Omega-3 as Antidepressant

University of Kansas Psychology Professor and author of the book The Depression Cure: The 6-Step Program to Beat Depression without Drugs, Dr. Stephen S. Ilardi points to studies where Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to have an antidepressant effect.

Some of the studies were inconclusive, but the thing that all the successful studies had in common was using EPA.  There are several different types of Omega-3s.  The most commonly known ones are EPA and DHA.  In the studies where Omega-3s acted as effective antidepressants, the patients were taking a dose of at least 1,000 mg of EPA daily.

Omega-3 supplements are widely available today in drug stores, supermarkets, health food stores, and online.  In his lecture about Therapeutic Lifestyle Change for Depression (and it's just under 2 hours long, so don't beat yourself up if you don't get through the whole thing), Dr. Ilardi mentions the brand NOW Foods Ultra Omega 3, Fish Oil Soft-gels.  But any high quality Omega-3 fish oil with enough EPA will do.  Dr. Ilardi recommends looking for the terms "molecularly distilled" or "pharmaceutical grade" when looking for a high quality EPA fish oil.

In order to get the minimum 1,000 mg of EPA daily for the antidepressant effect, it may be necessary to take more than one capsule every day.  For example, the NOW Foods brand mentioned above only contains 500 mg of EPA per soft-gel, so you'd have to take two pills (either together or spread out like one in the morning and one at night) in order to get the recommended dose of EPA as an antidepressant.

When you think about it, the fact that fish oil is helpful for people suffering from depression is not all that surprising news.  Omega-3s have anti-inflammatory properties.  And anyone who's seen any of the PBS specials with all the brain scans by Dr. Daniel Amen knows that an inflamed brain is a sick brain.  He even has his own Omega-3 Supplement, too, called The Amen Solution Omega 3 Power.

Even the authors of The Happiness Diet recommend increasing the amount of salmon and organic eggs in your diet in order to boost your mood.  Both of these foods are rich in Omega-3s and help keep your brain healthy.

Of course, if you're already on prescription medications, talk to your doctor before adding more Omega-3s to your routine.

If you'd like more information and videos about Dr. Ilardi and his Theraputic Lifestyle Change approach to treating depression, check out this Squidoo lens.

Image:  Diane Kress Blog