Are Your Cholesterol Levels Causing Your Depression

All of us have had some form of depression in our life. It would truly be a blessing if we could wake every morning and did not have to deal with the stresses of everyday life.

Some studies have found that the condition may be linked to your cholesterol levels!

They have also found that bad cholesterol levels may lead to Alzheimer's.

These studies have found that cholesterol is important for the production of serotonin, a chemical in the brain that at low levels is associated with depression.

Men with naturally low cholesterol levels also have low serotonin levels.

Some evidence has reported a link between natural low natural cholesterol levels and negative emotional states, including depression.

Some studies have even reported a higher rate of deaths from suicide, accidents, or violence, which could be related to negative emotional states.

The following are some of examples of such studies:

In one study male psychiatric patients with cholesterol below 160 mg/dL had twice the normal rate of suicide and elderly men with low cholesterol levels had three times the normal risk of being depressed.
In a large 2001 Swedish study, violent behavior was linked with naturally low cholesterol levels.

A 2000 study of patients that were depressed and had bipolar disorders found lower cholesterol levels during specific manic or depressive episodes. The study suggested that mood states might produce low cholesterol levels, not vice versa.

A 2001 study reported a modest increase in deaths from suicide, accident, or trauma in people who lowered their cholesterol with diet or with non-statin drugs.

Importantly, numerous studies have reported no association between the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs (particularly statins) with the condition or violent death.

Some researchers have observed that people with low cholesterol levels due to medical conditions or alcoholism are often also deficient in dietary fats known as omega 3 fatty acids , which are found in oily fish.

Low levels of omega-3 fatty acids are linked with the condition and aggression. In fact, some studies in which cholesterol was lowered using diets that included omega-3 fatty acids reported less depression.

Clearly, any link between low cholesterol levels and emotional disorders is uncertain.

If you have not included omega 3 fatty acids in your diet maybe you should think about doing so.