s, was interviewed as part of the most recent The Food Programme entitled Feeding your Brain: A Users Guide https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001p6yx . The whole programme is worth listening to.
Thank you for link. Meanwhile, I am afraid that the seminar has been postponed because of a clash of schedules. New date later in August to be anounced very soon.