The Fats That Make You Feel Good           

by Jeanne Ringe

Gaining weight can certainly make you feel depressed. Anyone who’s put on more than a few pounds, or who keeps gaining and losing the same ten or fifteen, knows the feeling. You don’t even have to get on the scale: you can feel it in the way your clothes fit, and that little voice inside your head says “LOSER! You’re FAT again!” You may eat more to console yourself and put on a few more pounds. But when your pity party is over, you can relax, because there’s hope. Eating the right fat can help your kind of depression, and it can help you LOSE FAT, too.

It’s not rocket science. It’s pretty simple: the declared war on fats in our diet has deprived us of some fats that are actually beneficial.

Just five years ago, the American Journal of Psychiatry reported on the first controlled clinical trial linking Omega 3s to depression. Patients who were getting no relief from their prescribed anti-depressant were given pure EPA (an Omega 3) or a placebo, in addition to their medication. The patients given only 1g of the EPA had the most significant improvements over the 3-month study. They experienced a decrease in sadness, anxiety and sleeping problems. Four studies since then have shown patients with depression have lower-than-normal levels of Omega 3s in the blood.

Cedar’s Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles is currently conducting a clinical trial to determine if EPA, an Omega 3 essential fatty acid, can help enhance pharmaceutical treatment of depression. All participants in the trial are being given Citalprom (marketed as Celexa), an anti-depressant; additionally, half are being given EPA, and half a placebo.

The results of the study will be published later this year.  But Healthy Living readers have known for some time now that studies conducted in the US and in other countries show that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA’s) also known as essential fatty acids (EFA’s) are some of the most beneficial oils for the human body, and mind.

Not only do these good fats help to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of getting heart disease and Alzheimers, PUFA’s have been shown to boost memory, ease PMS symptoms and stabilize moods; and as a side benefit, lose fat!

We’ve been reporting for several years on the good fats found in flax, nuts, and fatty fish like wild salmon and tuna, and supplements that contain those good fats. But for further proof, there’s this:

Dr. Joseph Hibbeln of the National Institutes of Health was a pioneer in researching EFA’s and depression. In a 1998 study reported in the Lancet, he showed that people from countries who ate large amounts of fish had less depression. Curiously, a concurrent study showed that depression is 60 times more common in New Zealand (6%) than in Japan (1.2%) As reported by Gabe Mirkin, MD, the difference may be that the Japanese consume greater quantities of fatty fish such as mackerel and salmon, with much higher concentrations of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. 

Researchers are now finding increasing rates of depression in areas of the world that are changing their diets from omega 3-rich foods to a Western style diet, with less seafood and more protein, carbs and refined sugars.

A diet deficient in omega 3s may mean trouble for the central nervous system. It can:

*Reduce the levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine, which send the ‘feel-good’ signals to the brain. .

*Reduce brain PS levels (phosphatidylserine).  PS levels have been found to have an anti-depressant effect on the brain.

*Decrease blood flow to the brain; lack of blood flow to certain areas of the brain has been associated with depression.

Peter Breggin, M.D., best know for his scorching analysis of the use of drugs to treat depression, Talking Back to Prozac, has 30 years of experience as a practicing psychiatrist. He has testified in court as an expert witness against pharmaceutical companies because he says they failed to give the public enough information about the risks of taking their products.

In the The Anti-Depressant Fact Book, he explains why he feels drugs based on the newest approach to treating depression, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) are just another misguided arrow in the drug companies’ quiver, aimed at one target and hitting another. “Tampering with the serotonin neurotransmitter system is especially fraught with danger because the serotonin nerves spread in a vast network throughout the brain,” he says.  In his analysis, the pharmaceutical approach is so unfocused and so systemic with so many complications, it’s like killing a mosquito with a bb gun. He warns of the numerous unacceptable side effects, everything from impotence to mania, even suicide.

Dr. Breggin is especially troubled by the practice of prescribing SSRI’s to children. “Doctors are prescribing extremely dangerous drugs to children for purposes that in the past would not have led a doctor to prescribe anything for them…they are exposed to gigantic risks with little hope of benefit. There is not a shred of clinical or scientific evidence to justify the use of…psychiatric drugs in treating children. Every one of these children is being subjected to a radical and unsupervised medical experiment”.

While omega 6s, (found in corn, safflower, sesame oils) are plentiful in the American diet, omega 3s are not.  According to Joseph Mercola, the ratio of omega 6s to omega 3s (in the American diet) is 20 to 1. A high ratio of omega 6 to omega 3s is associated with depression. The Journal of the American College of Nutrition recommends a 1:1 ratio. It’s not only the amount of essential fats, but the ratio that’s important, and that’s why you may need a supplement that provides those fats in the right proportions.

MRM’s Smart Blend

Metabolic Response Modifiers, a company well known in the fitness world for its supplements for athletes and also widely respected in nutraceutical for quality and value, developed Smart Blend™ to restore the fatty acids often depleted by athletic performance, strenuous exercise, and poor dietary practices.  It certainly can give athletes an edge, but even if you’re not an athlete, you could benefit, too. Here’s why.

Your stores of essential fatty acids could be depleted by….stress. And depression.

PMS, that cold you just can’t shake, your kids whining at you….life! If you’re not getting the right blend of essential fatty acids in your diet, it’s no wonder you’re not feeling good.

Smart Blend’s proprietary cocktail of what MRM calls “smart fats” provides support for optimal insulin function, reduced body fat and all the other benefits of essential fatty acids described above. It includes:

*Eicosapentanoic Acid (EPA). This can lower the levels of two chemicals that are commonly high among depressed patients:  Tumor necrosis factor-alpha and Interleukin1-beta, as well as prostaglandin E2.  For those with treatment-resistant depression, a Taiwan Medical University study found at 4.4g EPA and 2.2g DHA (both in Smart Blend) together could alleviate depression, versus a placebo.

*Docosahexaeonic acid (DHA).  It’s made from alpha-linolenic acid and cousin to EPA (you should ideally supplement with both, we think). Provides fluidity to cell membrane, reduces clotting ability of platelets*. In the body, mostly found in the retina, brain, and sperm.

*Gamma-linolenic Acid (GLA).  The amount and ratio of omega 6s to omega 3s is important because they are building blocks for prostaglandins, a type of hormone that regulates many functions of the body. When GLA is taken in supplement form, it is converted to a substance called dihomogamma-linolenic acid (DGLA).  DGLA is anti-inflammatory and a blood thinner*, while it may also be a vessel dilator.

*Conjugated linolenic acid (CLA) has been shown in some studies to reduce body fat percentage. Over a 12 week period, volunteers participating in an exercise program were given CLA and compared with a placebo, were shown to have lost a significant amount of body fat (though not weight).

There is plenty of evidence that exercise helps depression, but whether you’re an exerciser, an athlete, or a couch potato, MRM’s Smart Blend gives you essential fats that your body can’t manufacture on its own, and the numerous benefits of a good fat diet supplement.

In 2003 JAMA reported on a study of the cost of lost productive work time (LPT) among U.S. workers with depression. The study found that a majority of the costs associated with depression in the workplace are invisible; but those with depression reported significantly higher LPT than their colleagues, 5.6 hours a week, vs. 1.5 hours a week. Cost to US employers was $44 billion a year, vs. $13 billion a year in LPT from non-depressed workers.  Perhaps employers should offer Smart Blend to their workers!

Omega 3s and Omega 6s—The EFAs and What They Do for Your Health

What are omega-3 fatty acid functions in the human body?

Besides being critical to emotional well-being and mental health, omega-3s support healthy circulation, normalize levels of inflammation, and inhibit tumor formation and cancer spread.  The less invisible, yet critical functions of the omega-3 fatty acids are support of proper cell membrane function, which allows proper distribution of nutrients and supports cholesterol metabolism.

Specifically, DHA and EPA help stabilize mood, lower triglycerides that pose a cardiovascular risk, and reduces inflammatory diseases from arthritis to asthma.  Meanwhile, the parent compound, ALA, is critical to a healthy heartbeat and normal blood pressure. 

What are the functions of omega-6s in the human body?

Omega-6 fatty acids derived from the essential fatty acid LA are gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). 

GLA is great for improved circulation, lowering blood pressure and fighting off arthritis.  It is also important to our mood, and for eliminating dry skin, eczema, and acne.  So it’s a wonderful EFA for your skin.

However, once again, as we age, our body’s supply of enzymes (necessary to convert LA to GLA) declines.  Fortunately, GLA can be provided directly to the body in pure form derived from primrose or borage oils. 

The omega-6 fatty acid CLA used to be found in high quantities in our beef and dairy products such as butter.  But that was back when cattle grazed on grasses.  Today, with our cattle being fattened with grains, there is very little CLA to be derived from meat products.  CLA is adept at converting fat mass to lean body mass, especially in the abdominal region.  This translates into improved physical appearance and cardiovascular health.

Did You Know?

Smart Blend Choice of Top Athletic Performance Coach

Among the current clients of the Poliquin Performance Center in Tempe, Arizona, are members of the St. Louis Blues, Boston Bruins, and New Jersey Devils hockey teams, as well as members of the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Mariners.  Norris Trophy winner Al MacInnis, who has long had the most explosive slap-shot in the National Hockey League, is a Poliquin Performance Center client.  So is hurdler Michelle Freeman.  The Poliquin Performance Center recommends Smart Blend to its elite athletes. 

*If you’re currently taking  blood-thinning medications such as Coumadin, Warfarin or any herbal blood thinner, check with your health care provider before using products containing GLA or DHA

Smart Blend is an EFA-based oil blend with special, difficult-to-obtain thin fats, including eicosapentaenoic, docosahexaenoic, conjugated linolenic (CLA) and gamma-linoleic acids.