By Jimmy Downs

Saturday Nov 24, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Taking long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) supplements like fish oil can help cognitive performance or prevent cognitive decline, and lower cardiometabolic risk factors in healthy people, according to a new trial in Nutrition Journal.

A. Nilsson and colleagues each day gave 40 healthy participants aged 51 to 72 years  3 grams of fish oil which contains high amounts of long chain omega -3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for 5 weeks and then stopped the supplementation for another five weeks as a washout period.  Subjects were evaluated for their working memory and selective attention as cognitive performance.

The researchers found supplementation with n-3 PUFA  was associated with better performance in the working memory test, compared with placebo.

Additionally, n-3 PUFA also significantly lowered plasma triacylglycerides and systolic blood pressure. And systolic blood pressure, f-glucose, and s-TNF-alpha were inversely associated with the performance in cognitive tests.

The researchers concluded "Intake of n-3 PUFA improved cognitive performance in healthy subjects after five weeks compared with placebo. In addition, inverse relations were obtained between cardiometabolic risk factors and cognitive performance, indicating a potential of dietary prevention strategies to delay onset of metabolic disorders and associated cognitive decline."

The study suggests that long chain omega-3 fatty acids supplements such as fish oil can help prevent cognitive decline.