Why Should You Take Fish Oil For Depression?
By Elena Williams

There are many benefits to getting an adequate daily supply of omega 3 fatty acids. Meeting your daily requirements of omega 3 is indeed crucial to optimum physical and mental health.

Omega 3 fats, the kind you see in oil of fish, has been shown to reverse heart disease, boost immune function, fight degenerative disease, help increase fertility, improve mental health and promote healthy skin.

Some studies suggest that fish oil supplements may be as effective as prescription antidepressant medication – but the two in combination are more effective than either taken alone. Further study is needed to confirm these early impressions, though the preliminary results are encouraging.

While the exact mechanism by which fish and omega 3 helps alleviate clinical depression, it may have something to do with the fact that 60% of the brain is composed of fatty acids, and one-half of it is the exact same forms that are present in fish oil!

DHA, which is one of the two major long-chain Omega 3 fatty acids in fish, is important for heart health and specifically essentially in brain development of fetuses and newborn babies, making up 30% of the brain's cortex and 15-20% of the eye's retina.

In 1999, a study by Dr.Andrew Stoll from Harvard Medical School reported startling results showing that fish oil had a significant impact on patients with bipolar disorder – an alternating emotional state ranging between mania and depression, causing cyclical mood swings from one extreme to the other.

Of two groups of patients, one treated with fish oil and the other with a placebo, the group getting fish supplements showed such a marked improvement that the trial was abandoned mid-way because it was felt unethical to deprive the control group of a treatment that was so effective!

Another clinical trial studied the effect of just one of the long-chain omega 3 fatty acids, one called EPA. Given in doses of 1 gram daily, it was found to have a marked improvement in patients with clinical depression, leading to the recommendation that fish oil for depression was a logical choice.

There is also anecdotal evidence in medical literature of how oil of fish for depression had a positive effect on regular administration for those with mental disorders and conditions. Other data supporting the positive effect of fish oil for depression and mental abnormalities comes from the U.K. based Durham study, where scientists are studying the impact that fish oil can have on behaviour, concentration and learning in the classroom.

All this information supports the conclusion that fish oil is a safe and convenient supplement for everyone to improve health in general. The best commercially available brands use oil from fish caught in the cleanest and coldest waters, far from commercial shipping lines to minimize contamination.

Making fish capsules even safer is the practice of molecular distillation, by which any mercury or other heavy metals, dioxins, PCBs and other contaminants are completely removed, leaving only healthy, pure, good fish extracts.

If you'd like to learn more about the fish oil supplements I personally take daily, please drop by my website today.

Elena Williams is a nutrition enthusiast with a special interest in the amazing health benefits of Omega 3 fatty acids and fish oil supplements. Visit her site now to discover the very latest and most reliable information about DHA Omega-3 fish oil supplements: http://www.grandpagiles.com/fishoil/fishoil.htm