(06-03-11) New Research: Omega-3s 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 Lay? 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 Lay? 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

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fatty acids predict metabolites of serotonin and dopamine in cerebrospinal
fluid among healthy control subjects, and early- and late-onset alcoholics.
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