WEIRD Nutrient Helps With Depression?
Do you feel your baby blues are more than just temporary feelings?
Can you cry at the drop of a hat or an emotional movie?
Have you been diagnosed with depression?
There are many, many people who are depressed.
And this depression may alter their mood, productivity at work, or even just being able to go out and be social.
Although there are medications to treat this condition, many people look to other alternative (i.e, natural therapies) in order to manage and treat mild to severe bouts of depression.
A New Approach to Depression
Current research shows that omega-3 fatty acids may be extremely beneficial to brain health.
And that even includes symptoms related to depression.
Previous research showed that people with lower omega-3 fatty acids in their blood were more likely to experience depression symptoms.
Now, a new study may confirm these previous findings.
Here’s what they found:
First, they noted that there is evidence that depressive symptoms are inversely related (high = less likely and vice versa) to omega-3 fatty acids levels.
The study showed that 18 percent of men and 25.6 percent of women experienced elevated depressive symptoms.
Now, here is the great part: women with the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acid intake were 49 percent less likely to have depressive symptoms.
And they found people with a higher ratio between omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids, we more likely to have elevated depressive symptoms, especially women.
They concluded: Among United States women, higher intakes of n–3 fatty acids [absolute (n–3) and relative to n–6 fatty acids (n–3:n–6)] were associated with lower risk of elevated depressive symptoms, specifically in domains of somatic complaints (mainly n–3 PUFAs) and positive affect (mainly n–3 HUFAs).
Simply stated, the higher the omega-3 fatty acid concentration, the lower the risk was for developing depressive symptoms.
Take Home Message
Depression can affect anyone – at any time.
It can affect both men and women and can be mild to severe in symptoms.
Although the use of medication is often used to treat depression, there is current evidence that omega-3 fatty acids may also be a key in treating it.
In fact, previous and current studies (including the one from today) show evidence that if your omega-3 fatty acid concentrations are low, you may be at a higher risk for developing depression, especially among women.
Although by no means should you stop taking your medication, but talking with your health care professional about the possible benefits of omega-3 fatty acids may be warranted.
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References:
Beydoun MA, Kuczmarski MTF, Beydoun HA, Hibbeln JR, Evans MK, Zonderman AB. Omega-3 Fatty Acid Intakes Are Inversely Related to Elevated Depressive Symptoms among United States Women. J Nutr. 2013 Sept 4.
About Jayson Hunter & Jaylab Pro
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Jaylab Pro was founded by Registered Dietitian Jayson Hunter. Jayson has been recognized as one of America's foremost weight loss experts by America's Premier Experts™. He has also been featured in USA Today for this accomplishment. Jayson is also a best-selling author having co-authored multiple books in health & fitness and business growth. Jayson and the Jaylab Pro team are proud to create content that helps improve the lives of millions of people around the world. We hope you enjoy it just as much as others have.