Fish oil and depression

• omega-3 fatty acids are derived from fish oil, and epidemiologic evidence suggests some relationships between ingestion of fish oil and both cardiac disease and depressive disorder in different cultures. Studies have reported that countries with high rates of fish oil consumption have low rates of depressive disorder (1)
• small studies such as the one by Nemets et al (2) have revealed the beneficial effects of fish oil supplementation in the management of depressed patients
• a 2019 meta-analysis supported the finding that omega-3 PUFAs with EPA ≥ 60% at a dosage of ≤1 g/d would have beneficial effects on depression. (3)

Reference:

1. 1. Hibbeln JR, Salem N Jr: Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and depression: when cholesterol does not satisfy. Am J Clin Nutr 1995; 62:1-9
2. 2. Nemets B et al. Addition of omega-3 fatty acid to maintenance medication treatment for recurrent unipolar depressive disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 2002 Mar;159(3):477-9.
3. Liao Y et al. Efficacy of omega-3 PUFAs in depression: A meta-analysis. Transl Psychiatry. 2019 Aug 5;9(1):190.