Omega 3 & Depression

Omega 3 fats found in seafood may boost your mood and improve symptoms of depression, according to a study conducted by Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal and published in the June 2010 issue of the "Journal of Clinical Psychiatry." This study, which involved 400 psychiatric patients, found that an eight-week treatment regimen with high potency omega 3 fish oil worked 30 percent better than a placebo at improving depressive symptoms. Other research studies suggest that fish oil may improve the effectiveness of many prescription selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, like Prozac.

A handful of other studies have also found promising results for omega 3s and depression. While the research is still murky, omega 3 fats may help some of the 21 million American adults who suffer from depression.

Omega 3s

Omega 3s are a class of fatty acids found mostly in marine life, especially cold-water fish like mackerel, tuna and salmon. Two particular types of omega 3s, eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA, and docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, are found in high concentrations in marine animals. A third type of omega 3, alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA, is found primarily in plant foods such as legumes, nuts and flaxseed oil.
Most of the research investigating omega 3 fats as a treatment for depression has used fish-oil-derived EPA and DHA, not ALA.

Mood

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the results from trials investigating omega 3s as a depression treatment have had "mixed" results.
For example, a 2006 study conduced by Sophia Frangou, M.D., Ph.D., of the Institute of Psychiatry, London, and published in the "British Journal of Psychiatry" put subjects diagnosed with bipolar depression on a 12-week course of EPA. At the end of the trial, symptoms of bipolar disorder and depression improved in those taking the EPA.

On the other hand, the March 2004 issue of "The American Journal of Psychiatry" published a population-based trial involving 29,133 men ages 50 to 69 years conducted by the National Public Health Institute of Finland, which found no correlation between dietary omega 3 intake and depression.

Function

According to the website Natural News, omega 3s may improve brain function -- and combat depression -- by making brain cell membranes more fluid. It's thought that fluid brain cell membranes can more readily accept neurotransmitters responsible for regulating mood, like serotonin.

Part of Treatment

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the jury remains out on omega 3s and depression, so you shouldn't toss your medications in the trash and replace them with a bottle of fish oil just yet. Depression is a medical condition that requires professional treatment. Therefore, omega 3s should be considered a complement to, and not a replacement for, proven depression treatments.

Sources

For the treatment of depression, you should choose sources high in EPA and DHA, like fatty fish. Foods high in ALA have not been heavily researched and may not be as beneficial.