Foods Like Fish May Buoy Your Mental Health
(HealthDayNews, 2/10/05)

Rats put into a tank of water will eventually see that swimming is futile and will begin simply floating, indicating “surrender to depression.” When given antidepressants, however, the rats will begin swimming again. Now William Carlezon of Harvard-affiliated McLean's Behavioral Genetics Laboratory in Belmont, Mass, and associates, report that giving the rats a combination of omega-3 fatty acids and uridine, a natural compound found in foods, works just as well as the antidepressants. The investigators speculate that these substances act synergistically to prompt brain cell mitochondria to produce more energy. Their findings raise the possibility that uridine, which is not currently being marketed; should be made available as a dietary supplement.

(Biological Psychiatry, February 15, 2005)