Good Nutrition Is Key to Alleviating Depression - A Well-Balanced Diet Including Fish Oil May Ease Illness Symptoms

Melbourne, Australia - infoZine - A study has shown that the combination of a nutritious diet, daily fish oil supplements and/or three oily fish meals, like salmon, sardines or fresh tuna, a week can help alleviate depression symptoms.

Published in the December 2006 issue of Nutrition & Dietetics- the official Journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia, including the Journal of the New Zealand Dietetic Association - researchers reviewed all existing literature related to dietary manipulation in a bid to uncover how such nutritional maneuvering may assist in treating this illness.

Depression is a major risk factor for deliberate self-harm and suicide - affecting more than one million Australians each year, and is estimated by the World Health Organization to become the second leading cause of morbidity worldwide by 2020. The findings in this study contribute to rectifying the simplistic, traditional view of the illness as a personality weakness, and provide anecdotal evidence of depression as a mood disorder with underlying biological and psychosocial causes.

Lead author and Accredited Practising Dietitian Dr. Dianne Volker, from the Department of Psychology at Sydney University said, "We have found evidence of the potential therapeutic benefits of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid incorporation in the diet which may contribute to an eventual recovery in the long term. This is definitely a valuable add-on to the psychosocial and pharmacological treatment therapy depression suffers undergo".

The results of the study go far in supporting existing commonsense knowledge of the importance of maintaining a well-balanced diet, by emphasizing its potential to relieve the symptoms of depression. It is hoped that by giving due recognition to the role of balanced nutrition, specific nutrient components such as those outlined in the study can be applied as adjuvant treatment in the maintenance of good mental health.

This study is published in Nutrition & Dietetics (2006, 63: 213 - 226).