The potential for military diets to reduce depression, suicide, and impulsive aggression: A review of current evidence for omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids
Hibbeln & Gow (2014) evaluated the effectiveness of nutrients in the military diet in reducing risk of or to treat psychiatric distress, particularly focusing on highly unsaturated essential fatty acids. The increase in omega-6 that accompanies lower fish consumption has been related to greater risk of clinical depressive symptoms while one meta-analysis provided moderate to strong evidence that elevated levels of omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) (eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid) are associated with decreased risk of clinical depressions. Support also arrived from other meta-analytic reviews of randomized placebo-controlled trials that showed moderate to strong evidence that depressive symptoms improved after subjects consumed a formulation with over 50% eicosapentaenoic acid. There is also modest proof of omega-3 HUFAs’ effectiveness in treating attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Hibbeln & Gow (2014) recommended a rebalancing of the essential fatty acid composition of U.S. military diets to help reduce military psychiatric distress and simultaneously increase force efficacy considerably. Since several meta-analyses have indicated that Mediterranean diet patterns lowers depression risk, it may be advisable to aim for tissue compositions of HUFAs consistent with traditional Mediterranean diets. [NPID: military, psychiatric distress, fatty acids, omega-6s, omega-3s, fish, depression, HUFAs, EPA, DHA, ADHD, Mediterranean diet, Med diet]
Year: 2014
