Can fats make us happy?
By Brien Cole N.D.Joseph Hibbeln from the National Institute of Health, Washington D.C., believes we are eating ourselves into collective depression by eating the wrong sort of fats. In a recent report in New Scientist he stated that the cure for depression could be as simple as a change in diet. The upsurge in the number of people diagnosed, according to Hibbeln, suggests there may be some common factor. Realising the brain is all fat, and that dietary fats can influence health in other ways, he wonders if the composition of brain fat might influence our mental health. The western diet is very high in omega-6 fatty acids and very low in omega-3 fatty acids. Hibbeln is convinced there is a real correlation between depression and low omega-3 and high omega-6 consumption. In one recent study, depressed patients showed significant progress within two weeks of consuming fish oil high in omega-3 fatty acids.
Good sources of omega-3 oils are found in cold-water fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel and sardines. They are also found in flax and linseed oils. While oils such as cold pressed olive oils and almond oils have good ratios on omega-3 and omega-6 oils, unfortunately cooking them at high temperatures can destroy their health-giving properties. A diet that includes fish twice a week and the old Italian tradition of dipping bread in cold olive oil, will not only be beneficial for your heart and arteries, but if Joseph Hibbeln is correct, it may raise your serotonin levels and make you feel happier as well.
December 2003
