--- title: Eat Fish For a Healthier Brain description: A helping of fish every week goes a long way canonical: https://time.com/3079816/fish-brain-gray-matter-study-omega-fatty-acids/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-04T18:31:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:57.449Z article:section: Health og:title: Eat Fish For a Healthier Brain og:description: A helping of fish every week goes a long way og:url: https://time.com/3079816/fish-brain-gray-matter-study-omega-fatty-acids/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13d53dc4ac81921f/69869e4bd0b6f24cea305906/sushi.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: A customer eats bonito and horse mackerel sashimi (raw fish) at a high-end sushi restaurant in Tokyo on July 16, 2013. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Eat Fish For a Healthier Brain twitter:description: A helping of fish every week goes a long way twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13d53dc4ac81921f/69869e4bd0b6f24cea305906/sushi.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Eating Fish Makes Your Brain Healthier, Study Says ## Video: The Truth About Fat [Watch (HLS stream): The Truth About Fat](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uYGhfNfS.m3u8) (5:15)  _Published 2014-06-12. When you want to lose weight or get healthy, what is the first thing you would normally cut from your diet? If you said fat, you're not alone_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 4, 2014 6:31 PM UTC  A customer eats bonito and horse mackerel sashimi (raw fish) at a high-end sushi restaurant in Tokyo on July 16, 2013. A customer eats bonito and horse mackerel sashimi (raw fish) at a high-end sushi restaurant in Tokyo on July 16, 2013.Yoshikazu Tsuno—AFP/Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 4, 2014 6:31 PM UTC Eating fish is linked to more gray matter in the part of the brain that controls memory, according to a new study. As the number of people suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s continues to grow, identifying lifestyle modifications that benefit the brain is a popular area of research. In the study, published in the _American Journal of Preventive Medicine_, researchers looked at 260 people who reported their diets and underwent MRI scans, and discovered that those who ate baked or broiled fish weekly had more gray matter in their brains, which could mean better memory (sorry, fried fish sticks don’t count). Interestingly, the researchers actually did not find an association between how the brains looked and the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the participants’ blood. Prior studies have found that omega-3 fatty acids, commonly found in foods like fish and nuts [prevent brain decline](http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/28/omega-3s-may-guard-against-brain-decline/), but more recent research is questioning their effect, since omega-3 supplements [do not always have an effect on memory loss](http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/13/fish-oil-fail-omega-3s-may-not-protect-brain-health-after-all/). The researchers concluded there are likely other perks from eating fish besides their omega-3s. The findings, like many others before this study, show that lifestyle behaviors really do matter when it comes to memory and overall health. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3079816/fish-brain-gray-matter-study-omega-fatty-acids/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3079816/fish-brain-gray-matter-study-omega-fatty-acids/"},"headline":"Eating Fish Makes Your Brain Healthier, Study Says","datePublished":"2014-08-04T18:31:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:00:57.449Z","description":"A helping of fish every week goes a long way","url":"https://time.com/3079816/fish-brain-gray-matter-study-omega-fatty-acids/","keywords":["Aging","Dementia","Alzheimer's","memory","omega-3","memory loss","fish"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13d53dc4ac81921f/69869e4bd0b6f24cea305906/sushi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13d53dc4ac81921f/69869e4bd0b6f24cea305906/sushi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A customer eats bonito and horse mackerel sashimi (raw fish) at a high-end sushi restaurant in Tokyo on July 16, 2013.","caption":"A customer eats bonito and horse mackerel sashimi (raw fish) at a high-end sushi restaurant in Tokyo on July 16, 2013.","creditText":"Yoshikazu Tsuno—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/aging/","name":"Aging"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3079816/fish-brain-gray-matter-study-omega-fatty-acids/","name":"Eating Fish Makes Your Brain Healthier, Study Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Truth About Fat","description":"When you want to lose weight or get healthy, what is the first thing you would normally cut from your diet? If you said fat, you're not alone","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uYGhfNfS/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-06-12T14:12:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uYGhfNfS.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3079816/fish-brain-gray-matter-study-omega-fatty-acids/","duration":"PT5M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3079816/fish-brain-gray-matter-study-omega-fatty-acids/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```