Following up on the earlier post about vitamin D and brain food, here is a research article on vitamin D and polyunsaturated fat intake in women and its relation to the prevalence of psychotic-like symptoms.
This was a huge study with more than 33 thousand subjects (although it was self-report), so the outcomes are more relevant. The introduction to the article offers some good background into the foundation for the use of fish, omega fatty acids, and vitamin D in preventing psychosis.
The whole study is available for free as a provisional PDF.
Dietary intake of fish, omega-3, omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin D and the prevalence of psychotic-like symptoms in a cohort of 33 000 women from the general population
Maria Hedelin
, Marie Lof
BMC Psychiatry 2010, 10:38doi:10.1186/1471-244X-10-38
Published: 26 May 2010Abstract (provisional)
Background
Low intake of fish, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and vitamin D deficiency has been suggested to play a role in the development of schizophrenia. Our aim was to evaluate the association between the intake of different fish species, PUFA and vitamin D and the prevalence of psychotic-like symptoms in a population-based study among Swedish women.
Methods
Dietary intake was estimated using a food frequency questionnaire among 33 623 women aged 30-49 years at enrolment (1991/92). Information on psychotic-like symptoms was derived from a follow-up questionnaire in the years 2002/03. Participants were classified into three predefined levels: low, middle and high frequency of symptoms. The association between diet and psychotic-like symptoms was summarized in terms of relative risks (RR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals and was evaluated by energy-adjusted multinomial logistic regression.
Results
18 411 women were classified as having a low level of psychotic-like symptoms, 14 395 as middle and 817 as having a high level. The risk of high level symptoms was 53% (95% CI, 30-69%) lower among women who ate fish 3-4 times per week compared to women who never ate fish. The risk was also lower for women with a high intake of omega-3 and omega-6 PUFA compared to women with a lower intake of these fatty acids. The effect was most pronounced for omega-6 PUFAs. The RR comparing the highest to the lowest quartile of omega-6 PUFAs intake was 0.78 (95% CI, 0.64-0.97). The associations were J-shaped with the strongest reduced risk for an intermediate intake of fish or PUFA. For fatty fish (herring/mackerel, salmon-type fish), the strongest inverse association was found for an intermediate intake (RR: 0.81, 95% CI, 0.66-0.98), whereas a high intake of fatty fish was associated with an increased risk of psychotic-like symptoms (RR: 1.90, 95% CI, 1.34-2.70). Women in the highest compared with the lowest quartile of vitamin D consumption experienced a 37% (95% CI, 22-50%) lower risk of psychotic-like symptoms.
Conclusion
Our findings raise a possibility that adult women with a high intake of fish, omega-3 or omega-6 PUFA and vitamin D have a lower rate of psychotic-like symptoms.
The complete article is available as a provisional PDF. The fully formatted PDF and HTML versions are in production.
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