Fish is apparently food for the brain is an old wisdom prevails.like many old wives,tales about food and eating,how this claim got started is not entirely clear.Some believe that it may have grown out of a theory that humans evolved in coastal areas because certain nutrients in fish,particularly omega--3 fatty acids were necessary for brain development.But whatever the origin of the claim,multiple studies have ptovided some evidence to support it.One study this year at Harvard,which looked at 135 mothers and their infants,found that the more fish the mothers ate during their second trimesters,the better their infants did on tests when they were 6 months old.But the researchers urged mothers to stick to canned light tuna or salmon while steering clear of shark,swordfish and other types of fish with high mercury levels.Another recent study,published in December in The Archives of Neurology,looked at adults.It found that elderly people who ate fish at least once a week did better on tests of memory and mental acuity than their peers who did not,and had a 10 percent slower decline in mental skills each year.Dr.John A.Boockvar,an as sistant professor of brain surgenry at Weill Medical College of Cornell University,recommended eating fish at least twice a week."Unless it's fish that has a lot of mercury,it's not going to harm you,"Dr.Boockvar said."And we know it improves brain functioning."So the bottom line:fish is good for the brain.

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