© Julie Notarianni, Krt
Nutrition expert Elizabeth Somer sees a future with more fortified foods - and where our brains remain healthy enough to remember to buy them.Just knowing how to pronounce docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, should be a pretty good indicator of brain health, right? (Need some help? It's DOH-koh-sah-HEXXA-eh-NOH-ik.) It's enough to say "DHA," and good thing, since we'll probably be hearing more about this tongue twister as research emerges about the link between diet and dementia.
When nutritionist Elizabeth Somer's mother developed Alzheimer's disease years ago, Somer began looking for anything that might give her an edge against a similar fate. Omega-3 fat has been touted as brain food, but she learned it's not just one fat, but three: ALA, EPA and DHA.
ALA may help your heart, and EPA and DHA help your head, with DHA accounting for up to 97 percent of the omega-3 fats in the brain and up to 93 percent of the omega-3 fats in the retina. One study indicates that those with a diet high in DHA may decrease their risk of Alzheimer's disease by as much as 70 percent.
So, in the language of the grocery store aisle, what does this mean?