Omega-3 in fish oils might ease depression

GOOD SOURCES OF DHA OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS


- Salmon

- Sardines

- Mackerel

- Herring

- Anchovies

- Tuna

- Rainbow trout


Source: Penny Kris-Etherton, Pennsylvania State University




By Marilyn Elias, USA TODAY
The omega-3 fatty acid in some fish may be a "brain food" that helps ward off depression because it increases gray matter in three areas that tend to be smaller in people who have serious depression, a study suggests today.

The increase could help explain why past studies have found that the omega-3 acid DHA reduces symptoms of depression. The richest sources of DHA are fatty fish and fish-oil capsules.

Researchers gave magnetic resonance imaging tests to 55 adults. Participants also reported everything they ate for 24 hours on two randomly selected days, says study leader Sarah Conklin, a neuroscientist at University of Pittsburgh Medical School. She'll report her findings at the American Psychosomatic Society meeting in Budapest.

The more DHA a person consumed, the more gray matter there was in three areas of the brain linked to mood: the amygdala, the hippocampus and the cingulate, Conklin says. Seriously depressed people tend to have less gray matter in these areas, she says.

"That doesn't mean omega-3 is a panacea for depression," she says. "Many other things influence risk, such as genetics, environment, drug use and alcohol."
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The research seems to support rapidly growing evidence that DHA improves mood and memory, says Penny Kris-Etherton, a registered dietician and nutrition professor at Pennsylvania State University: "There are effects on the brain from what we eat."

A follow-up to a previous study, the landmark Framingham study, found that people with high blood levels of DHA cut their risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer's, by half.

There's also evidence that low DHA levels contribute to aggression, Kris-Etherton says.

In animal research, a strong link exists between levels of DHA in red blood cells and DHA in the brain, says UCLA neuroscientist Greg Cole.

In his lab research, animal and human brain cells bathed in DHA gain branches, which add to gray matter, or nerve cells, and improve brain function, he says.

"If the neurons control mood, the branching would improve mood. If they control mental function, branching … would improve memory."