Popular supplements touted for their brain-boosting properties may actually stop the brain from healing from injuries, a study suggests.
Fish oil supplements are packed with the omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which coat brain cell membranes and help release neurotransmitters responsible for cognitive function, memory and learning.
Costing as little as $0.10 per capsule, the pills are touted for boosting cognitive health, lowering cholesterol and reducing inflammation throughout the body.
But despite being taken by over 19 million Americans, researchers in South Carolina have found that fish oil supplements may slow the brain’s ability to recover from traumatic brain injuries (TBIs).
In the new study, researchers found this deficit may be due to EPA, which was linked to slower cell repair functions in animal models that were given traumatic brain injuries.
They suggest EPA may not integrate as well into brain cells as DHA, which did not have any noticeable drawbacks.
The researchers also found that neurovascular damage caused by EPA could worsen the accumulation of tau, a toxic protein that builds up in Alzheimer’s disease and the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
The team noted that while the findings cannot prove a direct link between EPA and poor healing from brain injury, the nutrient may not have the same brain health benefits for everyone.
Researchers in South Carolina found fish oil supplements may slow healing in people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries (stock image)
‘Fish oil supplements are everywhere, and people take them for a range of reasons, often without a clear understanding of their long-term effects,’ Onder Albayram, study author and associate professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, said.
‘But in terms of neuroscience, we still don’t know whether the brain has resilience or resistance to this supplement. That’s why ours is the first such study in the field.’
In the study, published in the journal Cell Reports, researchers looked at mouse models mimicking traumatic brain injury and tissues from six deceased humans who were diagnosed with CTE, a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head trauma. The disease is usually found in athletes such as football players.
They also examined human brain microvascular endothelial cells, which help maintain the protective barrier between the brain and the bloodstream.
The team found EPA was linked to weaker function related to endothelial cell repair in both human cells and mouse models.
Additionally, while traumatic brain injuries already cause poor function of the brain’s blood vessels, EPA reprogrammed those responses in a way that did not improve healing.
Gene analysis performed in the study showed there were fewer signals given to repair blood vessels, along with increased fatty acid metabolism, meaning the body is burning fat for energy, which can lead to metabolic dysfunction.
DHA did not produce the same drawbacks as EPA.
The researchers said that while fish oil supplements may not be beneficial for people with brain injuries, they may still prevent cognitive decline in healthy individuals (stock image)
The researchers concluded that while fish oil supplements have been shown to protect the brain against cognitive decline, this may not be true for those who have been diagnosed with brain injuries.
‘In a sensitive brain state modeled in mice, long-term fish oil supplementation revealed a delayed vulnerability,’ Albayram said.
However, he cautioned that the findings should not dissuade healthy individuals from taking fish oil supplements.
‘I am not saying fish oil is good or bad in some universal way,’ he said. ‘What our data highlight is that biology is context-dependent. We need to understand how these supplements behave in the body over time, rather than assuming the same effect applies to everyone.’
