Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids to optimize cognitive function for military mission-readiness: a systematic review and recommendations for the field.

CONTEXT

There has been interest in identifying whether nutrients might help optimize cognitive performance, especially for the military tasked with ensuring mission-readiness.

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review assesses the quality of the evidence for n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) across various outcomes related to cognitive function in healthy adult populations in order to develop research recommendations concerning n-3 PUFAs for mission-readiness.

DATA SOURCES

PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, PsycInfo, and the Cochrane Library were searched.

STUDY SELECTION

Peer-reviewed randomized controlled trials published in the English language were eligible.

DATA EXTRACTION

Thirteen included trials were assessed for methodological quality, and descriptive data were extracted.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Of the acceptable-quality (n = 8) and high-quality (n = 1) studies, 2 produced no statistically significant results, 5 produced mixed results, and 2 did not report between-group results.

CONCLUSIONS

Results indicate that ingestion of n-3 PUFAs does not significantly alter cognitive performance in cognitively healthy persons. Studies exposing subjects to adverse circumstances that would be most relevant for drawing conclusions specifically for the military population are lacking. Several research recommendations are offered to enhance understanding of the role of fatty acids on cognitive functioning.