Fish Consumption and Suicide

Depression is a very common mental health disorder. It can cause many things, such as: a depressed mood, loss of interest in activities, negative effects in daily life, and it is the main cause of suicide throughout the world. In the world, 1 million people kill themselves every year. In Europe, Greece has the lowest suicide rate. There are many studies that show that eating more fruits and vegetables will help decrease the risk of depression. Unfortunately, this doesn't necessarily mean that this causes less depression.

A good way to show that vegetables and fruits work to lessen the effects of depression is through prospective studies! Prospective studies are when scientists watch people and see if those eating more fruits and vegetables end up getting less depression in the future. There was a prospective study done in 2012. For over 6 years, they followed people that ate fruits and vegetables. The study showed a 28% decrease in depression. This study did not look at suicide specifically. In another study, 10,000 people were observed for years. Those that ate a Mediterranean diet developed less depression. What about the Mediterranean diet helped with this outcome? It wasn’t fish or red wine. They ate more plant than animal products (like more vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, etc.). More dairy and meat actually trended towards more depression.

There was another study done in Japan which showed very similar results. More fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, and soy led to a large decrease in symptoms of depression. 100,000 Japanese men and women were observed for up to 10 years. The results showed that fish and fish oil did not help with suicide -- fish intake actually increased the risk of suicide, and high fish intake associated with more risk of mental disorders. There was also a large study at Harvard where hundreds of thousands of people were observed for up to 20 years! The result of this experiment showed that taking daily fish oil pills or eat fish reduced the risk of suicide, and there was a suggestion that it actually increased the risk of suicide.

Why does eating fish increase the risk of mental disorders and suicide? The main reason is because fish has mercury in it. Mercury is a metal contaminant that is commonly found in fish. Mercury can cause damage to the brain and the nervous system. Damage to the brain can cause Alzheimer's disease, memory loss, autism, and also, depression. Since depression is the main cause of suicide, mercury increases the risk of suicide.

Depression is the number one cause of suicide in the world. Reduce risk of depression and therefore suicide by: eating more fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, soy and plant foods in general. Eat less animal products, specifically, less fish and fish oil!

nutritionfacts.org

https://nutritionfacts.org/2017/09/14/fish-consumption-and-suicide/