For example, the incidence of depression in North America and Europe is about 10 times greater than the rate in Taiwan, where the people eat large amounts of fish. Studies carried out in the United States reveal that about 4.4 per cent of males and 8.7 per cent of females in New Haven, Connecticut suffer from depression. The rates of depression are 2.3 per cent for males and 4.9 per cent for females in Baltimore, and 2.5 per cent and 8.1 per cent in St. Louis. In contrast, rates of depression in Hong Kong, where people eat huge quantities of fish are about .71 per cent and 1.30 per cent for males and females, respectively. In Japan, where fish consumption is even higher, depression rates are .35 per cent for males and .46 per cent for females, and in some Japanese fishing villages rates of depression have been pegged at zero!

If low omega-3 consumption contributes to both depression and coronary artery disease, then depression and atherosclerosis should be positively correlated, the exact reverse of the hypothesis that depression, as a consequence of low cholesterol, protects against heart disease. In fact, 30 years of research have shown that depression is a good PREDICTOR of heart disease AND poor survival after a heart attack (depression as a REACTION to heart disease was separated from the analysis)

There has not been a lot of experimental work looking at the direct effects of omega-3 fats on depression, but the work that has been done has been favourable. In one study carried out with 494 elderly people, treatment with 'bovine cortex', or cow brains, which are a rich source of omega-3s, significantly improved mood and reduced symptoms of withdrawal and apathy, compared to treatment with corn oil (forget about the current scare over BSE)