Medical University of South Carolina professor Bernadette Mariott will spearhead the study in collaboration with several other institutes, including branches of the National Institutes of Health. Acting chief of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Joseph Hibbeln, has studied the link between omega-3s and suicide in Ireland, where he oversaw the administration of 2 grams of omega 3 fatty acids to 49 patients of self-harm.
“The active group had reduced their suicidal thinking by 45 percent,” says Hibbeln. “They reduced their depressive symptoms by 50 percent, reduced their perceptions of stress by 33 percent and increased their reports of a sense of happiness by 30 percent.”
He also noticed that between 2002 and 2008, 800 active-duty military members who committed suicide had “profoundly low levels of omega 3 fatty acids.”
Preventing Suicide Naturally, Effectively
Hibbeln readily admits that one nutrient won’t stave off suicides—but it may help. “People are very complex, lives are complex, and biology is complex. But when you kick the legs out of that fundamental nutrient, everything else gets worse and everything else gets magnified.”
This is especially troubling concerning suicide because omega 3s are attributed with raising
dopamine levels, the brain’s feel-good chemical.
“This study will have important ramifications,” says Mariott, “not just for veterans, but for all Americans.”
Suicide is between the
10th and
12th largest cause of death in the United States. Low levels of vitamin D have also been accused of causing depression and even suicide, particularly in the
colder months of the year when the sun’s rays are less powerful. Rather than relying on ineffective and potentially harmful antidepressants (which can
increase depression), defeat depression naturally with vitamin D and omega 3 fatty acids.
Please read full and follow at:
Additional Sources:
The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
The Wall Street Journal
