Benefits of Omega 3 Fish Oil

In this short episode, I will review the data behind Omega-3 fish oil and how and why it can improve depression in women - all to help you decide if it's a treatment option worth discussing with your doctor.  Stay tuned for new episodes weekly!

To learn more about me and my reproductive psychiatry clinic helping patients across California, please visit - AnnaGlezerMD.com

Articles referenced:
Zhang 2020: www.nature.com/articles/s41398-020-00886-3
Cochrane Library: www.cochranelibrary.com

Transcript

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Welcome my listener friends to this fifth episode of the women's wellness psychiatry podcast. In this episode, we will review the benefits of omega-3 fish oil as a treatment option for depression and women. To help you decide if it's something to consider speaking with your doctor about. First let's start with what is fish oil? There's two kinds. There's the omega-3 and the omega six. And this is similar to the comparison. When we talk about the quote unquote good versus bad cholesterol, where we definitely want to have more omega-threes in our diet and less of the omega six is the omega three fish oil is sometimes also referred to as Pumas, which are poly unsaturated, fatty acids. That's just describing the molecular makeup. Of omega-3 fish oil. And so there's two kinds of omega-3 fish oil. And the reason I want to mention this is, is that specific for mental health purposes, that one of the two is thought to be more effective than the other. And there there's two there's EPA and DHA. So when you look at a bottle of fish oil, it'll say how much EPA there is. Versus how much DHA as well as overall total number of omega-3 fish oil. So it's important to look at bottles and the way that omega-3 fish oil is thought to be helpful is because it has anti-inflammatory. Yes. And that's thought to be helpful for many, many different kinds of things, including cardiac health and muscle recovery. But today we're going to talk about its benefits for mood, because there is a theory of depression, which says that one of the reason. One of the causes of depression is actually inflammation in the body. And that's part of the reason that depression can sometimes feel very physical with a lot of fatigue, a lot of body aches and pains. And that might not be the case for everyone. Just like, you know, the, the cause of depression for everyone might not necessarily be related to depression. It's a very, very heterogeneous. Kind of condition depression. And so it's different for everyone, but there is a component, a significant component of individuals with depression, for whom the inflammation piece is a big reason for their mood symptoms. And that's why the omega-3 fish oil can be really helpful because it helps with that inflammation. And so what I want to also share with you is the data behind. What I'm saying, why, why am I saying that it's helpful for mood and mental health? And so I want to share two specific studies with you that will demonstrate the benefits of omega-3 fish oil for mood and depression and mental health symptoms in way. So you can sort of decide for yourself. The first I want to share with you is a Cochrane review from 2014. And for those of you who aren't familiar with that term, so Cochrane reviews are considered one of the highest standards of scientific literature, basically. They review all of the available data on a particular topic or clinical question in a very systematic sort of way. They take a look at meta analysis, which are aggregates of various other studies. They look at randomized control trials, which are those studies that put people into groups of treatment versus no treatment and compare them over time. And they specifically. I have looked at major depressive disorder and depressive symptoms and found that yes, there is a relationship. There is a positive benefit of omega-3 fatty, fatty acids, fish oil for. The second study that I want to mention was a study that was published in translational psychiatry in 2020 by Zhang at all Z H a N G, which looked at perinatal depression and postpartum depression. And they did a very systematic review and meta analysis of all of the literature out there that looked at the benefits of a mega three fatty acids and fish oil for depression. Specifically prenatal and postpartum. And again, found that there was definitely a positive association that it helps. So given the fact that those are just two of the many studies that have looked at this and given what we know about the potential way, that the mechanism that this works, which is Making a difference in the inflammation of the body. I think it's fair to say that this is one potential option. That's open to a lot of people because it also has very few side effects in all of these studies. One of the takeaways was that this is something that has potential benefit with very little. Again, I think it's something that's important to speak with your doctor about if you're interested in this. But I think the other important thing is that it's, it's very important to find a reputable brand. If you do decide that you want to take this. To supplement your mood and mental health. I often recommend Nordic naturals to my patients, and I have no connection to that company. I've just done some research and they make a product that has high amounts of EPA and also actually some flavors that are tolerable for my patients, because sometimes you can get a little bit of that fishy after. So they make lemon flavors and things like that that can make it a little bit more palatable. And the reason I'm mentioning that it's important to have high amounts of EPA is because that's specifically the type. Remember I said that there was EPA and DHA, it's the EPA high components of EPA greater than 60%. Of the fish oil needs to be EPA for it to make a significant difference on your mood and mental health. And I'm not talking about impact on other kinds of things like your cardiac health, muscle recovery, all of those other things that fish oil can impact. I'm specifically talking about mental health and depression. I think it's also important to when you're looking for a brand to consider. Some independent third party assessments of the various brands out there. So one thing is that there's NSF international, which is an independent third-party organization that provides certification for supplements so that you're not just buying something Willy nilly online, that you're making sure that this has an NSF international certification. It's a little logo, that'll be on the supplement, the other place to look for a reputable brands. Through looking at consumer lab reports, which do a good job of evaluating supplements as well. So I hope in this short episode that you now better understand all the quote unquote fuss about omega-3 fish oil, why it can be beneficial. And perhaps it's motivated you to ask your doctor about it. I hope it helps. Thanks for joining me for this week's episode. As you know, my goal is to bring you the most helpful content that moves you towards emotional wellbeing. If you have ideas and suggestions and questions, I'd love to hear those feel free, to make a comment. And I always appreciate a rating that will help others find this valuable content as well. I'm looking forward to connecting with you next week.