Got the blues? Need a little happiness lift? Eat
your omega -3 fatty acids or fish that is! When we think of eating fish we
think of heart health but fish high in omega-3 fatty acids also appears to help
with mild forms of depression. Studies indicate that omega-3 fatty acids may
help alleviate some of the symptoms of mild depression. When subjects were
given omega-3 supplements along with their anti depressants there was a slight
improvement in mood. Furthermore omega-3 fatty acids appear to be helpful with
attention deficit disorder.
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for human health.
The body does not produce omega-3 so we must get them from our diet. Salmon and
other cold water fish are an excellent source as well as flax seed oil and bean
oils. I preferred flax seed oil as the fish oil gives me an after taste.
But can that little pink salmon sliver of essential
goodness really bring us happiness? Well just ask a bear during salmon season
or river dwelling people who have depended upon the salmon’s return each year.
Salmon typically (depending upon the particular
species) spend one to five years in the open ocean where they sexually mature.
Then they make the great migration back to their birth place to spawn. The
exact understanding of how they do this is not fully understood but scientist
believes it has to do with their keen sense of smell. Seems the olfactory
system (sense of smell) locks into the memory system the exact route back home.
Now that’s a happy thought for someone like me who
has no sense of direction. If I could just smell my way home I wouldn’t need to
learn how to use that navigation system. I could be anywhere, anytime and
simply smell my way back. Now I wonder; if I eat lots of salmon will I improve
my smell brain and thus my sense of direction?
So tonight I decide to make salmon for dinner and
give it a test. Will the thought and the smell of fresh poached salmon send my
husband running home with amorous thoughts? Would it make us spawn? No that’s
another thought – let’s just stick with happiness.
Ancient mythology tells us that Salmon was
associated with wisdom and venerability. In Celtic mythology fish and more
specifically salmon were consulted for their wisdom and eaten so that the
wisdom would be imparted upon the hero. It was believed that the Salmon ate the
nine hazelnuts of wisdom, the primary source of wisdom in Celtic lore. The
Salmon is associated with prophecy and inspiration because of its ability to
find it distance spawning grounds.
The Salmon’s flesh is pink, although sometimes white.
The Atlantic salmon tends to be farm raised where the Pacific salmon tends to
be wild. I live on the Pacific Ocean which makes me only too happy to eat the
salmon on the West Coast. Artificial chemicals do affect mood.
Pink is a color that has a soothing effect. It is
said to reduce anxiety, calm frazzled nerves and relieve stress. Pink is
emotionally comforting. It makes us feel happy. Eat Salmon and be happy!
Doctor Lynn
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