Fish Consumption - The Difference Between Monkeys and Man? - May 2001

   A report was published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on findings that indicated that 20,000 years ago humans were eating significant amounts of aquatic foods in some of their diets. By contrast, European Neanderthal remains do not indicate significant use of inland aquatic foods but instead show that they obtained the majority of their protein from red meat. Other researchers suggest that this finding supports the idea that a concentration of fish food helped to boost the brainpower of early humans. Such food is known to contain higher levels of DHA, a fatty acid proven to enhance brain and eye development.
    Stephen Cunnane, a professor of nutrition at the University of Toronto, called the study "an important finding" that supports a theory that the brainpower of early humans was boosted by a diet rich in seafood containing DHA. "I am delighted that other researchers are now finding supporting evidence," said Cunnane. "We know that DHA was important in the development of the larger brain."
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 5/22/01