Fish Oil - Omega 3

[Razz]

Anyone had good or bad results with fish oil.

Razzle

[zenbutcher]

I've been taking it daily for about 4 months...I take it for my cholesteral 'cause I can't tolerate the niacin my Dr. prescribed.
No problems of any kind from it.

Peter B.

[RichB]

Fish oil has been seen to have a positive effect on depression, which I think is what he's asking about, but I don't have any experiences. I take fish oil twice a day because of all the health benefits, but I don't have depressions so I don't know.

[Robbed]

There is actually a decent amount of evidence showing that anxiety and nonbipolar depression are possibly the result of damage to brain cells in the hippocampus due to exposure to stress hormones - specifically cortisol. As an aside, this probably explains why (1) stress causes anxiety, and (2) the results of the stress seem SO out of line with the stresses themselves. It also shows that anxiety and depression are perhaps more injury than illness. Anyway, lucky for us, the hippocampus is one part of the brain that has been proven to be capable of regeneration (and neuronogenesis certainly explains ALOT of the characteristics of recovery from depression and anxiety). But as you might suspect, regeneration is going to require resources in the form of nutrients. And it is a well known fact that omega-3 fatty acids are an important component of the cell membranes of neurons. So adding omega-3 fatty acids to your diet might be able to speed the process (since most diets are quite low in omega-3 fatty acids). For this reason, consider adding a fish oil supplement to your diet. Around 2000mg per day is probably ample.

On the other hand, this particular theory would suggest that fish oil alone would help little in terms of recovery. According to this theory, fish oil would probably only help in conjunction of other treatment methods, such as CBT.

Finally, keep in mind that this is all only theory. But at the same time, taking fish oil pills won't hurt you, and can only help.