Multimedia Reporting (Kuhr-Musser)

The Mediterranean Diet. The Omega-3 Connection. Sound familiar? Amid recent buzz about a bevy of new diet books centering on the nutritional benefits of good fats, the essential Omega-3 fatty acids, several KU researchers have been working to find out more about why these diets could be very good for you.

Beth Levant, a pharmacologist at KUMC, has been researching the effects of Omega-3's with KUMC colleague Susan Carlson, a nutrition professor, as well as KU Lawrence campus researchers, toxicology professor Stephen Fowler and psychology and infant development professor John Columbo.
The researchers are interested in the connections between the dietary consumption of good fats and postpartum depression. These connections could be better understood through the comparing behavior of mothers and children who are nutritionally deprived with those who are not. Do mothers with adequate fat in their diets experience postpartum depression? Conversely, the research also asks if mothers who do not eat enough good fats will experience postpartum depression.

You may be asking yourself, “Just what are good and bad fats?” The best of the good fats, these KU researchers agree, are‘long-chain’ Omega-3 essential fatty acids. Omega-3’s can be found in algae, spirulina, fatty fish like tuna and salmon, and flax seed. Researchers say algae and fish are the best sources. Omega-3's are long chain fats because of the number of carbon molecules differs, and shorter chains cannot become longer when they reach the brain.

Omega-3's, along with another essential fatty acid, Omega-6, make up over 20% of the fat content of the human brain, Dr Levant says.These are called essential because they must be consumed; the human body can’t produce them on its own. The chart below shows how much Omega-3's cooked seafoods and meats contain. It is easy to see how typical American meats consumed, like beef and chicken, could leave people's bodies wanting for Omega-3's. Omega-6 sources, on the other hand, are fairly ubiquitous in the American diet.

It is also possible to consume fish oil supplements to get your omega-3 fix. Breast milk is also an extremely rich source of Omega-3, and the researchers are very interested in what happens to breastfeeding babies when mothers are consuming a high proportion of Omega-3s.

Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats should be eaten in a 1:1 proportion, according to a 2003 study by alternative medicine specialist Alan Logan. The typical Western diet produces a ratio of 20:1 Omega-6 to Omega-3’s, the study says.

National Institute of Health epidemiologist Dr. Joseph Hibbeln discovered through his late 1990’s cross-cultural research of 22 nations that ‘depression is 60 times higher in New Zealand, where the average consumption of seafood is 40 pounds a year compared to Japan, where a person consumes nearly 150 pounds of seafood a year.’ He also found that ‘Postpartum depression is 50 times more common in countries with low levels of seafood consumption.’ These suggestions are impressive. However, they are correlation studies—they are not quite ‘hard’ science, and some would even say this is only hype.

Bolstering the mass of science on this subject, the combined research coming from the KU group has already contributed to thecommercial baby formula industry introducing Omega-3 components DHA and ARA in their products. “The third trimester, as well as the first six months, are crucial,” Dr. Levant says. According to Levant, if a baby is exposed to a diet deficient in the Omega-3 fatty acids during that time, the Omega-3 levels in that person’s brain may never compare to a person whose mother had a balanced diet.

The KU researchers are working together to understand what happens to the brains of rats when their diets are manipulated to include or exclude Omega-3’s. Nutrition researcher Dr. Susan Carlson created the rat diets to these specifications. She also brought the topic of Omega-3’s to the KU research community.

Dr Beth Levant has discovered that fatty deposits in the brain seem to be permanent. Even if a diet is deficient in the good fat content, previous deposits remain. However, there is a twist. She also found that a pregnant rat will transfer Omega-3 deposits from her brain to that of her growing babies if her diet is insufficient in nutritional content of Omega-3. Further, a healthy, ‘good fat’-rich diet following any past depletion seems to restore those portions of the brain to normal levels.

In short, diet could be a major factor in the cause and cure of post-partum depression. This is not surprising, however. National Institute of Health epidemiologist Dr. Joseph Hibbeln discovered through his late 1990’s cross-cultural research of 22 nations that ‘depression is 60 times higher in New Zealand, where the average consumption of seafood is 40 pounds a year, compared to Japan, where a person consumes nearly 150 pounds of seafood a year.’ He also found that ‘Postpartum depression is 50 times more common in countries with low levels of seafood consumption.’ These impressive suggestions are only correlation studies, however—they are not regarded as ‘hard’ science, and some would even say this is only hype. The KU researchers are working to put more proof behind what Dr. Hibbeln's research suggests.

KU pharmacology professor Dr. Stephen Fowler specializes in data analysis. Fowler says he came to KU with some expectation of working with Dr. Levant, and he praised the fact the KU has such a collaborative environment. He invented a machine, which he calls the force plate actometer.

Photo: Courtesy University Relations

Dr. Stephen Fowler with his force plate actometer.

This machine allows researchers to computerize rat movements in a cage, in effect quantifying rat behavior. The actometer will be used to discover whether rats with depleted Omega-3’s act abnormally.

Past research indicates that it is likely they will.

To complete the KU Omega-3 research quartet, KU psychologist and infant behaviorist Dr. John Colombo has begun to examine the behavior and diets of human infants to find out how the two correlate. Past research has indicated that Omega-3 has an average effect on IQ of 6 points. Although this is a small amount, so insignificant that it is completely undetectable without an IQ test, it is very significant indeed if diet proves to be the cause of the increase. Colombo’s findings have chimed in, indicating that breastfeeding infants experience greater visual acuity if their mother's diet includes enough DHA. With three other KU scientists, Dr. Colombo received a $2 million five year grant from the National Institute of Health last week. In this project, Colombo hopes to discover more about what can be expected to happen when mothers are supplemented adequately before their babies are born.

Here, Dr. John Colombo discusses the role of Omega-3's in brain development.