24Drs好健康報:心情不好嗎？吃魚吧！
好健康熱頭條 ─ 心情不好嗎？吃魚吧！ In a Bad Mood? Eat Your Fish
好健康小單字─必需脂肪酸(Essential Fatty Acid，EFA)
好健康熱頭條 ─ 心情不好嗎？吃魚吧！
不管你是重度憂鬱或只是單純的心情不好，吃鮭魚或其他富含omega-3脂肪酸的食物就會讓你感覺好一點。
之前的研究顯示，血液中omega-3的含量低與許多嚴重的心理疾病有關，包括重度憂鬱症、躁鬱症、注意力不足症、甚至是精神分裂症；現在有最新的研究指出，omega-3能顯著影響每個人的心理健康。
匹茲堡大學醫學院的研究人員Sarah Conkin博士表示，在他們的研究中，血液中omega-3脂肪酸含量低的人比較會有輕度至中度的憂鬱症症狀、比較悶悶不樂、且比較衝動；相反地，血液中omega-3脂肪酸含量較高的人在標準試驗的結果是比較愉快的。
Conkin博士將研究結果於丹佛舉辦的第46屆美國身心學會科技年會上發表。
【魚與亞麻子】
美國心臟學會建議，每星期至少要吃兩份富含油脂的魚類，因為有許多證據顯示，魚內的omega-3脂肪有助於對抗心血管疾病。
這是第一次有人在心理研究中調查油脂，主導部分研究的研究人員表示，omega-3含量也對心理疾病有影響的證據目前還不足，但是有越來越多的趨勢。
全國酒精濫用中毒協會的精神病學家Joseph Hibbeln醫師表示，omega-3脂肪酸對心臟有益是非常明顯的，但是它對頭腦的好處仍在觀察中，這是個新興的公共衛生議題，但是他們目前還不知道結果。
EPA（二十二碳五烯酸）與DHA（二十二碳六烯酸）是兩種能在像是鮭魚、沙丁魚、鯖魚等富含油脂的魚類中所發現的omega-3脂肪酸，第三種則是ALA（α-亞麻油酸），它存在於亞麻子、大豆油、胡桃、以及芥花籽油等植物性食物中。
【Omega-3脂肪的影響】
這篇最新研究是針對106位沒有重度憂鬱症或被診斷出其他心理疾病的人進行研究，那些血液中omega-3脂肪酸含量較低的人，在心理、個性、衝動行為測試的分數上比含量較高的人低。
Conkin博士表示，ALA的含量低尤其與比較衝動有關，若表現得更衝動的話，就稱為注意力缺陷過動症（ADHD）；這次的參與者都沒有注意力缺陷過動症，他們衝動的程度並沒有那麼嚴重，但是相較於研究中的其他人來說是比較衝動的。
研究中EPA與DHA含量低的人，比其他人可能會有輕度至中度的憂鬱症症狀；她向WebMD表示，很明顯地，需要做較大型的研究來了解行為與這些油脂間的關係，但是遵從美國心臟學會的建議，每星期吃兩餐魚肉能保護你的心臟與心理健康。
【大多數的人都吃不夠】
著有＜Omega-3關係＞的哈佛大學精神病學教授Andrew L. Stoll醫師表示，大多數的美國人覺得他們所吃的食物中，很難攝取足夠的omega-3脂肪酸。
他指出，典型的日式飲食比美國飲食所含有的omega-3脂肪多10倍，他建議成人要吃高品質的魚油膠囊，以增加他們的omega-3攝取量，並減少攝取含有omega-6脂肪的食物，像是用玉米油、花生油、或大豆油所油炸的食物。
他表示，在這種國家要攝取足夠的omega-3很難，在日本，吃富含omega-3的食物是文化的一部分，但在這裡就不是如此了。
In a Bad Mood? Eat Your Fish
Whether you're seriously depressed or simply in a bad mood, eating salmon and other foods high in omega-3 fatty acids just might help you feel better.
Earlier studies appear to link low blood levels of omega-3s to a host of serious psychological conditions, including major depression, bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, and even schizophrenia.
Now new research suggests that omega-3s can have a significant impact on everyone's mental health.
"People in our study who had low blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids were more likely to report mild to moderate symptoms of depression, more moodiness, and more impulsivity," says researcher Sarah Conkin, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Conversely, people with higher blood levels of omega-3s were found to be more agreeable, based on the results of standardized tests.
Conkin presented the findings at the 46th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society in Denver.
Fish and Flaxseed
The American Heart Association recommends eating at least two servings of fatty fish each week, based on strong evidence that the omega-3 fats found in the fish help protect against cardiovascular disease.
The evidence that omega-3 levels also have an impact on mood disorders is less conclusive but growing, says a researcher who conducted some of the first psychological studies examining the fats.
"It is quite clear that omega-3 fatty acids are good for your heart," says psychiatrist Joseph Hibbeln, MD, of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. "But it remains to be seen how good they are for your mind. It is an emerging public health question, but we don't yet know the answer."
Two types of omega-3 fatty acids are found in fatty fish like salmon, sardines, and mackerel -- eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA, and docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA. A third omega-3, alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA, is found in plant foods such as flaxseed, soybean oil, walnuts, and canola oil.
Impact of Omega-3 Fats
In the new study involving 106 healthy people without major depression or any other diagnosed mood disorder, those who had low blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids scored worse than those with high levels on tests designed to assess mood, personality, and impulsive behavior.
Conklin says low ALA levels were specifically associated with higher levels of impulsivity, which in more extreme forms manifests as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
"These were normal people who did not have ADHD," she says. "Their impulsivity was not clinically significant, but it was higher than others in the study."
People in the study with low blood levels of EPA and DHA were more likely than others to report experiencing symptoms of mild to moderate depression, Conklin adds.
"Clearly, larger studies are needed to understand the relationship between behavior and these fats," she tells WebMD. "But by following the AHA recommendations to eat two fish meals a week people may be protecting both their hearts and their mental health."
Most People Don't Get Enough
Harvard psychiatry professor Andrew L. Stoll, MD, who wrote the book The Omega-3 Connection, says most Americans find it difficult to get enough omega-3 fatty acids through the foods they eat alone.
He points out that the typical Japanese diet contains as much as 10 times the omega-3 fats as the typical American diet.
He recommends that adults take high-quality fish oil capsules to boost their omega-3 levels, and cut down on their consumption of foods containing omega-6 fats such as foods fried in corn, peanut, and soybean oils.
"It is just hard to get enough omega-3s in this country," he says. "In Japan it is just part of the culture to eat omega-3-rich foods, but that isn't the case here."
SOURCES: 64th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society, Denver, March 1-4, 2006. Sarah Conklin, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, cardiovascular behavioral medicine program, department of psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Andrew L. Stoll, director of psycohopharmacology research, McLean University; associate professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston.
WebMD Medical News
by Salynn Boyles
Reviewed By Louise Chang
好健康小單字─必需脂肪酸(Essential Fatty Acid，EFA)
必需脂肪酸是油脂合成的基本元素，為健康所必需，是一種人體無法自行合成而必須透過食物攝取的脂肪酸，可分為Omega-3及Omega-6兩大類；其主要功能有二：提供細胞膜的重要成份，及前列腺素(Prostaglanding)的合成；這些必需脂肪酸也是多元不飽和脂肪酸（polyunsaturate fatty acids），能幫助降低膽固醇、高血壓，以及減少罹患心臟疾病與中風的機率。
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