Due To Low Dha example essay topic

479 words
I chose to do my article critique on fish oils, mental health and depression. In the beginning I chose this topic because it seemed to be a very interesting subject, but by the time I was done, it turned out to be very helpful in my personal life. Dr. Barbara Levine, a professor of Nutrition at Cornell University believes that due to low DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) intake, one can develop postpartum depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a low IQ. Also, it has been shown that low DHA intake is linked to an increase in depression, suicide, and violence. There is said to be a large amount of DHA in marine phytoplankton, and cold-water fish. It is recommended that one consume two to three servings of fish every week to maintain a good DHA level.

For some people this is not possible, but another recommendation would be supplementing 100 mg of DHA a day. Dr. Joseph Hibbeln reports that he has found an amazing connection between fish consumption and depression. He did a research based study with one hundred different people in nine different countries. His results showed that the countries with higher fish consumption had a lower depression rate.

He did say that economic, social, cultural and other factors could have take part in his results, but states that a high DHA has been linked to lower incidences of depression and suicide. It is said that the increase in depression in North America is due to a shift in the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3. Researchers at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism state: The human race evolved on a diet with a ratio of about 1: 1 of their acids. It is now estimated to be between 10: 1 and 25: 1. These researchers believe that depressions which accompany alcoholism, multiple sclerosis, and child birth are due to a lack of DHA, and can be cured as easily as increasing their intake of DHA. All in all, the conclusion to this would be that if you want to prevent depression, you should use a good source and increase your DHA intake.

I think that Dr. Barbara Levine and Dr. Joseph Hibbeln did an outstanding job on their research on this particular topic. I had already known that eating more fish helped your body out in some ways, but I did not know that it helped decrease depression. I personally think that this was a great article. Like I said in the beginning, I did not choose this topic for any personal reasons, other than that it just seemed interesting, but by the time I was done, it taught me a lot.

I did get some personal use out of this article after all.