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By Heide Kennedy, Arizona Farm Bureau Communications Intern

When I was little, my absolute least favorite food was fish. I couldn’t stand the taste or even the smell of it. But, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to love fish. Besides getting over my hatred of fish, I’ve also come to appreciate what a nutrient-dense protein source it is that also offers many health benefits, especially for our brains.

Nutrition research has proven fish to be an essential part of a healthy diet, according to registered dietician Kelly LeBlanc. That’s one of the reasons that the Mediterranean diet (a top diet plan endorsed by nutritionists and very good for brain health), places such a heavy emphasis on fish consumption.

While we’ve probably all heard that fish is the best source of omega-3 fatty acids, it goes a little deeper than that. LeBlanc notes that fish is rich in two specific kinds of omega 3’s. the first is docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which is the main building block of our brains, and seafood is the main dietary source of DHA. The second is eicosatetraenoic acid (EPA), which also promotes brain health.

LeBlanc also states that both DHA and EPA reduce the small proteins in the brain that promote cognitive decline, inflammation, and Alzheimer’s. DHA and EPA have also been shown to help with mood disorders including depression and bipolar disorder. Finally, another benefit to eating fish is that it has even shown to increase the grey matter in our brains that are responsible for memory and cognition in elderly people.

So, as you can see, fish is pretty impressive when it comes to brain health benefits. This doesn’t even include all the rest of the nutritional benefits of fish, but we’ll save that for another article!

We’ve written lots about fish on the Fill Your Plate blog! Check out some of our other articles!