In today’s world of modern gadgets and updated society, the importance of mental health is no longer up for debate. It’s common knowledge that there are many ways we can improve our mental well-being, whether it be by therapy, exercise, or mindfulness routines — but what you eat also plays a big role.
Of all the nutrients that contribute to good mental health and overall wellness, omega-3 fatty acids have received the most hype as mood and mental well-being boosters. Especially, omega 3 fish oil has worked amazing as a brain function and emotional health booster.
In this article, we’ll zoom in closer on how omega-3 fish oil helps benefit mood and other aspects of your mental well-being when included in an overall plan to support better wellness.
The best fish oil supplement can deeply impact your mental health in a positive way. Nowadays, depression has become a very common health problem affecting trillions of people worldwide. It is believed that increasing omega-3 intake may show brilliant results in reducing symptoms of depression and improving your mental health. This makes it a promising complementary treatment for mental health disorders.
Omega 3 fish oil, which is one of the most popular supplements, has been found to influence serotonin and dopamine levels. These two are the neurotransmitters which play an important role in mood regulation. Serotonin is a “feel-good transmitter” which helps you to stabilize your mood. On the other hand, dopamine is involved in reward and pleasure pathways. Now you understand it pretty well that by providing support to these two neurotransmitters, omega-3 fish oil helps you improve your mental health.
Before diving more into it, let’s talk about what they are actually. So Omega 3 fatty acids are a kind of essential polyunsaturated fat. But how do you get them? Now that’s something to learn. Although they are essential just like other nutrients we need for a healthy body, they are not produced within the human body, and we need to take them through our diet. For proper functioning of body cells, omega 3 plays an important role. Its three main types are alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
DHA is such a critical building block for brain cells that babies get it through their mother’s breast milk to help them grow the best brain possible – and this growth period lasts from pre-birth right through to early childhood. As an adult, if you’re not obtaining enough omega-3 fats to build new healthy brain cells or replace damaged/dead ones, your short-term memory will suffer.
Omega-3 fats EPA and DHA also help dampen inflammation in your body by working as precursors to series 3 prostaglandins. This inflammation-dampening effect is why so many different types of painkillers actually work by closely imitating the action of these natural oils within your body.
Anxiety is another problem people are facing. It can significantly impact your daily routine. Research suggests that omega-3 fish oil may help a lot in reducing your anxiety symptoms. It does it by modulating the brain’s stress response.
By lowering the production of stress hormones, omega-3 fatty acids calm your mind and eliminate anxiety issues. Anxiety may be caused due to inflammation in the brain. Omega 3 works well for this too. Overall, it helps you to achieve a stable, less stressed state.
Cognitive functioning means our brain activity includes memory, problem-solving power and more which requires your memory attention. Throughout your life, DHA which is a type of omega-3 fatty acid maintains your cognitive health. It is an important part of your brain cell membranes which is involved in neuron’s growth and maintenance.
High DHA level individuals have better cognitive function which includes improved memory and attention. Omega 3 fish oil also provides protection against age-related cognitive decline and reduces the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
The ability of an individual to adapt to stress without being unstable and too emotional is what we call “emotional resilience”. One maintains a stable emotional state even in stressful conditions when they have a strong emotional resilience. Omega 3 can help in it too and improves the overall brain health.
Omega 3 fish oil helps individuals to support their brains’ natural defenses against stress. So, if you are regularly consuming omega 3, it may benefit you a lot.
Omega 3 fish oil can improve your mental health in an efficient manner. Although it is not a substitute for professional mental health care, it can definitely be an additional step to take to keep your brain healthy and stress-free. It holds the ability to boost your emotional well-being and say goodbye to anxiety, depression and other mental health problems.
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