Visitas: 141
* By FishProf
The FishProf believes that seafood consumption has the answers to many of the world’s chronic diseases, longer life and good health but, sadly, the money is centred more on cure rather than prevention.
The blockages of getting good medical advice about prevention are immense. Whether that be big pharma; media continuing to promote myths to fester; the anti-seafood groups or governments that do not do their homework it is frustrating working in this space. We must not give up in getting the facts on the table!
Everyone should have a good read of Dr. Rachel Gow’s book “Smart Foods for ADHD and Brain Health”. Rachel is a Nutritional Neuroscientist, Neuropsychologist and Neurodevelopmental specialist with expertise in a range of mental health conditions and associative learning and behavior differences plus a Registered Nutritionist (under the category of Science).
Dr. Gow has a personal interest which has been a driver for her efforts to get to the truth on these issues as her son, has ADHD and Dyslexia. Rachel founded Nutritious Minds Consulting and then Nutritious Minds Trust in 2019. Her studies have seen her engaged in over twenty years of research and experience in psychological research in child/adolescent and adult clinical populations and have seen involvement in programs run by medical research gurus on both sides of the Atlantic.
Professor John Stein has said of Rachel “I so admire Rachel. She has sacrificed a successful and lucrative career in real estate for the dubious delights of neuroscience research – insecure employment, ferocious competition, not to mention misogyny – in order to better understand and help ADHD. Using her formidable determination, intelligence and networking talents, she has overcome most of the obstacles thrown in her way to achieve the extraordinary understanding and practical helpfulness clinically that is shown in spades in this book.”
As an example, Dr. Gow was the Lead Associate Investigator of the Neuroimaging, Omega‐3 and Reward in Adults with ADHD (NORAA) trial at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. This study was the first randomized, doubleblind, placebo‐controlled, clinical trial globally to test the effects of omega‐3 fats in the brain activity of adults with ADHD using neuroimaging techniques.
With over twenty published peer reviewed book chapters and scientific papers Rachel has shown that she has extensive knowledge in neurodiverse learning and behavioral differences and the effects of dopamine enhancing brain‐selective nutrients. Add to this the ‘real life’ experiences with her son and you can see that you are dealing with someone who has all the skills, expertise and knowledge.
As Rachel highlights “The world is already full of dietary plans and often dietary advice is out of date and arguably misleading”.
Omega-3 guru Professor Michael Crawford, PhD, FRSB, FRC Path highlights that “With mental ill-health on the rise, there is every good reason to read Rachel’s book. Changing one’s diet isn’t easy, and Rachel (in Chapter 10) provides tools for making those changes, including a chart for meal planning.”
Sometimes The FishProf believes we need the world to stop and take stock and assess what is right and wrong. Flush the arteries of global information with a truth serum based on peer reviewed medical science and reset. Get the specialists like Rachel in the process and start with how we can all eat healthy and avoid many of the chronic diseases that are impacting every corner of the world.
The FishProf noted that recently Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being quoted as follows “Today, two-thirds of American adults and half of children suffer chronic health issues. Fifty years ago, the number for children was less than one per cent.”
“In America, 74 per cent of adults are now overweight or obese, and close to 50 per cent of children. In Japan, the childhood obesity rate is three per cent. Half of Americans now have prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.”
“There’s been an explosion of neurological diseases that I never saw as a child. ADD, ADHD, speech delay, language delay, Tourette’s, narcolepsy, ASD, and Asperger’s.”
“In the year 2000, the autism rate was one in 1,500. Now, autism rates in kids are one in 36 nationally, and 1 in 22 in California. The screening has not changed. Nor has the definition. The incidence has changed.”
“About 18 per cent of teens have fatty liver disease, a disease that primarily used to be found only in latestage alcoholics. Cancer rates are skyrocketing in the young and the old. Young adult cancers are up 79 per cent.”
“One in four American women is on an antidepressant medication: 40 per cent of teens have a mental health diagnosis. Today, 15 per cent of high schoolers are on Adderall and half a million children are on SSRIs.”
“So, what’s causing all this suffering? I’ll name two culprits. First are ultra-processed foods. About 70 per cent of American children’s diet is ultra-processed – industrially manufactured in a factory. These foods consist primarily of processed sugar, ultra-processed grains, and seed oils.”
“Lab scientists concoct thousands of other ingredients to make these foods more palatable, more addictive. These ingredients didn’t exist 100 years ago, and humans aren’t biologically adapted to eat them. Hundreds of these chemicals are banned in Europe, but ubiquitous in America’s processed foods.”
“The second culprit is toxic chemicals in our food, medicine, and environment. Pesticides, food additives, pharmaceutical drugs, and toxic waste permeate every cell of our bodies. The assault on a child’s cells and hormones is unrelenting.”
“It is crippling our nation’s finances. When my uncle was president, our country spent zero dollars on chronic disease. Today, government healthcare spending is mostly for chronic disease, and it is double the military budget. And it is the fastestgrowing cost.
“The good news is that we can change all of this and change it quickly. America can get healthy again. To do that we need to do three things. First, root out the corruption in our health agencies, all of them are controlled by huge for-profit corporations. Second, change the incentives of the healthcare system. And third, inspire Americans to get healthy again.”
This is a direct quote from The Australian
This might sound like a political broadcast but everyone in the seafood industry should take note and start promoting these facts/figures and fire up against the next wave of lab foods which are trying to swindle consumers in thinking that they are eating seafood but in fact they are eating questionable manufactured products.
In Europe there are increasing attempts by meat industry lobby groups to hinder the further growth of more sustainable alternatives under the pretext of consumer protection. Product labelling standards need more vigor. Many start-ups and established companies are therefore calling for the EU-wide regulations to be adapted, so that they not only serve the interests of industrial animal farming and aquaculture, but also allow sustainable, plant-based products to compete in a fair market.
The people of Springfield, Ohio were recently dragged into a silly non-factual media issue which had many consequences, yet we talk openly about eating “hot dogs” which clearly do not contain dog meat, and “hamburgers” which do not contain ham. We know that those items are names that have been adopted for a long time but maybe they need to be reviewed to ensure we end up with a better system and no consumer deception.
The FishProf will next be reporting from Portugal and Spain so will be on the lookout for such products and will be discussing the issue. CONXEMAR in Vigo is main part of the trip and connecting with as many people as possible. Meetings are planned with governments and industry, and I hope to have some stories to pass on.
In Lisbon there is the opportunity of catching up with people and planning for the Aqua Horizons Conference 28-30 April 2025 (https://www. europeaquacultureconference.com/about)
One of special sessions will be on ‘Crustacean and Shellfish Research Underpinning Aquaculture and Fisheries Enhancement’ led by Professor Gregory Smith, Director of ARC Research Hub for Sustainable Onshore Lobster Aquaculture from Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) University of Tasmania (https://onshorelobsteraquaculture.com.au/).
Greg was recently in the UK & EU and believes the timing is right to bring all interested groups (researchers, farmers, fishermen, govts, industry, NFP’s in the Spiny and European Lobster fields as well as those in Shellfish reef restoration) together to enhance prospects through exchanging ideas, building new partnerships and finding better ways to commercialize research into real world outcomes.
Your opportunity is to jump on the website, register, put in an interesting abstract and make plans for an interactive event and let us create some relevant outcomes.
NOTE: Dr Rachel Gow’s published book, “Smart Foods for ADHD and Brain Health”, is available to order on Amazon (Jessica Kingsley Publishers part of the Hachette UK Group).
References and sources consulted by the author on the elaboration of this article are available under previous request to our editorial staff.
Regular contributor The Fishmonger has now morphed into FishProf and will continue contributing to AQUACULTURE MAGAZINE but also welcomes all the readers to connect through www.fishprof.com and join in our promotions to increase seafood consumption globally.
