Blood profiles, body fat and mood state in healthy subjects on different diets supplemented with Omega‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

Abstract

AA/EPA and mood state are differently influenced by diet and Omega-3, body fat is particularly reduced by Zone diet, while blood parameters such as triglycerides/HDL ratio, insulin and homocysteine are related to AA/EPA variations. These findings are discussed in terms of differences in the composition of the diets and the influences of Omega-3 on physiological functions.

Is there a role forn-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in the regulation of mood and behaviour? A review of the evidence to date from epidemiological studies, clinical studies and intervention trials

“…Two studies, however, found no benefit of supplementation with EPA þ DHA (12) or E-EPA (116) for depression, mania or bipolar symptoms. All four studies involving volunteers with no diagnosis of depression also found no differences between treatment and placebo groups following supplementation with DHA (89) , EPA þ DHA (119) , EPA þ DHA þ other n-3PUFA (118) or advice to eat fish or supplementation with EPA (117) . Of the studies involving individuals with other psychiatric conditions, one study found a beneficial effect of EPA þ DHA compared with placebo on depression in chronic fatigue patients (120) , one study found a beneficial effect of E-EPA compared with placebo on depression in patients with borderline personality disorder (124) and one study found a benefit of EPA þ DHA compared with placebo on depression in individuals who self-harm (126) .…”

“…Of these studies, Behan et al (120) found decreases in fatigue following supplementation with EPA þ DHA compared with placebo in sixty-three individuals diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, Fontani et al (118) found decreases following supplementation with EPA þ DHA compared with placebo in thirty-three healthy volunteers, and Yehuda et al (144) found decreases in fatigue following supplementation with ALA þ n-6PUFA compared with placebo in 126 individuals suffering from test anxiety. Benefits of n-3PUFA supplementation for individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome have also been reported in several individual cases (147) .…”

“…Ness et al (117) measured anxiety following advice to eat fish or supplementation with EPA in a large sample (n 452) of angina sufferers, Fontani et al (118) measured anxiety following supplementation with EPA þ DHA þ other n-3PUFA in thirty-three healthy volunteers, Rogers et al (119) measured anxiety following supplementation with EPA þ DHA in 218 individuals with mild -moderate depressed mood, Fux et al (125) studied anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behaviour following E-EPA in eleven individuals diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Yehuda et al (144) studied mood and organisational abilities following supplementation with ALA in a group of 126 test anxiety sufferers. Improvements following treatment compared with placebo were found in two studies (118,144) , but no benefits of treatment compared with placebo were found in the other three studies (117,119,125) .…”

“…Five studies have included measurement of fatigue following n-3PUFA supplementation compared with placebo (113,118,120,121,144) . Of these studies, Behan et al (120) found decreases in fatigue following supplementation with EPA þ DHA compared with placebo in sixty-three individuals diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, Fontani et al (118) found decreases following supplementation with EPA þ DHA compared with placebo in thirty-three healthy volunteers, and Yehuda et al (144) found decreases in fatigue following supplementation with ALA þ n-6PUFA compared with placebo in 126 individuals suffering from test anxiety.…”

Food groups and fatty acids associated with self-reported depression: An analysis from the Australian National Nutrition and Health Surveys

“…Maes et al [45] showed that major depression was associated with reduced eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n-3) and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA; 22:5n-3) fractions in phospholipids, reduced alpha-linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3n-3), EPA and total n-3 in cholesteryl esters and increased arachidonic acid (AA; 20:4n-6) to EPA ratio in both phospholipids and in cholesteryl esters. It has also been shown that depression is directly associated with increases in the ratios of n-6 PUFA to n-3 PUFA and of AA to EPA concentrations in plasma and erythrocytes [20,45,46].…”