Beating the blues with Mother Nature Thursday, July 02, 2009
By now those of you who have read any number of my emails know that I love to find out "why" things work.
Lately there have been several requests to flesh out why and how my Fish Oil results in better moods and less depression.
Before we begin on that journey, however, there are a couple of facts to bring up.
Recall that the brain is made up of 25% essential fatty acids, the most important of which is DHA, one of the 2 main fatty acids in Fish Oil.
Remember that in the past 12 months there has been a significant hew and cry about the negative effects of the very popular Prozac class of drugs, the SSRI's.
These side effects have included increased suicides, especially among teens and a severe withdrawal syndrome, which actually worsens the underlying depression.
Also remember way back to last winter and you will recall my explanation of how emotional and physical stresses raise cortisol levels and lead to a pro-inflammatory state in the body.
Sorry folks, Cortislim ™ didn’t prevent this!
It is also worth mentioning at this point that obesity is also a pro-inflammatory state which predisposes to depression, cancer and heart disease.
Now all of us know heavy people who are happy and thin people who are depressed so it is never that simple!
As a matter of fact, as we'll see, the issue of depression and mood is very complex and multi-factorial.
We've already hinted at why the search for effective anti-depressants continues; side effects.
In addition to some of the side effects listed above for the Prozac tm class, another big one is decreased sex drive. This is a very wide spread problem in many people taking these drugs.
There are other classes of drugs available.
MAO inhibitors increase the critical chemical, dopamine, in certain areas of the brain where it becomes low with depression.
They also require a very special diet or they can have deadly consequences like pushing your blood pressure high enough to figuratively blow your brain out of your skull!
Another class, the tricylcic antidepressants, can cause heart problems, renal failure and drowsiness to name a few.
Each of these classes of drugs was designed to address a different chemical abnormality in the brain. Each of them shows an almost immediate increase in those chemicals.
But none of them works, immediately underlining the complexity of depression.
A few more facts about depression and then we'll get into how fish oil may benefit in many, many ways.
#1) The incidence of both major and minor depression is on the rise in Western countries as shown by population data over the past 100 years.
#2) Improvements in diagnosis are not enough to explain this rise. In other words, we may have better ways to pick up this illness, but there is still more of it than is accounted for by better diagnosis.
#3) Countries that have high consumption of Omega 3 Fatty Acids (fish oil) have lower than expected depression and suicide rates as well.
#4) There has been a definite drop in Omega 3 fatty acid levels in the diet over the past 100 years and a definite rise in Omega 6 levels, leading to the Omega 6 to Omega 3 levels of greater than 20:1.
If you've read the news lately you might have see some articles about fish oil supplementation and the brain including how fish oil might help with the generation of new nerve tissue, something that no one ever dreamed possible 10 years ago.
Now let's examine why Fish Oil makes a natural choice to use for depression and other mood disorders.
So far we examined how investigators have found roles for Fish Oil in various brain-related disorders including Alzheimer's Disease, ADD, autism, schizophrenia, hostility, anxiety, borderline, and bipolar disorders in this and other emails!
We discussed the Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio which the Journal of the American college of Nutrition suggests should be 1:1 (J. AM. Coll. Nutr. 1999;18:487-489 Simopoulos). It is now 20:1 or above thus highlighting the need for HIGH DOSE Fish Oil to correct it!
So now let's take a simplistic look at how Fish Oil may enhance the treatment of major and minor depression from a biochemical point of view.
If you want to look at brain function in a depressed patient vs. those of a normal non-depressed person you can use several imaging studies including MRI and PET scanning. You can also use chemical uptake and turn around studies that use sugar and other biochemical markers of cellular activity and respiration.
If you look at the very specific places in the brain where depression causes biochemical abnormalities (Limbic system, Nucleus accumens, and certain other areas of the frontal lobe), you find that certain chemicals are either lacking in absolute amount, or not released properly.
Once you treat with Fish Oil, those biochemical abnormalities often reverse.
Additionally several areas of the brain show decreased blood flow and decreased use of sugar, both indicators of low function.
Fish Oil usage reverses those abnormalities as well in studies.
Other studies have showed that, in depression, actual areas of the brain atrophy or shrink, leading to the loss of nervous tissue. In other words brain cells die!
In the past no one ever thought you could regenerate new brain cells, but this is exactly what Fish Oil promotes.
This is also the probable reason it works in Alzheimer's as well!
High amounts of physical and emotional stress can activate pro-inflammatory chemicals in the brain as well as the body that interfere with the cell's ability to bind vital brain transmitters like dopamine and serotonin (see yesterdays' email!).
By now you are well versed in knowing how Fish Oil can decrease the amount of inflammation in the body and brain, thus combating the problem of the bad effects of too much Omega 6 or too much stress.
If you look at the nerve cells themselves, 2 amazing things become apparent. In addition to needing Fish Oil's component fatty acids to be in their membranes, they actually secrete DHA and bathe themselves in it!
Next, if you look at the activity of the nerve cell to signal the next cell in line (ultimately how the brain works!) low Omega 3's in the diet reduce this activity (synaptic) by over 40%!
Some of you take DHEA and phosphatidylserine for memory and thinking effects. Fish Oil enhances the endogenous production of these vital neuro-hormonal transmitters.
Low Omega 3 in the diet results in a 35% decrease in the brain's ability to produce Phosphatidylserine, which has anti-depressant activity of its own!
Omega 3 fatty acids also increase the density and number of serotonin receptors in the frontal cortex. Recall that the SSRI's which stands for Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, block the breakdown of serotonin, effectively doing the same thing but with tons more side effects.
Another study found that high dose Fish Oil supplementation (15X greater than the usual dose) blocked the activity of the enzyme that breaks down the key neurotransmitter, Dopamine. This enzyme, called MAO-B, is the target for another effective but potentially deadly class of drugs called MAO inhibitors.
In all studies Fish Oil supplementation was deemed extraordinarily safe. But then why wouldn't it be; Mother Nature put it here for us to use!
One specific case study placed a "treatment-resistant" patient, who had failed all the regular drugs, on Fish Oil at 4 grams a day. Within 1 month there where major subjective and objective improvements in their depression.
Measured chemical parameters improved and the size of the brain actually grew as measured by the MRI! (Br, J, of Psychiatry 200;176:421-428.)
There are several major studies using Omega 3 Fatty Acids in humans. The success rate is around 85% of these studies. Negative trials tended to use DHA alone. This reinforces my earlier statements about not separating these 2 vital components of Fish Oil.
One note, researchers discovered that Flax seed oil had the potential to cause mania, hypomania and other untoward behavioral abnormalities when substituted for Fish Oil in the treatment of depression.
One more reason to avoid Flax Oil!
As far as dosages go, I'd recommend you start on the high side, e.g. 6 capsules a day at least, especially if you are suffering from more severe depression.
Fish Oil can also augment the activity of almost every class of anti-depressant drug, so they can be taken together.
Remember, depression can be a very serious illness. I personally like the way Fish Oil keeps my moods up, my creativity high, my memory sharp and my energy roaring (along with Regenerizer and Instant Endurance!).
So if you are looking for all natural mood and energy boosters, look no farther. Go to the site and order now.
Who else wants to live longer and better, faster, stronger and healthier? Go to our order page and get started by ordering now.
Have a great day and stretch your limitations.
Right Now is the best time to start changing your life.
I can help. Best, Dr Dave
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