Omega-3 and depression

The latest edition of Nutrition and Dietetics out of Australia includes a study showing that a nutritious diet combined with daily fish-oil supplements and/or three oily fish meals such as salmon, sardines or fresh tuna each week can provide relief from depression symptoms.

Depression is a major risk factor for self-harm and suicide, and the World Health Organization says that will likely be the No. 2 cause of death worldwide by 2020. The findings help strengthen the understanding that depression is a mood disorder with biological and psychosocial causes.

The lead author, dietitian Dianne Volker of Sydney University, said in a press release, "We have found evidence of the potential therapeutic benefits of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid incorporation in the diet, which may contribute to an eventual recovery in the long term. This is definitely a valuable add-on to the psychosocial and pharmacological treatment therapy depression sufferers undergo."