A DAILY dose of cod liver oil could reduce feelings of depression, new research suggests.

The supplement – hailed as a superfood for generations – has been found to reduce the risk of getting the blues by as much as 30 per cent.

And the longer that subjects took cod liver oil, the greater the impact on their mental health.

While those who had it for only five months saw their risk of depression drop slightly, subjects who took it for a year slashed their risk of depression by more than a quarter.

The omega-3 fatty acids in cod liver oil also not only reduce the risk of heart disease but help to protect against arthritis, too.

Grannies often used to swear that cod liver oil was good for everything from rheumatism, aching muscles, coughs, digestion and strengthening bones and the brain to just “keeping you regular.”

In the Forties and Fifties, many children were raised on a daily spoonful, the Government’s recommended dose.

Now the latest study, which tracked the health of more than 20,000 men and women who were either pensioners or still in early middle age, seems to back up the old wives’ tale.

The subjects were asked to fill in detailed questionnaires about their mood, anxiety and feelings of depression and were also asked how often they took cod liver oil.

Although fewer than one in 10 of the volunteers regularly took the supplement, the study found that this group was less likely to suffer depression.


While 3.8 per cent of the subjects who did not take cod liver oil said they felt depressed, the figure was only 2.5 per cent among those who regularly took it. The study, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, concluded: “Daily use of cod liver oil was negatively associated with high levels of depressive symptoms.

“The prevalence of these symptoms decreased with the duration of cod liver oil use.”

Cod liver oil is a rich source of essential fatty acids which help the body’s repair mechanisms and cells make use of nutrients in our diet. It has high levels of one particular fatty acid called omega-3.

Some studies have suggested that people with depression have low levels of omega-3 and that eating fish could combat this.

Up to one in five people in Britain are affected by depression at some point in their lives, and prescribing anti-depressant pills on the NHS has reached record levels.

A recent report showed that GPs in England alone issued 31 million prescriptions for anti-depressants last year, a rise of six per cent on 2005. Depression can strike at any age and the feelings of hopelessness it triggers can make it difficult for people to hold down jobs or carry out normal daily activities.

It often runs in families and the illness is normally associated with a chemical imbalance in the brain. The latest research, by a team at Haukeland University Hos­pital in Norway, called for more research to be carried out to confirm the findings.

The authors also admitted that the results could have been skewed by the diets of the volunteers, which could include oily fish rich in omega-3.

The supplement is made by steaming cod livers and then pressing them until the oil is released.

Different brands of cod liver oil contain slightly different levels of fatty acids. The amount of omega-3 in each capsule is listed on the side of the box.

The researchers said that all their subjects were taking a daily dose of between 0.7g and 1.2g of omega-3 fatty acids in their cod liver oil capsule.

This is the level found in most high street one-a-day cod liver oil tablets.

In other medical research, scientists are feeding pizza and Coca-Cola to a group of women to see if the fizzy drink could boost iron levels and prevent them becoming anaemic.

Professor Sue Fairweather-Tait, a nutrition specialist at the University of East Anglia, said: “We do a lot of work on iron and found that the amount absorbed when people drink Coca-Cola is quite high. Coca-Cola asked if we would investigate further.”