Depression is a disorder mental serious and common responsible for the majority of suicides. As I already covered it, the intake of fruits, vegetables and natural antioxidants found to be protected associated with depression. The researchers so that “it would be possible to avoid depression or mitigate its negative effects through dietary intervention.”
Fish consumption and Suicide: is there a connection?
But not so fast. Cross-sectional studies are snapshots in time, so we do not know “If a bad eating habits precedes the development of depression or if depression causes poor food intake.” Depression and even treatment for depression can affect appetite and food intake. Maybe people who feel just crappier eat crappier, rather than the reverse.
We need is a prospective study (a study spread over time) where we start with people who are not depressed and follow them for several years. In 2012, we got such a study, which lasted more than six years. As you will see in the video below, those who have higher levels of carotenoids in their bloodstream, which is considered a good indicator of the fruit and vegetables, had a 28 percent lower risk of becoming depressed in this period. The researchers concluded that given the low blood levels of these healthy phytonutrients can predict the development of new symptoms of depression. But what about suicide?
In the world, 1 million people commit suicide every year. Of all European countries, the Greece can have the lowest rates of suicide. Maybe it’s the mild climate, but it may also have something to do with their diet. Ten thousand people have been followed for years, and those who follow a pattern of more Mediterranean diet were less likely to receive a diagnosis of depression. What is the regime that is protective? It wasn’t the red wine or fish; It was the fruit, nuts, beans and actually higher plant at the rate of animal fat that appeared protection. Conversely, significant negative trends were observed for consumption of dairy and meat.
Fish consumption and Suicide: is there a connection?
A similar protective dietary pattern was found in the Japan. High consumption of vegetables, fruits, mushrooms and soy products was associated with a prevalence of a decrease in depressive symptoms. Healthy eating habits was not characterized by high consumption of seafood. Similar results have been found in a study of 100,000 Japanese men and women followed for 10 years. There was no evidence of a protective role of increased fish consumption or of the long chain omega-3s EPA and DHA against suicide. In fact, they found a significantly increased risk of suicide among male drinkers with omega-3 forte of seafood intake. This may have been by accident, but a similar result was found in the Mediterranean. Fish consumption of basic high with an increase in consumption were associated with an increased risk of mental disorders.
One possible explanation could be the mercury levels in fish. Could the accumulation of mercury compounds in the increase of the body the risk of depression? We know that mercury in fish can cause neurological damage, associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, memory loss and autism, but also depression. As a result, “the increase in the risk of suicide in people with a high consumption of fish can be also due to the harmful effects of mercury in the fish.”
Harvard University large cohort studies have found similar results. Hundreds of thousands have been followed for 20 years, and found no evidence that taking fish oil or eating fish reduces the risk of suicide. There was even a tendency to a higher mortality suicide .
What consumption of fish for the treatment of depression? When we have implemented all tests to date, nor the EPA and DHA omega-3 long-chain seems more effective than sugar pills. We used to think omega-3 supplementation has been useful, but several recent studies have tipped the balance in the other direction. It seems that “[n]at the very beginning of the effectiveness of the treatment observed in the published literature may be due to publication bias,” which means that tests that showed no benefit tends not not to get published at all. So, what you saw were a bunch of positive studies, but only because a lot of those negative were buried.
in terms of health,
Michael Greger, M.D.
PS: If you have not yet, you can subscribe to my free videos here and watch my live presentations, review the year – 2015: food as medicine: prevent and treat diseases most dreaded with diet and my last, 2016: how not to die: the role of diet in preventive action striking and reverse our Top 15 Killers.
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