Alternative Health Blog

In a prospective study involving 54,632 women between 50 and 77 years of age, free from depressive symptoms at baseline, followed up with for an average of 10 years, during which time 2,823 incident cases of depression were documented, intake of alpha linolenic acid (ALA) was found to be inversely associated with depressive risk (multivariate RR for 0.5 g/d increment=0.82), with a stronger association found in women with low linoleic acid intake. Intake of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids from fish was not found to be associated with depressive symptoms. The authors state, "...these data support the hypothesis that higher ALA and lower LA intakes reduce depression risk, this relation warrants further investigation."