Fish Oil for Mental Disorders?

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Today's Question

Fish Oil for Mental Disorders?

 

My cousin suffers from manic depression. Can fish-oil capsules help

her?

 

-- Anonymous

 

Today's Answer

(Published 11/03/2000)

Updated 12/6/2001

 

www.drweil.com

 

This is a very hot area of scientific research because fish-oil

supplements may reduce the symptoms of manic depression (bipolar

disorder) as well as other psychiatric conditions.

 

In manic depression, it's thought that overactive cell signaling in

the brain may be at least partly to blame and that omega-3s might

curtail the overactivity.

 

A recent study at Harvard Medical School followed 30 otherwise-

healthy manic-depressives who were given pills with fish oil which

contained omega-3 fatty acids or a placebo (olive oil).

 

Researchers found that the patients taking fish oil were symptom-

free for a significantly longer time. The only side effects were

mild stomach upset and a " fishy " aftertaste.

 

These findings are preliminary and must be confirmed by further

studies, but they do suggest that low levels of essential fatty

acids in brain cell membranes may underlie major psychiatric

illness.

 

In fact, there's some evidence suggesting that the rising levels of

depression in the Western world in recent decades may be related to

a low rate of fish consumption.

Still, it's not clear how much omega-3 is needed. The Harvard study

used a very high dose -- their supplements contained 6.2 grams of

one omega-3 fatty acid (eicosapentaoic acid or EPA) and 3.4 grams of

another, docosahexanoic acid (DHA).

 

This high dose would require taking almost 20 capsules of fish oil a

day. It is not known if lower doses have any benefit. Until this

question is answered, I don't recommend such a high dose.

 

Lower doses of fish oil supplements, as well as diets rich in fish,

have been shown to be beneficial for many other conditions, however.

That is why we have recommended a lower dose in my Vitamin Advisor.

 

My longstanding recommendation is to include 2-3 servings of fish a

week. Choose fish from cold, northern waters -- sardines, herring,

mackerel, and wild salmon (which have much more omega-3 than farmed

salmon).

 

And if you are vegetarian (or don't want to eat fish), know that the

best source of omega-3s is freshly ground organic flaxseed. In fact,

some of the new omega-3 enriched eggs (available in most parts of

the country) come from hens which are fed a special diet comprised

of ground flaxseed.

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