Fishing For Happiness

DEPRESSION

Eating more fish may help keep the blues at bay, new research
reveals. In a study presented at this year's American Psychiatric
Association meeting, researchers found that people who eat at least one
serving of fish per week have a lower risk for depression than those who
are squeamish about seafood.

Researchers, led by Antti Tanskanen, Ph.D., a psychiatry professor
at Finland's University of Kuopio, asked 3,204 Finnish subjects to
complete a questionnaire that measured their symptoms of depression and
how often they ate fish. Of the nearly 30% of participants who said they
ate fish less than once a week, 28% reported symptoms of mild to severe
depression. After accounting for other factors such as age and smoking,
the researchers found that rates of depression were almost a third higher
for infrequent fish-eaters than for their seafood-loving
counterparts.

The increased risk for depression may be associated with lower
intake of total omega-3 fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)
found in seafood that play a critical role in maintaining good health.
The researchers note that they don't yet have enough evidence to
recommend PUFA supplements as a way of avoiding depression, but in the
meantime, it can't hurt to eat more fish.

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