Omega-3 Nutrient

It is a no-brainer that the omega-3 fats lower heart disease – researchers have known that for decades. Hundreds of studies, from prestigious groups like the National Institutes of Health and universities like Harvard and Tuffs, repeatedly and consistently show that when you add omega-3-rich foods or supplements to the diet

Blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels drop and the good cholesterol, called HDL, goes up;

The bad cholesterol, called LDL, changes in size so it is less harmful to arteries;

Your blood is less likely to form nasty blood clots that block arteries and lead to heart attack and stroke;

There is less inflammation in your arteries, so they are more resistant to the development of atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of heart disease; and

Even your blood pressure and heart rate drop.

Benefits are seen whether you take omega-3s in general or only the omega-3 DHA. These benefits are experienced by men and women with heart disease, by healthy people, by vegetarians and by people at any age from infancy to the elder years. The benefits to your heart also appear to be cumulative. The more you eat, the healthier your heart. Eat omega-3-rich foods once or twice a week and you lower heart disease risk by 30%, but include those foods every day and our risk drops by up to 83%.

For years, nutrition experts focused on this exciting heart disease connection. Then a few researchers started to ponder the effects omega-3 might have on the brain. They had noticed an interesting phenomenon: people with heart disease also had an unusually high rate of depression. Could there be a common factor underlying both problems? If DHA and other omega-3 fats could dramatically lower heart disease risk, what were the possibilities for brain tissue, which is so much more dependent on these fats? DHA was the omega-3 of choice for their studies, since both the brain and the retina of the eyes contain up to 30 times more DHA than any other omega-3. There had to be a connection between those high tissue levels and DHA somehow regulating mod, memory and brain health.

In the 1990s, the results of those studies started to rolling in. Study after study showed that people who are depressed and women with postpartum depression have much lower DHA levels in their blood, fat tissues and cerebrospinal fluids, up to 36% lower than happy people. It is now clear that DHA levels drop, so do levels of the feel-good brain chemical serotonin, leaving people grumpy, blue and downright depressed. Even the severity of depression is affected; as tissue levels of omega-3s drop, depression worsens. On the other hand, boost intake of DHA by including more DHA-rich foods or by taking supplements, and serotonin levels rise and mood improves in men, women and new moms. Studies show up to a 50% reduction in depression in people who are the toughest to treat and even an improvement in well-being for those battling everyday blues.

The time factor varies form person to person; some people report improvements in mood within days or even hours of eating daily omega-3-rich meals. And it doesn’t take huge amounts. Even a slight increase in blood levels, say a 1% to 5% increase, is enough to see the sneering wicked with turn into happy-go-lucky Pollyanna.

The mood-boosting benefits of DHA go far beyond just a few studies. DHA can change the mod of entire countries. Depression rates vary up to sixty-fold form one country to another. Those rates mirror rats for heart disease and also reflect omega-3 intake. For example, as people switch from their culture’s traditional diets that are adequate in omega-3s to Western-style diets almost devoid of omega-3s, the country’s rates of heart disease, depression and postpartum depression skyrocket.