With over 20 million adult Americans experiencing depression in any given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, it is no wonder that sufferers are looking for new and better ways to treat it. One promising, safe, natural treatment is EPA fish oil, rich in the omega-3 fatty acid that may provide relief for depression.
Eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA is a natural derivative of EFA, essential fatty acid, an omega-3 found primarily in oily fish. Studies have shown that doses higher than those naturally occurring in fish oil may be beneficial to people with depression. Because EPA is a natural substance, there is no risk of side effects, as with antidepressants or other medications, even with the higher, effective doses found in EPA fish oil supplements.
With mounting evidence that omega-3’s from fish oil appear to offer depression relief, two researchers set out to review numerous existing studies to determine fish oil’s effectiveness as a depression treatment. Dr. Pao-Yen Lin and Dr. Kuan-Pin Su analyzed ten double-blind, placebo-controlled studies in which patients received omega-3 fatty acids over a 4-week period or longer. Dr. Lin and Dr Su concluded, based on the studies, that omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil significantly improved depressive symptoms in study participants. The review was published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
More importantly, other studies showed greater benefits from higher doses of EPA specifically. In one study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, six out of ten participants found relief from EPA within four weeks. A study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry found similar results in the same amount of time. In the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, researchers saw depression ratings reduced by 50 percent after daily EPA supplements.
The reason EPA fish oil may be so effective was found in another study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In a study of 1390 participants, French researchers found that EPA levels in people with depression were 0.16 percent lower than people without depression, on average. Researchers also considered other fatty acids, but only EPA levels were lower in the people with depression.
EPA fish oil is a safe, natural way to treat depression that also may work with existing treatments. Clearly, people with depression are lacking in this important omega-3, and a supplement is an easy way to address the problem.
