Mental illness is common in society with almost half or 46% of Australians between the age of 18 to 65 experiencing some form of mental illness in their lifetime. Depression is one type of mental illness and affects around one million Australians. Major Depressive Disorder also known as clinical depression severely impacts the ability to function and interferes with everyday life. It is classified as a depressed mood which is felt for most of the day and occurs consecutively for at least two weeks duration.
When it comes to supporting your ability to cope with this mental disorder there are several strategies which work best when used in combination. This includes medication, diet, and psychological support. A recent study brings light to the impact on polyunsaturated fat in influencing the effectiveness of anti-depressant drugs.
Omega-3 fat is a polyunsaturated fat and essential fat which you need to get from your diet. The type of omega-3 fat sound in seafood is made up of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. Docosahexaenoic acid is the component of omega-3 fat that is the main type of fat your brain needs for optimal function and health. This includes ensuring messages are sent normally throughout your brain.
Lack of omega 3 fat is linked to a reduced ability for your brain to make the needed energy required to function. In addition to this, low omega 3 levels are also linked to changes in response to vision functions, reduced capacity to deal with stress, changes in ability to learn and changes in your behaviour.
A new study provides insight to the potential power of optimal levels of omega 3 fat and omega 3 to omega 6 fat ratio in increasing responsiveness to anti-depressant drugs. Researchers recruited sixty adults which had been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder. Evaluations of the mental status was taken before anti-depressant medications were given, then at four week and finally at eight weeks of treatment.
The anti-depressant medications given to the adults recruited in the study were escitalopram, sertraline, and venlafaxine. Forty-five of the adults took escitalopram, thirteen took sertraline and two took venlafaxine.
The polyunsaturated levels of each adult were measured at baseline which included the omega 3 index. The omega 3 index is the amount of omega 3 fat present in your red blood cells as a percentage of the total types of different fats present in your red blood cells. Lower omega 3 polyunsaturated fat levels, specifically eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid levels were associated with worse symptoms prior to taking the anti-depressant medication. In addition, there was a higher omega 6 to omega 3 fat ratio in adults with more severe Major Depressive Disorder symptoms.
After the eight-week duration of taking the anti-depressive medication those adults with higher initial levels of docosahexaenoic acid, higher omega 3 fat index as well as a lower omega 6 to omega 3 fat ratio showed greater responsiveness to the anti-depressant medications.
Take home message: Using multiple strategies in your management of Major Depressive Disorder is recommended. This exciting new research provides a strategy to improve response to anti-depressant medication through improvements omega 3 fat index and ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fat present in the blood.
References:
- Cussotto S, Delgado I, Oriolo G, Kemper J, Begarie D, Dexpert S, Sauvant J, Leboyer M, Aouizerate B, Martin-Santos R, Schaefer M, Capuron L. Low omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids predict reduced response to standard antidepressants in patients with major depressive disorder. Depress Anxiety. 2022 Mar 31. doi: 10.1002/da.23257. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35357051.
- Sinclair AJ. Docosahexaenoic acid and the brain- what is its role? Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2019;28(4):675-688. doi: 10.6133/apjcn.201912_28(4).0002. PMID: 31826363.
- Harris WS, Von Schacky C. The Omega-3 Index: a new risk factor for death from coronary heart disease? Prev Med 2004;39:212-20. [PubMed abstract]
- Harris WS. The omega-3 index as a risk factor for coronary heart disease. Am J Clin Nutr 2008;87:1997S-2002S
