Wellness & Healthy Living

Common dietary supplement found to reduce aggression by 30%

Common dietary supplement found to reduce aggression by 30%
A common dietary supplement reduces aggression by 30%
A common dietary supplement reduces aggression by 30%
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A common dietary supplement reduces aggression by 30%
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A common dietary supplement reduces aggression by 30%
A 2002 study found that giving prisoners supplements that included essential fatty acids made them less violent
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A 2002 study found that giving prisoners supplements that included essential fatty acids made them less violent
Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies are rich sources of omega-3
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Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies are rich sources of omega-3
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Fish oil supplements containing omega-3 have long been touted as good for heart health. A new study has found they also reduce aggression. Researchers say the safe, common supplements should be used everywhere from the playground to the prison system.

Overt acts of aggression include verbal and physical violence and bullying. Then, there are covert signs like vandalism and property damage, fire-setting, and theft. Both can negatively affect relationships and have legal consequences. It goes without saying that, on many levels, society would be better off if aggressive behaviors were reduced. A new study may have discovered a way of doing that.

The study by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) found that commonplace omega-3 supplements reduced aggression, regardless of age or gender.

“I think the time has come to implement omega-3 supplementation to reduce aggression, irrespective of whether the setting is the community, the clinic, or the criminal justice system,” said Adrian Raine, a Penn neurocriminologist and the lead and corresponding author of the study. “Omega-3 is not a magic bullet that is going to solve the problem of violence in society. But can it help? Based on these findings, we firmly believe it can, and we should start to act on the new knowledge we have.”

A 2002 study found that giving prisoners supplements that included essential fatty acids made them less violent
A 2002 study found that giving prisoners supplements that included essential fatty acids made them less violent

Omega-3 has enjoyed a strange association with violent behavior for a while. Back in 2001, Dr Joseph Hibbeln, a senior clinical investigator at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), published a study finding a correlation between the consumption of high amounts of fish (a rich source of omega-3) and lower homicide rates. The following year, the University of Oxford in the UK led a study where British prisoners were given nutritional supplements that included vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids. The researchers found that prisoners given supplements were less violent and antisocial.

In addition to examining the effect of omega-3 supplements on aggression, the researchers in the current study particularly wanted to ascertain whether omega-3 was effective for all forms of aggression. In psychology, a distinction is made between ‘reactive’ aggression, an in-the-moment response to a perceived threat or provocation, and ‘proactive’ aggression, which requires planning.

The researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 29 randomized controlled trials that explicitly measured aggression in people who’d been given omega-3 supplements. They specifically focused on aggressive behavior and not broader traits like anger, which is viewed more as a feeling or emotion, and hostility, which is more of an attitude. Studies where additional nutritional supplements, such as calcium and vitamin D, were included, but the researchers examined them as a potential moderator.

A modest short-term effect linked to omega-3 supplementation, which the researchers say equates to a 30% reduction in aggression, was seen across age, gender, baseline diagnosis, treatment duration and dosage. Notably, omega-3 was found to reduce both reactive and proactive aggression. The researchers were limited to short-term data because only one out of the 19 laboratories conducting the studies followed up with participants after supplementation ended.

Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies are rich sources of omega-3
Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies are rich sources of omega-3

The researchers explain how they think omega-3 exerts its effects. Previous studies have pointed to aggressive and violent behavior having a cognitive and neurochemical basis. And, omega-3 is known to play a critical role in brain structure and function, including regulating neurotransmitters and gene expression, and reduces brain inflammation.

“As such, given the undeniable fact that omega-3 is pervasively involved in multiple facets of neuronal biology, it is reasonable to believe that omega-3 supplementation could play a causal role in reducing aggression by upregulating brain mechanisms that may be dysfunctional in … individuals, given the assumption that there is, in part, a neurobiological basis to aggression,” said the researchers.

Further studies are needed to assess the long-term effectiveness of omega-3 supplementation on reducing aggression. Other research avenues would be using MRI scans to determine whether omega-3 enhances brain functioning and examining whether genetics affects omega-3 treatment. In the meantime, the researchers say there is little harm in people, including children, taking this widely available, safe and inexpensive dietary supplement.

“At the very least, parents seeking treatment for an aggressive child should know that in addition to any other treatment that their child receives, an extra portion or two of fish each week could also help,” Raine said.

And the researchers say omega-3 should be used in conjunction with existing psychological and psychiatric treatments.

“[W]e would argue that omega-3 supplementation should be considered as an adjunct to other interventions, whether they be psychological (e.g. CBT [cognitive behavioral therapy]) or pharmacological (e.g. [the antipsychotic drug] risperidone) in nature, and that caregivers are informed of the potential benefits of omega-3 supplementation,” the researchers said.

The study was published in the journal Aggression and Violent Behavior.

Source: University of Pennsylvania

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12 comments
12 comments
Bob809
So, would this be given for both sexes then? That is, male and female? No, I didn't read the article, just wanted to comment.
Chris R
They mention fish a lot in this article. I wonder if Omega 3 from other sources work as well.
TechGazer
I wonder whether the effect is just as valid as the claimed reduction in heart attacks. When my doctor suggested statins or omega-3 supplements, I checked into omega-3's effect on heart health, and the actual clinical studies I found showed only a few percent reduction in only a few types of heart failure, when taking unreasonably large supplementation (not just one capsule a day). My doctor didn't bother to mention that moderate daily exercise provided an 80+% reduction in heart attacks.

Here's a quick check of validity: compare aggression statistics between populations that consume a lot of fish and populations that don't. Does a midwestern US city have higher aggression crime rates than a comparable Japanese city?
Ranscapture
Does this work with the omega3 from seaweed supplements for us vegetarians?
rgbatduke
I'm skeptical. First, this is hardly a double-blind, placebo-controlled study -- it does not come close to meeting gold-standard levels of medical evidence. Second, "fish oil supplements" e.g. pills HAVE been studied in DBPC experiments and have little to no effect on cardiac health. Well, now it is being asserted that they DO have some use -- to reduce aggression! So one immediate question that comes to mind is: Who funded this meta-study? Who funded the work that the meta-study examined? Who will benefit if the US prison system starts ordering fish oil supplement pills in sufficient quantity to "dose" its entire population? (This is still "one question" if you think about it.) A second one is what, exactly, is a "30% reduction in violent aggressive behavior?" I ask because "microagressions" now count in some counting lexicons. 30% less damage when you hit somebody? 30% fewer punches? 30% fewer OBSERVED incidents? But ultimately, until somebody does a high-N DBPC study with an objective objective, I'll remain skeptical.
Shruggi
See rgbatduke's intelligent comment.
guzmanchinky
Haven't I now seen other studies saying these oils can harm you as well?
YBTR
I never trust those studies, this one solidifies my position. I know someone who flies off the handle for anything and that's been taking those for well over a decade, no calming down there. It is probably, like someone mentioned, a ploy to sell those to facilities and families who deal with the problem. It has as much value as blinding a rabbit with mascara and alleging that my dog forgets who I am every time I leave the house.
Ciarasteina
I don't think so... I've been taking omega 3 supplements for years and my aggression has only gotten worse over time, not better. I'd love to talk to the scientists about their research.
Kurt
This is a VERY BAD IDEA. After using a highly regarded laboratories omega 3,6 ,CoQ10 mix my Afib symptoms have nearly been erased BUT,at the same time my arthritis bloomed.I did a little research to learn MULTIPLE sources as well as my own dietitian have said Omegas are the worst for arthritis
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