Blackmores Institute

Reporting in the Journal of Nutrition, the placebo-controlled trial of 134 participants (n=63 males and n=71 females) aged between 50 – 80 years of age and with a body mass index (BMI) 25 – 40 randomised to one of four groups receiving fish oil or curcumin or a combination of fish oil and curcumin or placebo found that men in the fish oil supplementation group had significantly improved cognitive processing speed compared with all groups. “The fish oil consisted of 100 mg EPA and 500 mg DHA and curcumin capsules comprised 400 mg Longvida® extract containing 80 mg curcumin. Participants were instructed to take two capsules, one morning and night. The schedule of taking supplements twice a day was to; 1) ensure sustained concentrations of curcumin in the blood, as it has a relatively short half-life [approximately 7.5h for Longvida® curcumin] and 2) to minimise fishy burps from the fish-oil capsules, which are a common unpleasant side effect,” the authors explained. Cognitive performance of participants was tested using seven tests from the National Institutes of Health toolbox, in addition to three other validated tests: Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT; immediate and delayed recall), Forward Spatial Span Test, and Trail Making Test (TMT) parts A and B, at 16 weeks. “While supplementation with DHA-rich fish oil and/or curcumin for 16 weeks did not significantly improve performance of individual cognitive tests, cognitive domains, or the overall cognitive score compared with the placebo treatment. Fish-oil supplementation tended to improve processing speed (P = 0.071, Cohen’s d = 0.42) and the improvement was significant when compared with curcumin supplementation (P = 0.043, Cohen’s d = 0.49) or with the combined treatment (P = 0.036, Cohen’s d = 0.53),” the authors said. Interestingly, the study found that of the 12 individual cognitive tests, two were significantly improved following supplementation in males. Fish-oil supplementation significantly improved performance during the Pattern Comparison Test (assessing processing speed) compared with placebo (P = 0.027, Cohen’s d = 0.72) and curcumin supplementation significantly improved performance during the RAVLT immediate recall test (assessing verbal memory) compared with placebo (P = 0.039, Cohen’s d = 0.84). According to the study, the normal ageing process is accompanied by a gradual decline in cognitive abilities with certain lifestyle factors such as obesity associated with an increase in the rate of decline. Evidence suggests that there is a 74 percent increase to risk of developing dementia later in life if obese at middle-age. “This accelerated cognitive decline is partly mediated by hastened endothelial dysfunction (impaired vasodilatation) in the peripheral and cerebral vasculature, caused by vascular risk factors, including low-grade chronic inflammation, that are associated with obesity. Since there is no current treatment for dementia, lifestyle strategies that are able to counteract the accelerated cognitive decline in our increasingly overweight/obese older population are urgently needed. One potential strategy might be supplementing the diet with bioactive nutrients that can improve vascular function. “In a population at increased risk of vascular dysfunction and accelerated cognitive decline (i.e., overweight or obese older adults), fish-oil supplementation was able to improve processing speed performance in males, which might be mediated by its beneficial effects on circulatory function. Curcumin supplementation had independent cognitive benefits for males, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Adding curcumin to fish oil did not result in additional circulatory or cognitive benefits. Further research is needed to identify characteristics (e.g., sex, age, cardiovascular risk factors) of populations who would benefit from supplementation with these nutrients,” the authors concluded. Source:
 Kuszewski JC, et.al.: Evaluation of Cognitive Performance following Fish-oil and Curcumin Supplementation in Middle-Aged and Older Adults with Overweight or Obesity. The Journal of Nutrition, nxaa299, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxaa299" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxaa299</a>

Australian researchers at the University of Newcastle have found that overweight or obese middle-aged men may be able to improve their cognition through supplementation with fish oil or curcumin.

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