Nutrients Assisting with Mental Health

Recent research into the role of nutrients and herbal supplements in managing mental health has generated some positive and some more cautious recommendations.

The work comes out of the Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne Centre for Human Psychopharmacology and Swinburne University of Technology and was published in the June edition of Australian Prescriber.

Senior Research Fellow Dr Jerome Sarris said some nutrient supplements and herbal medicines had supportive evidence for efficacy in some mental health disorders while other products did not; for instance omega-3 fatty acids, St John’s wort, S-adenosylmethionine and zinc might be beneficial in improving mood.

N-acetyl cysteine had shown some effects in bipolar depression.

Sarris concluded that patients needed to be asked what they were taking in order to minimise risks.

Click here to access the paper.

Source: pharmacydaily.com.au, Friday 6 June 2014