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Adjunctive dietary intervention for bipolar disorder: a randomized, controlled, parallel‐group, modified double‐blinded trial of a high n‐3 plus low n‐6 diet
In comparison to a control diet that represents typical U.S. intake levels of n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), the study by Saunders et al. (2022) sought to evaluate the initial efficacy of a high n-3 and low n-6 (H3-L6) dietary intervention in enhancing mood stability in people with Bipolar Disorder (BD). This 48-week, two-arm, parallel-group, randomized, modified, double-blind controlled trial was conducted over 12 weeks of intensive diet intervention in participants with BD. Eighty-two persons with DSM-IV TR BD I or II and hypomanic or depressed symptoms participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned and stratified by gender. Dietary advice and study meals tailored to each group were part of the intervention. The authors measured the amounts of circulating n-3 and n-6 fatty acids at baseline and after 4, 8, and 12 weeks of dietary consumption and mood variability using a 12-week ecological momentary analysis (EMA) twice a day. Biochemical analyses included all 82 participants, and 70 participants who completed at least two EMA surveys were included in the primary EMA analyses. When compared to the control diet group, the H3-L6 group had less variation in mood, energy, irritation, and discomfort. On the other hand, mean mood ratings and other symptom measurements did not show any significant changes. The effect of the dietary intervention on target PUFAs differed significantly between groups over time. The dietary intervention, when added to usual care, showed preliminary effectiveness in reducing mood variability in individuals with BD. [NPID: Bipolar disorder, diet, depression, fatty acids, omega-3, omega-6, food, unsaturated]
Year: 2022
