A Taste of Fish

In an article in The Sunday Times of 28th September 2003 it was reported that fish and plant oils in supplement form could assist in providing improvements in reading age and numeracy for children of primary school age.

The study, in schools in County Durham, England, showed a number of remarkable improvements in the reading age of nine year olds who had been selected for the study for showing slight difficulties in learning, memory, concentration, co-ordination and other behavioural factors.

The study was conducted using a placebo group to compare children taking the supplement with those who weren’t. Although not all children being given the supplements showed an improvement there was such a significant change in some that all the children were put on the supplements by the research team for a further three months

The Sunday Times reported that Dr Madeleine Portwood, a psychologist with Durham education authority, suggested that “...it is possible that adults may also benefit”.

The UK Food Standards Agency recommends salmon, trout and mackerel for people looking to increase their intake of fish oils, however, it has also warned the public recently that some fish can contain high levels of mercury and dioxins.

In a separate article a well known British consumer magazine reported in 2002 that two high street “names” selling health food supplements had to remove cod liver oil products from its shelves due to excessive heavy metal contamination.

Some authorities suggest that it is difficult to take sufficient quantities of oils, or essential fatty acids as they are known in medical circles, without supplementation. But how does one choose a safe supplement when even what you can buy over the counter may contain “safe” levels of heavy metal contamination?

Medical doctors and dieticians are increasingly aware of the differences in quality and effectiveness of products which merely meet basic food standards and those manufactured to pharmaceutical (USP & BP) requirements of purity, absorption and bio-availability.