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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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02.04.2010 |
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Take fish oil to stop your teeth from falling out
The more fish fatty acids that elderly people consume, the more of their own teeth they’ll retain, write dentists from the Niigata University, Japan, in a soon-to-be-published article in Nutrition. Fish fatty acids protect teeth from the processes of aging.
If you give fish oil to mice and rats, it improves their dental health. It reduces the production of inflammatory factors such as prostaglandin E2, prostaglandin F2a, leukotriene B4 and platelet-activating factor in the gums and jawbone. As a result, their teeth are less likely to become loose and fall out. The researchers were curious whether fish oil would have the same protective effect on human dentition, so they did a study of 55 Japanese aged 74.
The researchers used a questionnaire to work out the quantities of DHA and EPA fish fatty acids [structural formulas shown here] the subjects consumed each day. On the basis of the results, they divided the old people into three groups, called tertiles. The first tertile was the 33.3 percent of the subjects with the lowest DHA and EPA intake; the third tertile consisted of the 33.3 percent with the highest intake. The researchers then assessed the subjects’ teeth – and observed that the people who consumed the most fish oil also had the highest number of their own teeth.
The upper of the two figures below shows the relationship between DHA and the number of teeth. The lower figure shows the relationship between EPA and the number of teeth.
The researchers also monitored their elderly subjects for 5 years and found that it was primarily DHA that protected their teeth. The subjects with the lowest DHA intake were 150 percent more likely to lose teeth or have other ‘periodontal events’ than the other subjects.
The Japanese consumption of fish oil was high. They took in an average of 947 mg DHA and 635 mg EPA daily. If you’re thinking of taking in that much using 1000 mg fish-oil capsules, it’ll mean taking about 5-6 capsules a day.
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