Listen, There are times when we are all wrong. Then there are times we should say "listen" -g-.
freep.com
Mom was right; fish is brain food
February 15, 2005
BY ED EDELSON
HEALTHDAY NEWS
In research that literally offers food for thought, scientists have found that omega-3 fatty acids and uridine -- a natural substance found in foods -- work as well as antidepressants in preventing signs of depression.
The findings appear in the Feb. 15 issue of Biological Psychiatry.
Omega-3 fatty acids are well-known ingredients in many fish, and are most abundant in oily species such as salmon and tuna. Cardiologists recommend a diet rich in oily fish because omega-3 fatty acids are good for the circulatory system. And what's good for the heart is also good for the brain, said Dr. Bruce Cohen, psychiatrist-in-chief at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass.
"If you study people around the world and take people of similar background, the group eating more fish has a lower rate of heart disease and depressive illnesses," Cohen said.
Omega-3 fatty acids are best obtained by eating fish rather than in dietary supplements, he said. "In fish, they are fresh and in the form you need," Cohen said.
Uridine is a different matter. It's not found in high levels in any particular food, said William Carlezon, director of the Harvard-affiliated McLean's Behavioral Genetics Laboratory. It is an important element in mother's milk, and baby formula is enriched with uridine because it is essential for early nerve growth, he said.
There are no uridine supplements now on the market, but there might be a case for them, Carlezon said.
There are growing indications that mitochondria are involved in psychiatric conditions other than depression, Carlezon said. McLean researchers have found major alterations in the genes for mitochondria in people with bipolar disorder, a condition that includes cycles of depression. |
