Anxiety and nutrition: omega-3 reduce the disorder

By Cristiano Antonino On Mar 7, 2023

Increasing omega-3 fatty acids in the diet would reduce anxiety and the production of cytokines, i.e., substances produced by the cells of the immune system that promote inflammation

Omega-3 in the diet against anxiety and stress

This is the result of a clinical trial carried out on medical students: one group was given omega-3 fatty acid supplements for three months, while another group continued to eat the same type of diet, without further supplementation.

Well, the group of students taking omega-3 showed a 20 per cent reduction in anxiety test scores compared to the students in the control group, and a 14 per cent reduction in the production of interleukin-6, which is one of the main cytokines that promote inflammatory processes.

Omega-3 also prevents anxiety in healthy subjects

The result is even more surprising when one considers that it was obtained in a population of healthy subjects, i.e. people who do not have an anxiety disorder and do not have ongoing inflammatory processes due to chronic diseases.

This gives great hope for a possible even greater positive effect in patients who actually have an anxiety-related problem or ongoing inflammatory pathologies, particularly if they are elderly.

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are among the key compounds that make up omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and are contained in high concentrations in fish oil.

Previous research had already shown the positive effect of omega-3s in improving symptoms of depression

In detail, 68 students enrolled in the first or second year of medical school, with an average age of about 23 years, participated in the study.

The students were randomly divided into two groups. The first group was given capsules containing 2085 mg EPA and 348 mg DHA 3 times a day for 3 months; the second group was given capsules flavoured only with fish oil 3 times a day for 3 months.

The EPA/DHA ratio of about 7:1 was chosen because there is more evidence of a greater antidepressant and anti-inflammatory effect of EPA than DHA.

The omega-3 supplementation, thus planned, represents 4 to 5 times as much as a daily portion of salmon.

The students were interviewed 6 times at pre-determined times and had their blood samples taken, scheduled during periods of low stress, and during periods of high stress related to the main university test.

The result was as described above: students taking omega-3 reported lower scores on anxiety rating scales (-20%) and lower production of proinflammatory cytokines, particularly interleukin-6 (-14%).

According to the authors, it is still too early to derive an indication for fish oil supplementation for the healthy population.

However, it is highly desirable to increase omega-3 consumption through a varied diet rich in foods that contain high amounts of omega-3.

Bibliographic references

Omega-3 supplementation lowers inflammation and anxiety in medical students: A randomized controlled trial. Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser, Martha A. Belury, Rebecca Andridge, William B. Malarkey and Ronald Glaser. Brain, Behavior and Immunity July 2011. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2011.07.229

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