New Research: Omega-3’s Improve Your Mood!

Omega-3s Show New Benefit for Mood Health
by Craig Weatherby

Encouraging animal research from France supports evidence that omega-3 fatty acids play a key role in mood health … and expands our grasp on how they work in the brain.

French scientists tested the effects of feeding mice a diet that was relatively low in omega-3 fatty acids and high in the omega-6 fatty acids that predominate in most  vegetable oils (Lafourcade M et al. 2011).

As they said in a press release, this imbalanced fat intake “had deleterious consequences on synaptic functions and emotional behaviors.”  (INSERM 2011)

In other words, it messed with brain systems and chemicals that maintain mood.

As our readers know, the average American’s diet suffers from the same kind of “omega-imbalance”, which is associated with major health conditions from cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis to depression and dementia.

The average American’s diet is grossly imbalanced in favor of omega-6 fats, primarily from the vegetable oils most commonly used in homes and in packaged or prepared foods (corn, canola, soy, safflower, sunflower). Omega-6s also abound in soy milk, poultry, and factory farmed red meats.

Olive oil, macadamia nut oil, and special “hi-oleic” safflower and sunflower oils are the only oils low in omega-6s.

Most researchers estimate that Americans consume 20 to 40 times as much omega-6 as omega-3 fatty acids … when we should be eating the two types in roughly equal amounts, consuming no more than three grams of omega-6 fats for every gram of omega-3 fats.

This extreme imbalance reduces the amounts of omega-3s that can get into our cells … a “blocking” effect that has broad, deep health implications for brain and overall health.

French study finds omega-3s affect key mood-related systems

Prior animal research showed that omega-3s foster growth of cells in the brain’s hippocampus region and promote connections between those cells … an effect associated with reduced depression risk and symptom severity (Venna VR et al. 2008).

And clinical findings by NIH psychiatrist Joe Hibbeln, M.D., show that people with higher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids have more serotonin and dopamine – two key mood-related neurotransmitters – in their spinal fluid (Hibbeln JR et al. 1998).

Now, findings from INSERM – France’s equivalent to the U.S. National Institutes of Health – add another reason why omega-3s and the omega balance matter to mood (Lafourcade M et al. 2011).

A team led by Drs. Olivier Manzoni and Sophie Layé wanted to test the idea that feeding mice an omega-imbalanced diet starting before birth would influence brain systems involved in depression and anxiety.

The INSERM team fed mice a life-long diet imbalanced in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

They found that the resulting shortage of omega-3s and overload of omega-6 fats disturbed communication between brain cells (neurons).

Critically, this was the first research to show the omega-imbalanced diet virtually shut down their brain cells’ CB1R cannabinoid receptors, which play a key role in between-cell communications (i.e., neurotransmission).

And the “neuronal dysfunction” induced by an omega-imbalanced diet was accompanied by depressive behaviors among the mice.

Among omega-3 deficient mice, the usual effects produced by cannabinoid receptor activation disappeared, along with the critical antioxidant effects exerted by the brain’s cannabinoid compounds.

The researchers discovered that the omega-3 deficient diet impaired synaptic plasticity – the ability to form new connections in the brain – in at least two areas (prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens) involved in reward, motivation, and emotional regulation.

These parts of the brain contain a large number of CB1R cannabinoid receptors and have important functional connections with each other.

Drs. Manzoni and Layé noted that their results “… corroborate clinical and epidemiological studies which have revealed associations between an omega-3/omega-6 imbalance and mood disorders.” (INSERM 2011)

Critically, these findings provide another biological explanation for the statistical associations repeatedly found between diets low in omega-3s – which are now common, worldwide – and mood disorders such as depression.

Human evidence supports omega-3s’ hypothetical mood-regulation role

Five years ago, the American Psychiatric Association concluded that people who consume higher amounts of omega-3s from fish (EPA and DHA) enjoy lower risks of depression and related mood disorders (Freeman MP et al. 2006).

Then, two years ago, the results of the largest-ever clinical trial found that omega-3 fish oil significantly benefited the half of clinically depressed participants who did not also have a diagnosed anxiety disorder (Lesperance F et al 2009).

In fact, fish oil appeared to help these people about as much as the leading class of antidepressant drugs … selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac and Paxil.

Craig Weatherby is a health journalist and the author of  “The Arthritis Bible”. His excellent reporting can be found in the newsletter of Vital Choice, my favorite source for wild fish caught in pristine waters. Try the Vital Choice Dr. Jonny Healthiest Foods Package!

Sources

  • Freeman MP, Hibbeln JR, Wisner KL, Davis JM, Mischoulon D, Peet M, Keck PE Jr, Marangell LB, Richardson AJ, Lake J, Stoll AL. Omega-3 fatty acids: evidence basis for treatment and future research in psychiatry. J Clin Psychiatry. 2006 Dec;67(12):1954-67. Review.
  • Hibbeln JR, Linnoila M, Umhau JC, Rawlings R, George DT, Salem N Jr. Essential fatty acids predict metabolites of serotonin and dopamine in cerebrospinal fluid among healthy control subjects, and early- and late-onset alcoholics. Biol Psychiatry 1998; 44: 235-242.
  • INSERM (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale). A deficiency of dietary omega-3 may explain depressive behaviors. January 30, 2011. Accessed at   http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-01/ind-ado012811.php
  • Lafourcade M, Larrieu T, Mato S, Duffaud A, Sepers M, Matias I, De Smedt-Peyrusse V, Labrousse VF, Bretillon L, Matute C, Rodríguez-Puertas R, Layé S, Manzoni OJ. Nutritional omega-3 deficiency abolishes endocannabinoid-mediated neuronal functions. Nat Neurosci. 2011 Jan 30. [Epub ahead of print]
  • Lesperance F et al. The efficacy of eicosapentaenoic acid for major depression: Results of the OMEGA-3D trial. 9th World Congress of Biological Psychiatry: Abstract FC-25-005. Presented July 1, 2009. Accessed at http://www.wfsbp-congress.org/fileadmin/user_upload/WFSBP_Final_Programme_090625.pdf
  • Nemets B, Stahl Z, Belmaker RH. Addition of omega-3 fatty acid to maintenance medication treatment for recurrent unipolar depressive disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 2002; 159(3): 477-479.
  • Owen C, Rees AM, Parker G. The role of fatty acids in the development and treatment of mood disorders. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2008 Jan; 21(1): 19-24.
  • Peet M, Horrobin DF. A dose-ranging study of the effects of ethyl-eicosapentaenoate in patients with ongoing depression despite apparently adequate treatment with standard drugs. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2002; 59(10): 913-919.
  • Sahay A, Hen R. Hippocampal neurogenesis and depression. Novartis Found Symp. 2008; 289: 152-60; discussion 160-4, 193-5.
  • Santarelli L, Saxe M, Gross C, Surget A, Battaglia F, Dulawa S, Weisstaub N, Lee J, Duman R, Arancio O, Belzung C, Hen R. Requirement of hippocampal neurogenesis for the behavioral effects of antidepressants. Science. 2003 Aug 8; 301(5634): 805-9.
  • Venna VR, Deplanque D, Allet C, Belarbi K, Hamdane M, Bordet R. PUFA induce antidepressant-like effects in parallel to structural and molecular changes in the hippocampus. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2009 Feb; 34(2): 199-211. Epub 2008 Oct 10.

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7 Comments

  1. Perry

    Thank you for that read.

  2. Natalie

    Thanks for the information I can say I expereinced a recognizable difference in mood when I started taking Omega 3 supplement. How much Omega 3 do you recommend ?

    Natalie

  3. Bill Turner

    Good information….Thankyou. What would be the recommended daily dose of EPA and DHA ,and would 1 teaspoon of cod liver oil provide adaquate supplement?

  4. Robert Peil

    Dear Dr. Jonny Bowden,

    Wow! It is so refreshing to see someone post such true, accurate and MUCH needed info for increasing public awareness on this vital topic!

    You especially nailed it on the hazardous Omega 3 deficiency we have in our western diet, with the dangerous imbalance our bodies have in the Omega 6 – Omega 3 ratio!

    Not only Omega 3 aids mood improvement, but pretty much a vital need to help with most ALL of the inflammatory ailments of our body: (this covers almost all diseases – chronic head cold, chronic sinusitis, joint inflammation, skin diseases, lupus, inflammatory intestinal diseases, fibromyalgia, asthma and more…)

    Robert

  5. Jonny

    Dear Dr Jonny

    Myself and my family are taking the Carlson’s finest fish oil you recommend on your site and mention you actually take yourself. The 500ml bottle currently gets opened/closed round 3 times a day and lasts about a month, and although there is vitamin e added to it, is oxidation of the oil a likely problem (we also store it in the fridge)? If so, would adding something like astaxanthin to it help reduce this?

    Many thanks

    Jonny

  6. GIGI

    VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE…..HOW MUCH OMEGA -3 OIL SUPPLEMENT IS NEEDED OR HOW MANY TIMES FISH MEALS PER WEEK ARE NEEDED…AND WHAT FISHES HAVE THE MOST OR BETTER OMEGA-3 OILS…THANK YOU…GIGI…….

  7. Gayla

    What else can heal brain neurotransmitters damaged (lowered) by high stress & adrenal exhaustion?was