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Another critical nutrient for optimal mental
performance is fatty acids (FAs), as much of the brain is
made up of fatty acids. The white matter of the brain is made
up largely of myelin, a whitish fatty acid that insulates
axons (nerves) for high-speed conduction, also why the "white
matter" is white.
All of the membranes of the billions of neurons
in the brain are also made of fatty acids, and effective nerve
conduction requires the correct type and amount of fatty acids
to maintain membrane stability and function. Since Brain Integration
relies upon effective, synchronised nerve conduction, Brain
Integration also relies directly upon sufficient concentrations
of the correct fatty acids being present in the brain.
While fatty acid biochemistry is very complex, I will summarise
the salient points with regard to fatty acids in the brain
and the roles they play in optimal mental performance. The
Difference Between Saturated and Unsaturated Fatty Acids
There two major group of fatty acids: - saturated
and unsaturated fatty acids that differ in that the unsaturated
fatty acids have one or more double bonds in their structure
while saturated fatty acids have none. Because hydrogen atoms
saturate all of the bonding sites along the carbon chain of
saturated fatty acids, these molecules are relatively "stiff"
and not very flexible as fatty acids go. While this is good
for structural integrity, it poses problems for functions
like neural signalling where membrane flexibility determines
efficiency.
In contrast, unsaturated fatty acids have one
or more places where the hydrogen atoms are missing and two
bonds (or a double bond) connect two adjacent carbon atoms
(See Fig. 6 below). The presence of this relatively more flexible
double bond means membranes containing unsaturated fatty acids
are more fluid and have different properties than membranes
made of saturated fatty acids.
Unsaturated fatty acids come in several flavours
depending upon how many double bonds they possess and where
these double bonds are located. Monounsaturated fatty acids
like olive oil and evening primrose oil have only one double
bond, while polyunsaturated fatty acids like the Omega-3 and
Omega-6 fatty acids have more than two double bonds.
Figure 7 shows that Omega-3 and Omega-6
fatty acids differ in the location of their first double bond
with the Omega-3 fatty acids having their first double bond
at the third carbon atom
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